A constant question over the years is how to productively follow up after an Open Space. The question continues, and while I am sure that I do not have the definitive answer I thought the following might be contributory. This was my best shot for a recent client. . .
"And some thoughts on the follow up. If that (follow-up) is seen to be the exclusive responsibility of "Senior Staff" you will fail, people will be unhappy, and in fact you will effectively be continuing precisely the same situation which made the OS such a positive experience (by contrast). To avoid a lot of this I would suggest several things. 1) Pay attention to those issues which can be effectively dealt with (in whole or in part) at whatever level they were raised. Trust and Communication, for example will not improve simply because the High Commissioner orders it (surprise!). And of course the whole Open Space was at one level a massive "workshop" on trust and communication and it seems to have succeeded at least to the point that people have become sensitive to the issues. So stuff is already happening, follow up was occurring before the event was over. 2) Involve the people who care (follow the energy) - Let it be known that if resources and/or change in policy are required then the people who raised the issue and have been working on its resolution are invited to make the case to the appropriate bodies. 3) Pick one or two issues with high visibility that Senior staff can do something about and DO It! If it were me I would write a reflective piece for general circulation - maybe on the website??? - which deals with all the above. One thing I am sure of is that if you make "follow-up" the exclusive problem of Senior staff you will have lost before you begin. The opportunity and the responsibility belongs to everybody." Harrison Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Dr. Potomac, MD 20854 USA Phone 301-365-2093 www.openspaceworld.com www.ho-image.com (Personal Website) To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html * * ========================================================== 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
