Thanks Chris. Indeed it was a lot of work, and a lot of people were involved. It challenged many of my beliefs about open space and I didn’t think it would be possible. But it was ! As good as equality can be.. A road to travel.
Christine > Le 10 août 2022 à 23:41, Chris Corrigan <[email protected]> a écrit : > > Congrats christine...that is a lot of work. I know what it's like when a > sponsor insists that everyone must know everything equally, and yet that this > actually never the case. This was a highly complex situation and it sounds > like you handled it really well. And thank you so much for sharing the > story. That helps us all grow in practice. > > Chris > > On Wed, Aug 10, 2022 at 11:30 AM Thomas Herrmann > <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> > wrote: > Wow Christine thanks for sharing. I had some events with translation but this > was quite something. > It sounds like it went well. > Congratulations! > Thomas > > Hämta Outlook för iOS <https://aka.ms/o0ukef> > Från: christine koehler <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> > Skickat: Wednesday, August 10, 2022 4:50:04 PM > Till: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> > Ämne: [OSList] 5 days OST in 3 langages. Practical and general considerations > > > Dear all > > I recently facilitated an OS gathering with translation & interpretation in 3 > langages : French, Spanish and English. I learned a lot and thought it might > be interesting to share it with you. > > Context : > This NGO contacted me a few months ago. They were considering OST for a > special gathering of 80 people for 5 days, had tested it the year before with > 2 small groups, and it worked well, but they still had questions. > > It was a very important gathering for them : they wanted to envision the > future of the way they work, with the people who make it and will take > responsibilities in the future. Their willingness was to enable any people > from any country in the world to be able to contribute and understand > everything. > Historically the NGO was started in France, in the 60’s, and then developed > almost all over the world, especially in South America, Africa and North > America. Today its headquarters are still in France, where they have a > conference room with interpreting booths. Leadership team is also mostly > French is this is something they hoped to change in the future. > The 5 days OST event was due to follow a 4 days gathering were they met in > small groups (same group for the 4 days) to talk about personal experiences > during their work and life. > > > At first I was surprised of their demand of everything in 3 langages. > Reg conversation, I explained them than in OS event, people help each other > and I didn’t see how it would be possible to orient the interpreters as > people would follow law of 2 feet. But they insisted. Same for reports : each > report had to be translated in the 3 langages as soon as it was finished. > > So we organized it as follows : > We had opening circle, with the 3 langages in the opening : Spanish for the > organizing committee, French for the facilitation, English for a Q & A at the > end of the opening. Interpreters were there in the booths, and everyone had > an helmet for understanding the langage(s) he/she didn’t speak. > > Then we build the agenda. With the help of interpreters , usual way of > announcements was supposed to run smoothly. > The only special requirement was to write on top of page so that the > translating team could translate it in the 2 other langages. > As soon as the person had chosen a day, a time and a place and sticked > his/her theme on the wall, the translating team would translate the title > into the 2 other langages. > We tried to used a different color for each langage so that it would be easy > to see the change of langage. > > While opening the market place, we had asked everyone to write one’s name > with a felt pen. Even if they could then change their mind. > > Then the coordinator of the interpreters, a lady form the NGO who knew > everyone well and who could speak the 3 langages, would assign each > interpreter a « room » (we worked a lot in the garden), depending on who was > supposed to go where. > > For the book of proceeding, we worked with Google Drive, in which a folder > had been created with one sub folder for each langage. > One person from the team of translators registered all topics and another > would create the document in the original langage. > The reporter had to find the folder of the langage of the title, open it, > find his/her title and type in one langage only. When completed, he/she would > add the word FINISH at the top of the document . > Then the team would use Google translate to translate into required langages > and put the translation in the required folder. > > > This was how it should have worked. > Of course it did not happen exactly as expected > > For instance at the opening, the mic from the interpreters booths did not > work, although it worked the week before. > So we had a bit of a danse, with only one microphone and the interpreters > standing behind the circle and handing the microphone to one another > depending on who with language was spoken. Finally the tech team discovered a > few hours later that a cable was disconnected.. > > Quickly for the evening and morning news, we took the habit when holding the > microphone to say first our first name then the langage we speak. > However, the group still felt inequality regarding langages, (so much easier > for the French speaking group, who was also the largest). We tried to > encourage speaking in a foreign language when another langage was known. For > instance I spoke in English and my poor English was translated into French. > But we quickly dropped it, as it made the life of the interpreters more > difficult. > > During the day, it was incredibly interesting to see how they worked together > : some groups had conversation in 3 langages, with 3 interpreter each at one > corner of the room or sitting next to a person who needed it. Notes were > sometimes taken on the paperboard in 2 langages by 2 different people. Other > groups could have 2 langages or one only, or begin with one and end with 2 or > 3, welcoming the bees that started to fly after day 2. > What amazed me was the quality of focus and attention of this group. > Incredibly focussed ! I never witnessed side conversations. They were always > caring and paying attention to each other. But this is probably related to > the nature of their work and this is another story. > > > The translation of reports took about one day to find its cruising speed. > Reports had to be read before translated so that organizational jargon was > removed (as Google translate does not understand jargon). Then translation > needed to be read again by the translation team (one lady was working from > South America for the translation into Spanish). > It meant that it took more time than usual to get the reports displayed on > the walls and we had to add deadline each day that the group did not follow. > > Written comments on reports were conditioned to « if you want to add one > comment, pls add a post to note, and take the responsibility to have it in > the 3 langages ». Very discouraging, but it worked : there were 3 comments, > that were added in the book of proceeding as a picture, all in 3 langages. > > The book of proceeding was discussed during evening news, as the group was > eager to inform of their work as quickly as possible, the others who could > not attend. Finally they agreed that the original version would be kept for > them, and a second version, where everyone could make some corrections if > he/she was uneasy with some sentences, would be send a few weeks later. > > The book of proceedings was made available either printed for those who had > no laptop or digital for those who had one. And in each one favorite langage. > That was also amazing. > > It was a very interesting experience for me : > The fact that everyone must have a perfect understanding of everything has a > consequence on facilitation, especially for the last 2 days were we went to > action planning. Some designs were not possible because of the translation. > More structured, it required more coordination with the interpreters team and > more thinking ahead of time with the planning team : they were those who were > the gardians of the langage equality , I noticed that I repeatedly forgot > about it. > And it was also a personal lesson : I was not aware that, speaking 2 dominant > langages, I have a privileged access to communication with always the same > people. I can see how this leads to subtil power domination, even if I don’t > do it on purpose. > And I bet I will quickly forget it, if I am not reminded frequently. > > I will probably reminder for a while something I heard already years ago and > that someone said in the closing circle : « when you tell jokes », as jokes > don’t translate easily or even don’t translate at all in other cultures, « I > don’t get it. It makes me feel separated from you ». In this group, with this > level of care for each other which really I never witnessed before, this > comment had a huge impact of my understanding of what makes a community, how > strong it might be and how fragile it might also be. Something to cherish and > nurture day by day.. > > > Christine Koehler > > > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list -- [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> > > > -- > ____ > CHRIS CORRIGAN > Blog and resources: http://www.chriscorrigan.com > <http://www.chriscorrigan.com/> > Harvest Moon Consultants: https://www.harvestmoonconsultants.com > <https://www.harvestmoonconsultants.com/> > > Registration now open: Complexity Inside and Out online program Fall 2022 > <https://www.harvestmoonconsultants.com/complexity-inside-out.html> > > Register now for the Art of Hosting September 26-28, 2022, Vancouver BC, > Canada <http://aohbowenisland.weebly.com/> > > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]
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