Do-It-Yourself guide for setting up

A STAFF EXCHANGE PROGRAMME

[Definition: Staff Exchange]Activity offering staff members the opportunity to leave their regular jobs to get experience from a working place abroad for a shorter period of time.

“You get so inspired that you want to get back to your centre and to bring the ideas and realize them.”

- Exchangee Laura Gabrielaityte, Arts Printing House, Lithuania

Answer the question ‘why setting up an exchange programme?’ first. This question will help you in planning and implementing the project.

WHY SETTING UP AN EXCHANGE?

A study of one of Trans Europe Halles’ Staff Exchange programmes show that benefits professionals have gained in the exchanges were increased awareness of how things were done elsewhere, building net-works and learned problem-solving mechanism.and exchanging ideas.

Organizations stated that they increased their attractiveness as working places for employees, and this lead to a more professional and motivated staff team.

BENEFITS

1. Listen to Your Network 2. Keep it Flexible3. Choose a Coordinator Who Knows the Network4. Communication is Crucial5. Matchmaking is the Key6. Appoint a Buddy7. Share Experiences

7 POINTS FOR SuCCESS

1. Listen to Your NetworkListen to your network and members’ needs, wishes and expected challenges and design the exchange programme accordingly. This might entail investing time on researching needs and requirements before the actual exchange programme starts, but will benefit the smoothness and quality of the exchanges once they have start-ed. It also increases the ownership of participating centres in the programme.

2. Keep it FlexibleApplication procedures should be flexible and not over-administrated, and should be responsive to its successes and failures during longer time projects. Also the timing, length and format of exchanges should be flexible and respond to the per-sonal and organisational circumstances of exchangee and sending/hosting centre.

Exchanges that take place in response to specific needs of a hosting organisation can be an alternative to a more formal-ised selection process. An exchange with clear goals during a festival for example, can be a real win-win situation.

‘Mobility-on-demand’

3. Choose a Coordinator Who Knows the Network

If the centres don’t agree among themselves when to send and host staff, matchmaking and some sort of coordination, especially in bigger networks can play a crucial role. This also ensures that there is a ‘driver’ of the programme who ensures envisaged actions are being followed up.

4. Communication is Crucial

Due to a lack of professional development opportunities within the independent cultural sector, it is necessary to be very clear about the added value of such a programme.

Internal communication should adhere to the KISS principle (keep it short and simple) and take into account language barriers if the net-work operates in different language zones.

Communication should also be aimed at staff who might not have previously engaged in international or mobility programmes and have to be convinced about the necessity of such programmes.

Why are exchanges important for individual staff and for the centres? What are the roles of everyone involved? What is the expected outcome?

Provide answers

5. Matchmaking is the Key

Keep in mind that the best exchange opportunity might not be the most obvious one. This applies to the choice of the exchangee, to the hosting opportunity and the sending centres. Consult the sending centre, the hosting centre and the applicant in the process if necessary.

Who is being exchanged, at what stage in their career and for what reasons? Why is that centre interesting for the exchangee? What are the learning opportunities?

6. Appoint a Buddy

An exchange is more than working in an alien or foreign envi-ronment for a limited time. It should also give an insight into the everyday and social reality of a cultural centre. Appointing a buddy from the hosting centre who takes care of the exchangee beyond purely work-related matters is important in this respect.

If accommodation can be found among staff of the hosting centre, this would generally be preferred to accommodation in hotels – and also saves on costs.

7. Share Experiences

To ensure that colleagues and future exchanges can profit from experience it is important to encourage participants - exchangees, sending organisations and hosts - to share their experiences. Online environments such as blogs, ping, etc can be used to facilitate the sharing and legacy of such programmes.

During 2011-2013 Trans Europe Halles is running a Staff Exchange programme for its member centres. On the TEH website you can find information about how the project is structured and communicated.

ERE Staff Exchange Programme

Trans Europe Halles has realised several staff exchange projects, most recently within the EC funded programmes Changing Room, which resulted in 25 exchanges, and Engine Room Europe which aims to reach a total of 30 exchanges by the end of 2013.

This slide show is based on the Conclusions and Recommendations chapter in the re-search report Changing Room - Mobility for Non-Artistic Cultural Professionals in Europe.

Background

Engine Room Europe is a three year programme (April 2011-May 2014) of activities dedicated to independent cultural workers and their creative processes. It is initiated by Trans Europe Halles (TEH) and co-ordinated by Melkweg (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) in association with 10 co-organ-izing TEH members. Engine Room Europe has been funded with the support of the European Com-mission. This publication [communication] reflects the view only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Text: Annette Wolfsberger, Anna WeitzEditing & Layout: Anna WeitzPhotos: TEH ArchiveGraphic design: Daan DrubbelDownload your copy at www.teh.net

This publication is produced under a Creative Commons Licence 3.0 Unported (Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike). You may copy, distribute and show in public the texts and translations for non-commercial purposes. Trans Europe Halles, 2012