Justin -- just remember "personal responsibility" and "passion" -- and make sure there is plenty of room for both. Honestly, the rest will take care of itself, regardless of group size. And I say a word in your note that troubled me. "Table." Probably a holdover from your pre-os days. But get rid of all the tables. Circles of chairs only. Especially with small groups. Tables anchor people in a set configuration to particular spots. Chairs move around (at least they can).
Harrison Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Dr. Potomac, MD 20854 USA 301-365-2093 207-763-3261 (summer) website www.openspaceworld.com Personal Website www.ho-image.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Justin T. Sampson To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2006 1:40 AM Subject: Re: Open Space for small groups Thank you all so much for your thoughtful comments! I'm hearing two major points -- 1. A small group may be more likely to stay together instead of splitting into separate parallel sessions, but the structure of the Open Space is the same as for a larger group, with the same opportunity/"permission" to split as appropriate. I was wondering/worrying about this, whether splitting would be awkward; but of course during every meeting there are several side conversations anyway! Occasionally the people around the table will divide evenly in half with some diving deeper into an issue while others continue with the business of the meeting, or two or three people at the end of the table will talk amongst themselves about something else entirely. As chair of the meeting I often want to follow that energy, and also to make sure no one gets left out of something they could contribute to, but also not dragged along in something they're not interested in; and I haven't been sure how to accomplish that. 2. The biggest challenge is holding space while being an active member of the organization myself. I definitely see my most important role for the group being the creating and holding of space, and I tend not to be the one championing any of our particular projects anyway, so I hope this will be a natural, but still challenging and learning-inducing, fit for me. I like the reminder of hats -- the sitting/standing method may be just right in this case. Another issue for this group is making decisions on behalf of the organization, which is a local political party (a county central committee, for those who know anything about USA party politics), and requires a proper vote for something like endorsement of a candidate. So I'm also looking forward to learning how to keep the space open while meeting our formal obligations as a party. I'll go ahead and ask the group for their indulgence in giving Open Space a shot at an upcoming meeting and see how it goes! Cheers, Justin * * ========================================================== 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 * * ========================================================== 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
