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Wikimedia Deutschland/Transition Team

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  • Englisch All information about this can also be found in German at the member's-wiki of Wikimedia Deutschland. A report about our executive transition can be found here.
  • Deutsch: Alle Informationen sind in deutscher Sprache auch im Vereinsforum unter Übergangskommission abrufbar.

The main responsibility of the Transition Team was to support and advise the Supervisory Board in filling the position of Executive Director of Wikimedia Deutschland, while also working independently on a range of tasks. This included drawing up a job profile and writing the job posting, the pre-selection of candidates, conducting interviews, and submitting a recommendation to the Supervisory Board. After completing the interviews, the Transition Team came to the unanimous decision at its sixth meeting on January 31, 2015 to recommend that the Supervisory Board appoint Christian Rickerts as Executive Director. The Supervisory Board followed the recommendation and at its first conclave on February 7, 2015 unanimously voted to appoint Christian Rickerts as Executive Director. After contract negotiations were completed, it was finally announced on March 2 [1] that Christian Rickerts would take office as Executive Director of Wikimedia Deutschland on May 1, 2015.

Once the decision-making process has been completed, the Transition Team is responsible for helping the Executive Director to settle in and to advise him during his first few weeks of office.

Transition Team Members

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former members

Reports of the Transition Team

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12th teleconference on September 22, 2015 (Finish of the process)

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  • Abraham and Tim has published an executive transition report (Wikimedia Deutschland/Transition Team/Executive transition report) on Juli 30, 2015.
  • Tim informed the team at the teleconference about the feedback of the board and of Christian himself regarding the cooperation with the transition team and the introduction into the organisation so far. Therefore, the board and Christian responded to a number of questions which were presented.
  • Afterwards, the team members reflected on the first months of Christians work, the the teamwork of the transition team and the cooperation with the service provider "Talents for Good".
  • The collected impressions and suggestions will be communicated to Christian to finish the transition process.
  • The transition team subsequently declared its work to be finished with the following statement:

"As transition team, we devoted ourselves to work intensively on the search for a new executive director for Wikimedia Deutschland. We appreciate that the board followed the recommendation of the team and hired Christian Rickerts.

For introduction and advise of the new executive director during the first weeks and months of his term, we collected statements by the board and by the ED himself and compared them to our own experiences and to those of the stakeholder groups each of us represents.

The transition team concludes, that an intensive and successful introduction took place and leaded to a very good standard of knowledge. The transition team hence declares its work to be done."

--Tim Moritz 15:47, 30 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

6th meeting on January 31, 2015: Decision to recommend a candidate to the Supervisory Board

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  • In the week of January 26 to 30, interviews were conducted with the candidates selected at the fifth Transition Team meeting.
  • At the sixth meeting on January 31, the Transition Team unanimously decided, after extensive evaluations and discussions, to recommend that the Supervisory Board appoint Christian Rickerts as Executive Director.
  • Tim and Moritz were responsible for providing the Supervisory Board with all relevant information pertaining to the recommendation.

--Tim Moritz (buecherwuermlein) 00:09, 9 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

11th teleconference on January 22, 2015

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  • The teleconference was used to clear up the final questions and organizational details relating to the interviews, which were held the following week with the candidates selected at the fifth Transition Team meeting.

--Tim Moritz (buecherwuermlein) 00:09, 9 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

5th meeting on January 18, 2015 – shortlist presentation

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  • Anna briefly brought the group up to date on proceedings and then explained the next steps to be taken as well as the agenda for the meeting.
  • Over the course of the day, the Transition team viewed all candidates that service provider Talents4Good (T4G) had considered suitable in a shortlist presentation. A selection of the shortlisted applicants was made and these are to be invited for interviews.
  • T4G presented the applicants in a partially anonymous process:
  1. Initially, Anna introduced the shortlist without providing the name, nationality, age or sex of each candidate, and showed an anonymized copy of their application letters. In addition, questions were answered and there was a brief discussion about each applicant.
  2. On each occasion, a general opinion of the candidate was sounded out.
  3. The applicants’ identities were then revealed and the service provider made all application documents available; then any further queries were answered. Pavel gave his own short assessment of each candidate and then left the meeting.
  4. The Transition team discussed the individual candidates in detail and eventually agreed on a selection of them to be invited for interviews.
  • The list detailing the names of all applications received was then made available by the service provider for the information and scrutiny of the Transition team, with a brief discussion on how the shortlist came about.
  • Following an in-depth discussion, it was decided that any applications that arrived after the closing date would not be considered, as the closing date must be adhered to.

--Tim Moritz (buecherwuermlein) 00:09, 9 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

10th teleconference on January 14, 2015

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  • Tim informed the Transition team about the next steps in the proceedings decided upon by the Supervisory Board, which are to be implemented as soon as the Transition team has agreed on its three favorite candidates (in order of preference) and submitted this decision to the Supervisory Board.
  • The agenda for the shortlist presentation on January 18, 2015, was discussed. At the shortlist presentation, service provider Talents4Good is to present the most suitable candidates to the Transition team. The Transition team must then decide which applicants will be invited for interviews.
  • Talents4Good will be asked to present a proposal for the procedure that the Transition team should follow in selecting the three people it wishes to recommend to the Supervisory Board after the assessment days.
  • Further details on how the assessment days should be organized were agreed upon. Feedback on the proposals put forward by the service provider on this topic will be passed on by Tim and/or Abraham at the assessment days. A teleconference will be held following the shortlist presentation to finalize the procedure of the assessment days.

--Tim Moritz (buecherwuermlein) 00:09, 9 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Deadline for applications – November 28, 2014

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  • November 28, 2014 was the deadline for applications for the position of Executive Director.
  • Recruitment agency Talents4Good received 51 applications from 34 male and 17 female applicants.
  • Next steps:
    • Prepare interviews in small groups.
    • Review submitted applications with the Transition Team and invite candidates for interview.
    • Conduct interviews and subsequently recommend candidates to the Supervisory Board.

--Tim Moritz (buecherwuermlein) 15:01, 10 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

9th teleconference on November 24, 2014

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  • The final dates for the continuing procedure after the general assembly were discussed (clarification of process details).
  • The report for the general assembly was finalized.
  • Abraham thanked all members for their constructive, committed teamwork thus far.

--Tim Moritz (buecherwuermlein) 15:01, 10 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

8th teleconference on 12 November 2014

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  • The presentation on the state of the applications received and the channels used for the distribution of the job advertisement provided by the human resources service provider for the teleconference has been discussed.
  • A reference to the job advertisment is to be prominently featured on wikimedia.de.
  • The decisions made during the meeting on 18 October 2014 regarding the criteria for the applicant selection, the amount and composition of the Executive Director’s remuneration and the anonymization of the first candidate shortlist have been confirmed.
  • A number of questions communicated to the transition team by the service provider for the Governance Review containing ideas for the search for an Executive Director have been discussed.
  • The next teleconference is to be held before the 15th General Assembly on the last Weekend of November in Berlin.

--Tim Moritz (buecherwuermlein) 08:13, 21 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

4th meeting on 18 October 2014

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  • The team made decisions about:
    1. the criteria for the applicant selection and
    2. recommendations to the board regarding the amount and composition remuneration of the new ED.
    3. The team decided to use a partly anonymized process for the first shortlist-presentation of applicants.
  • The decisions 1) and 2) will not be published as we cannot provide detailed information about criteria and remuneration in a running application-process.

--Tim Moritz (buecherwuermlein) 08:13, 21 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Job advertisement published – 16 October 2014

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--Tim Moritz (buecherwuermlein) 11:20, 16 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

3rd meeting on 28 September 2014

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  • The workshop with the service provider aiming to finalize the content of the requirements profile has taken place
  • Currently, a job advertisement is being developed on the basis of the requirements
  • The next steps in the timeline, which will include stating the service provider’s name as well as the application period and further information on the application process, will be announced with the publication of the job advertisement in the course of October

--Tim Moritz (buecherwuermlein) 23:37, 4 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

7th teleconference on 6 October 2014

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  • The first draft of the job advertisement has been provided by the human resources service provider and has been revised and commented on collaboratively.
  • It has been agreed to forward the revised job advertisement to the Supervisory Board and to Michael Jahn (WMDE Head of Communications) for more feedback

--Tim Moritz (buecherwuermlein) 08:13, 21 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

6th teleconference on 19 September 2014

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Participants: Abraham Taherivand, Moritz Rahm (consultant to the board) Natali Bosnjakovic, Martin Rulsch, Sebastian Wallroth, Kurt Jansson, Steffen Prößdiorf, Sebastian Sooth, Tim Moritz Hector, Ralf Bösch

  • At the beginning of September, a human resources service provider has been assigned – the cooperation has already started.
  • On September 28th 2014 a workshop is going to take place that will be prepared by the service provider working group on September 19th. During this workshop the basis for the creation of a requirements profile and a job advertisement will be generated. Both will be finalised in an additional iteration loop.
  • The next steps in the timeline will be announced at the beginning of October.

5th teleconference on 21 August 2014

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Participants: Abraham Taherivand, Sebastian Sooth, Kurt Jansson, Sebastian Wallroth, Steffen Prößdorf, Tim Moritz Hector, Jürgen Friedrich, Ralf Bösch

Results:

  • After having conducted selection interviews, the transition team agreed on a service provider and will now enter into negotiations on concluding a contract. Subsequently a workshop will be organized in order to finalize the job description and the requirement profile for the new ED.

2nd meeting on 2 August 2014

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Participants: Sebastian Sooth, Jürgen Friedrich, Ralf Bösch, Steffen Prößdorf, Kurt Jansson, Sebastian Wallroth, Abraham Taherivand, Tim Moritz Hector

Results:

  • We settled on a shortlist with two service providers that we will invite for selection interviews.
  • We defined a selection process and a process for starting to work with the service provider we select. A schedule for the rest of the process will be decided in consultation with the service provider we select.
  • We compiled and documented a list of important parameters for the Executive Director’s job profile.
  • We will handle the Executive Search and Governance Review processes that are running in parallel in a way that is transparent for the service providers and candidates, and we will ask the service providers to give us an analysis of how the two processes will interact.
  • Sebastian Sooth and Abraham Taherivand will develop ideas for how we might get employees involved in producing the job profile.

4th teleconference on 30 July 2014

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Participants: Abraham Taherivand, Martin Rulsch,  Sebastian Sooth, Kurt Jansson, Sebastian Wallroth, Steffen Prößdorf, Tim Moritz Hector, Jürgen Friedrich, Moritz Rahm

Results:

  • A preliminary discussion took place regarding the offers that have been received so far from requested service providers. Abraham and Sebastian Sooth agreed to prepare the offers received for the pre-selection process to take place at the Transition Team’s (TT) next meeting on August 2. 
  • The following goals were established for the next TT meeting on August 2:
    • Review and assess offers submitted by service providers up to the time of the meeting
    • Formulate questions for the service providers regarding the future involvement of various stakeholders in the process
    • Define key points for the Executive Director job profile
    • Plan discussions on Wikimania
    • Structure the questions that are still open and procedures of dealing with them.
    • Discuss interfaces in the development process of the planned Governance Review
    • Draw up the further time schedule in writing

3rd teleconference on 23 July 2014

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Participants: Abraham Taherivand, Sebastian Wallroth, Steffen Prößdorf, Kurt Jansson, Jürgen Friedrich, Martin Rulsch, Sebastian Sooth, Moritz Rahm

Results:

  • A cover letter for requesting offers from external service providers to support the decision-making process was agreed on.
  • On completion of research, six service providers were selected who will now be contacted. A selection of service providers will subsequently be invited to present themselves at the next Transition Team (TT) meeting.
  • A new meta page was created to update English-language stakeholders on the status of the decision-making process. The address “transition(_AT_)wikimedia.de” was set up as an external contact address.
  • Wikimania should be used as a platform to facilitate discussions on the work of the TT at international level.
  • Current thoughts on communicating the process and involving the various stakeholder groups were discussed.
  • The following items were collected for the agendas of the next TT meeting on 2 August in Berlin:
    • Prepare Wikimania
    • Define key contents for the requirements profile of the new Executive Director
    • Analyze first offers from service providers.
  • The exact date for the next telephone conference will be set in the coming week in agreement with all participants. The telephone conference will be used to set the agenda for the second TT meeting, check the status of the service provider contacts and determine an additional date for a personal presentation of the service providers after the second TT meeting.

2nd telephone conference on 14 July 2014

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Participants: Abraham Taherivand, Sebastian Wallroth, Martin Rulsch, Kurt Jansson, Sebastian Sooth, Ralf Bösch, Jürgen Friedrich, Steffen Prößdorf, Tim Moritz Hector, Natali Bosnjakovic, Moritz Rahm (consultant to the Supervisory Board)

Results:

  • The Transition Team is currently developing a strategy for communicating the process and involving the various stakeholders; some initial key points were discussed in the telephone conference.
  • Members of the Transition Team have compiled some initial experiences with the search for a new Executive Director at other organisations; further information is to be gathered in the coming weeks.
  • An initial pre-selection has been made regarding the hiring of a service provider to support the process. A short-list of five service providers will be drawn up, a selection of which will present themselves at the next meeting.
  • Selecting a service provider and determining the key content of the requirement profile have been set as targets for the next meeting on 2/3 August.
  • The exact date of the next telephone conference in the coming week will be determined after checking availability.

1st telephone conference on 7 July 2014

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Participants: Abraham Taherivand, Natali Bosnjakovic, Ralf Bösch, Sebastian Sooth, Tim Moritz Hector, Kurt Jansson, Sebastian Wallroth, Steffen Prößdorf, Martin Rulsch, Pavel Richter, Jürgen Friedrich, Moritz Rahm (consultant to the Supervisory Board)

Results:

  • Tim presented the results of the last Supervisory Board meeting.
  • By the next telephone conference on 14 July a list is to be drawn up of possible service providers to assist with the search process. Abraham, Sebastian Sooth, Sebastian Wallroth and Natali are responsible for conducting the research.
  • Experiences with the search for a new Executive Director at other organisations should be taken into account when designing the process. The team checked on the status of the relevant research and distributed tasks.
  • Abraham, Tim and Kurt have been tasked with developing a communications strategy for the work of the Transition Team. This will be covered in the next telephone conference.
  • The next meeting is provisionally scheduled for 2/3 August in Berlin, the next telephone conference on 14 July at 20:30.

Constitutive Meeting on 28/29 June 2014

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Participants: Steffen Prößdorf, Jürgen Friedrich (only Saturday until 18:21), Kurt Jansson, Natali Bosnjakovic (only Saturday), Abraham Taherivand, Tim Moritz Hector, Sebastian Sooth, Martin Rulsch, Ralf Bösch, Sebastian Wallroth (only Saturday), Pavel Richter (only Sunday), Moritz Rahm (consultant to the Supervisory Board)

Location: Office of Wikimedia Deutschland, Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24, 10963 Berlin.

Results

  • Abraham Taherivand is voted as Spokesperson and Kurt Jansson as Deputy Spokesperson of the Commission
  • Initial brainstorming regarding the requirements of a new Executive Director
  • Listing of tasks and requirements of a service provider to advise on the process
  • Clarification of responsibilities for the next tasks to be completed
  • Clarification of internal and external communications processes
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