Bonjour Esther, When I opened space for a group of 7 and groups of 10 or so, I did everything the same as usual. With the group of 7, people said, "why don't we all stick together?" Their reason was "we are such a small group" and not, we really all want to talk about all of the topics.
So I gently encouraged them to try the OS approach at least for the first round, i.e. making choices, being a bumble bee if needed or using their two feet. They did try all of the above and never looked back. They just followed their energy from that point on and completely forgot about the other structured approach they proposed. Even with such a small group, you could feel the energy in the room. At the end, they were amazed at what they had experienced and discovered. They had gone deeper in conversations and in developing inter-personal relations, which was a central objective for the event. So many stories to tell about this simple but magical process. Bonnes chances Esther, Diane Diane Gibeault CPF / FPA Diane Gibeault & Associé.es-Associates Ottawa, ON, Canada (613) 744-2638 www.dianegibeault.com diane.gibea...@roger.com Facilitation and Training in Support of Transformation Facilitation et formation en appui à la transformation -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu]On Behalf Of Communications Esther Matte Sent: September 19, 2006 8:29 AM To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: opening space with very small groups Hello everyone! First, let me say thank you for the wonderful learning I found in the OSList. Im new to Open Space, and even though I have yet to make my first big circle as Ted put it recently, I feel more confident thanks to you all. I may have two possible projects with very small groups (5-7 people) which is what worries me. I have participated to one OST in my experiential training with Diane Gibeault (fantastic!), and co-facilitated one with 45 people. But I simply cannot visualize how it works with as few as 5 people. How do you do this? Do you have several rounds of discussions? In separate rooms? Do people actually work by themselves and team up? Can you do it in approximately 3 hours ? (Maybe 20-30 minutes opening, 2 X 40-minutes rounds of discussion or 3 X 30-minutes, action planning and closing). I'm sure some of you have done this. I'll be meeting with the first possible group next week, and nothing is set in stone yet for the other. Any comments, suggestions, ideas or warnings will be very much appreciated. Thank you very much in advance for your time! Esther Matte Communications Esther Matte 1011, Marie-Victorin Verchères (Québec) J0L 2R0 www.excellence.ca "L'art de dire" Tél. : (450) 583-5849 Téléc. : (450) 583-3513 * * ========================================================== 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