Why it “has to be right” – Rhea Schwering in an employee interview with Hanna Hellenbroich-Schrader (HR-Manager).

Dear Rhea, I'm glad you're joining me for this conversation. I still remember well how we talked about you possibly becoming a consultant at the actori alumni/-ae regulars' table back then. You had already done an internship (2016) with the team at the Bavarian State Opera.
Hi Hanna, yes, I remember that well. I had already been in touch with you about my application and wanted to make sure I arrived on time for the regulars' table to make a good impression—with the result that I was the first one there and probably came across as a little overzealous (laughs). I'm very happy to be back at actori.

We're glad to hear that. You started working as a consultant at actori in May 2023. How did your studies in Communication & Cultural Management at Zeppelin University and your part-time master's degree in Organizational and Human Resources Development lead you back to actori?
Art and culture—especially music—have always been a part of my life. In my free time, I sang in a choir and was involved in cultural school projects. My first professional experience as part of a voluntary social year with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra confirmed my desire to do “something with culture,” which is why I chose to study. Looking back, the various stages of my career after graduation also describe my development from an individual to a strategic perspective in the cultural context: at the Karsten Witt Musik Management agency, my focus was on individual musicians; at Gasteig München GmbH, the overarching theme was the role of a cultural center in urban society; and now at actori, I regularly take a broader strategic perspective.

My position before actori—which you also asked about—was in strategic human resources development for a corporation. During this brief “excursion” outside of the cultural bubble, I gained valuable experience that continues to serve me well today. For example, this time sharpened my awareness of the direct connection between human resources strategy and overarching strategy: the corporate strategy is decisive, and human resources supports its implementation. That sounds trivial and logical at first, but when individual ideas, opinions, and challenges are added to planning cycles, it gets really interesting (laughs). Implementing strategic goals in the context of human resources and organizational development is also a recurring theme in my actori projects, and I am very happy to be a good deal closer to art and culture again at actori. I had really missed that!

At actori, you have been involved in many projects in recent years in which participation processes, among other things, have played an important role. Communicative management of the various stakeholders is a key aspect of this. Is communication something you particularly enjoy in these projects?
Generally speaking: yes. Communication has many facets. Processing information and texts specifically for target groups and presenting them is a key aspect of processes involving many stakeholders. Transparent information is half the battle. The other half is, for me personally, even more exciting: connecting with other people and establishing relationships. In participatory projects, the context is crucial here: Is it a sensitive topic, for example? Or do you want to understand or hear out the details? Different settings require different ways of building relationships, but one thing is common to all of them: Being in good contact always has something to do with my own honest interest in the other person's perspective.
This November, I completed a coaching training course at the Schulz von Thun Institute – this training has significantly sharpened my view of communication. Ultimately, I see it as my job (in individual coaching and in participatory projects alike) to take responsibility for the process and to ensure, through structure, that content or issues can be successfully addressed, i.e., with a concrete result that helps everyone involved.

To draw a small parallel with music: for me, “being in contact” is comparable to the live moment at a concert. This is something that cannot be generated by AI and only works to a limited extent with digital tools.

Keyword “further development”: which project would you say has helped you grow the most personally in recent years, and why?
In a change process that I accompanied, there was a point where I myself was just as frustrated with the progress of the project as the management team. I briefly took my hands off the wheel and didn't know what to do next. That's not necessarily the best way to connect with people when you're in charge of the process. I guess that's what happens when you get too emotionally involved (laughs). When I thought about it, I had to smile. Being aware of my own emotional state and involvement is definitely something I learned from that moment of realization.

Dear Rhea, I imagine that mentoring the interns at actori is also a great pleasure for you. Can techniques from coaching training be applied here?
Yes and no. On the one hand, questioning techniques are transferable, but this applies not only to mentoring or responsibility for interns, but to all project contexts. Concepts and models can also help you sort out situations for yourself.
On the other hand, coaching is clearly a contract-based business. If I suddenly started asking obvious coaching questions in my mentoring conversations, my mentees would rightly wonder what I was trying to achieve (laughs). Ultimately, a coaching relationship is about defining a clear mandate together. As the person responsible for the process, I support my coachee in developing solutions related to this assignment in the spirit of helping them to help themselves.
Basically, supervising and mentoring interns are tasks that I really enjoy!

Finally, we would also like to learn about your interests outside of work. During your job interview, you enthusiastically discussed your membership in a choir. Please tell us more—are there any parallels between singing in a choir and effective communication?
That's an interesting question. I think there are many aspects of choir singing that are also relevant to successful communication. You listen to each other and blend into the overall sound—an involuntary solo is comparable to a communication faux pas in a social context (laughs). You do this by controlling yourself and your own voice and adapting as best you can to the big picture. So it has a lot to do with what is around me and what is “harmonious” in the truest sense of the word. This also applies to successful communication, namely communicating in a way that is personally authentic or harmonious and at the same time appropriate to the specific situation. Yes, that is indeed a nice parallel between communication and choir singing. Thank you for the question, it's exciting to think about!

 

Team