Birgitt, thanks for your helpful distinctions and your quick response. As a well-conditioned westerner, I definitely think about/worry about the time an open-ended closing circle might take, especially after the end of a very long day. Most meetings (of any kind) that I either facilitate or are apart of I find that people want to head out that door at the scheduled closing time (or before). Sounds like I might just need a little more patience ... people do like to reflect and hear thoughtful reflections after particularly important/engaging/powerful experiences. Thanks for your perspective!
Steve Please respond to OSLIST <osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu> To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu cc: (bcc: Steve Brigham/Kaludis Consulting Group) Subject: Re: Evening and Morning news I try to keep morning announcements as short as absolutely possible yet with respecting the new topics that go up and require their time to be worked up and announced. As soon as I have the first likely pause to say, let's get on with it, I do. With the evening news, I think it is very important to let that go as long as it has energy--often more than an hour as community experiences what it needs to at that time. I use a "talking stick" in the centre and people go to it as they feel moved to speak and others are the respectful listeners--or at times are called to participate in song, dance, other movement--whatever shows up. Sometimes what happens is very much feel good stuff. Sometimes it is the very necessary expressions of pain, frustration, anger, etc that all also seems to be within community as high learning grows. With the closing circle, different from evening news, I use the talking stick to go around the circle and whoever has it, speaks or not as per their choice. Whoever doesn't is the respectful listener, including the facilitator. I NEVER use a guided question. Nor direct with any control means regarding length of what is said and so on, precisely because it is not my right to remove from the group the opportunity to go deeply or where they need to go. I do playfully suggest that people might want to be mindful of the amount of time just so we can get out on time, and in an invitational way suggest no speeches---but always also say that if someone is so inclined, it is after all a "talking stick" ceremony. Please remember that we use these means that come from indiginous peoples of the world and they did not go in accordance with the clock. Sometimes it could take 3 days for the talking stick to make its round. And sometimes it was held in silence for a very long time by someone moved to do so. There is no rushing or directing. However, my experience is that most groups manage this quite well timewise with no direction to do so. Birgitt Birgitt Bolton of Dalar Associates www.openspacetechnology.com 55 Ravina Cres., Ancaster, Ontario, Canada L9G 2E8 phone: 905-648-5775 fax: 905-648-2262 -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu]On Behalf Of Steve Brigham Sent: Friday, June 18, 1999 9:29 AM To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: Evening and Morning news Robert, you talked yesterday (below) that the evening news and morning announcements are key sessions. I'd be curious to hear how you AND others facilitate these segments of Open Space. In my own experience of doing two Open Space sessions that run longer than a day I have found each of these segments to be fairly short and sweet. And, when doing it with large groups -- more than 100 -- the substantive reflections get held back because I tend to just ask for relective comments of no more than a few words or at most a sentence. With morning announcements, often its not much more than four or five new topics and a few reflective comments. What are others' experiences ?? As for electronic follow-up, I don't think it has as much to do about skill or confidence but lack of intimacy. On-line web sites are a far cry from intense face to face interaction. Steve Please respond to OSLIST <osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu> To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu cc: (bcc: Steve Brigham/Kaludis Consulting Group) Subject: Re: evening & morning news Yes Barbara, The evening news and Morning announcements are key sessions for allowing all participants (not just the few outspoken ones) to express their "new" issue or to tell a story that will allow them to grow in the community. I think this is very hard work because the way I behave sends the messages that the group responds to. After three days in March people were saying I wish we were not going home as I have just got used to the system and I have a number of issues to discuss. We provided the post event "virtual Forum" on the world wide web to encourage unfinished conversations but again the world wide web is new and different and does require a different set of skills and knowledge (may be confidence) to use. The reality is that not many took up the invitation. Yet another challenge for the facilitator to construct an environment that breaks down these barriers. <snip> Robert
