Faso Media strengthens the management teams of its radio partners

Faso Media strengthens the management teams of its radio partners

Among the initiatives forming part of the Faso Media project, around ten or so have involved providing support and guidance to the management teams of radio stations in Burkina Faso. These particular initiatives aim to improve the governance and economic viability of those stations, and thus complement the project's purely journalistic and editorial actions.

Two radio stations – Savane FM and Vénégré – have already received management coaching, following a ten-day course given in April 2015. In addition, in June and July, eleven directors were trained in team management and in radio marketing and business management by the expert Sahadou Ali Zato.

"This incredible opportunity has helped me to fill a genuine void in my management," says Simon Gansaoré, Director of Radio Palabre.

Providing these station executives with the tools to better manage and motivate their staff and to strengthen their overall managerial skills and their financial and marketing management abilities is vital for ensuring the economic viability of local radio stations. If they are better treated and feel more integrated, the radio teams will be more committed to their mission of providing information to their listeners. The viability of a radio station will also depend on its roots with the local community and on its ability to bring listeners and resources together under its editorial project.

The approach developed by the trainer – which combines theory with practice (exposés, practical exercises, role-plays and eyewitness accounts) – during the various sessions has made it easier for the directors to learn, and everyone is quick to highlight just how useful the courses are.

"These training courses have enabled me to improve not only my self-control when faced with any situation, but also, in my role as Promoter and Managing Director, to revise my organisational methods and the ways in which I manage my staff," states Simplice Téhégohi, Director of the radio station LPC.

For Donald Duwani, the Director of Radio Goulou, meanwhile, the courses have presented a perfect opportunity "to perform a re-evaluation exercise with radio colleagues and to ask questions such as: do we need to start by assessing the problems of the staff? Why don't we generate enough revenue? Should we start calling on agents to be better motivated? At what level does the group's oscilloscope start to wobble?".


Those attending the next on-site management coaching sessions, which are scheduled for late 2015, will be able to discuss and scrutinise these types of questions with their fellow radio professionals. The sessions will be led by the Burkinabe trainers Charlemagne Abissi and Jean-Baptiste Sawadogo, under the supervision of Sahadou Ali Zato.

These initiatives are organised by CFI and UNALFA (Burkina Faso's national union of free audiovisual media outlets) and form part of the Faso Media project.

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