Justin-- I've used Open Space a few times with groups of 5-15--no question that it works. I often find that the group is reluctant to divide, and may cover all the topics sequentially, though sometimes even a small group will break out into groups of 2 or 3.
After a large Open Space conference of around 100 people, I continued meeting with a Transition Team that was working with logistics and emotional concerns for a move of two work groups into one new building. This team was 8 or 9, and we used a slightly modified Open Space format for our monthly 3-4 hour meetings. This group chose to work together, topics were posted by tem members at the start of every meeting, and the talking piece created for the large Open Space usually came to the table. We met in a circle around a large conference table, for the reason that there was no possibility, in their overcrowded office space, to move out the tables. Because there was a lot of complicated project management to track, I generally kept a list of items that would need to be followed up at a later meeting. But it was very rare for an ongoing item to be overlooked when the topics were posted. I also loved that for every action item identified in a meeting, someone volunteered to take responsibility for it before the meeting ended. I think there are some parallels with the organization you mentioned. I find that after a group has met a few times in Open Space, the principles and law become "business as usual" for the group, sometimes quite a different working climate. Joelle Everett Sound Resources Shelton, Washington, USA * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
