Thanks so much Brendan for taking the time to share this! I have saved your information for my own training and I am likely to plagiarize at some point :)
Tricia Chirumbole US: +1-571-232-0942 Skype: tricia.chirumbole On Thu, Jan 30, 2014 at 3:21 PM, Diane Gibeault <[email protected]>wrote: > Well said Brendan! These are the kind of questions people new to OS who > plan on offering, organizing or facilitating an event, want to be ready to > answer. Thank you for that brief and effective way of sharing your > informative answers. > > Diane > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Brendan McKeague <[email protected]> > *To:* OS Listserve <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Thursday, January 30, 2014 12:32:33 AM > *Subject:* [OSList] Sponsor PreWork Conversation (long) > > Hi folks > > I've recently completed a one-day OST meeting with around 150 > participants. It went very well and the sponsor was delighted (and much > relieved) as he had 'put his neck out' with his 'higher-uppers' all along > the way in order to have the event in the first place. One of the hoops he > had to jump through beforehand was to to present a business case and > justification for using OST in this context....I've recorded some of the > email conversation that we've had as we progressed the discernment towards > decision - over about three months. I thought some co-learners might be > interested in parts of the to-ing and fro-ing dialogue - and would love to > hear your comments around the questions this first-time user of OST is > asking....or rather, being compelled to ask. > > Cheers > Brendan > > > Q: Does OST work with bigger numbers - the work shop will be large with an > estimated 150+ diverse state and local government, industry, NGO and > possibly some citizens attending. > R: Open Space Technology (OST) is applicable regardless of numbers and > diversity - indeed, we often find that the more stakeholder complexity, the > better it works. I have worked with up to 350 participants and colleagues > elsewhere with over 2000. > > The workshop is part of the finalisation of the Draft Strategic Plan and > is being held to respond to the various propositions and issues raised in > the public comment phase early this year. I have very briefly outlined the > draft objectives and role of the selected facilitator below: > > *Objective:* > The Strategic Plan is a new format for xxxxxx planning that challenges the > current status quo of planning. Further consultation is required to provide > a greater level of understanding of the ‘systems’ concept, and seek input > on content and implementation issues. Main objectives include: > > · To build a collaborative environment ; > R: OST certainly creates the opportunity for this - with the benefit of > no predetermined agenda, all participants are invited to collaborate in > co-creating the agenda around what's really important to them. > > · provide a greater understanding of the legislation impetus; > R: OST allows participants to diverge and engage with others who have > similar questions/issues in order to clarify understandings and pursue > ideas that matter to them > > · genuine input and actions to assist in the finalisation of the > Strategic Plan > R: OST invites those who wish to contribute according to interest > (passion) and responsibility - and then to offer to be part of ongoing > actions beyond the event itself > > *Main role for Facilitator:* > > · Organisation of 150 stakeholders – some groups will be > considered high risk. > R: In OST, the participants self-organise and self-manage around what they > care about - its a marvellous, fluid way to enable genuine/transparent > collaboration, participation, inclusivity and emergence - thereby > diminishing the likelihood of distraction by the disgruntled or a > hi-jacking by the heavies > > · Creating a strategic, dynamic and collaborative process in and > out of the workshop > R: OST is a world-leading technology for this type of process > > . memorable, positive, inspiring – has to have the same takeaway as *previous > (Deliberative Democracy) forum* i.e. participation was worthy of time, > feel inspired, have made a difference - > R: no process (or facilitator) in the world can guarantee these outcomes - > unfortunately for me! OST can create the space where they are most likely > to show up, provided that the sponsors have done their preparation properly > - i.e. asked the right question, issued the right invitation, created the > right space....then, the folks who care to show up in response do the rest > by themselves. The power of a great OST mtg comes from the release of > passionate energy when people are given the freedom to do what they really > care about > > · Participants must go home with a greater more positive > understanding (including impetus for use) of the SPS and systems thinking > R: its very difficult to enforce the 'must go home with' aspiration when > working with a group of mature (and diverse) adults. I can however say, > from my experience of facilitating over 250 OST mtgs around the country in > the last 15 years, that OST does provide everyone with the opportunity to > participate at the level they chose, to ask the questions they bring with > them, to engage with others who care about similar issues, to record their > conversations, to contribute to action outcomes and to learn more about the > topic about which they're meeting. And in all of that, they usually have > a lot of fun too! > > · Defining clear objectives and parameter of discussion > R: Once again, this is the work of the sponsors beforehand - we call these > 'the givens' that form part of the invitation in OST - the container in > which 'the space is open' - then let the people get to work around what > they came to do > > · Day round up > R: OST usually finishes with a Closing Circle for comments from > participants and sponsors > > > Dear Brendan, > > In an attempt to manage stakeholders expectations and ensure effective > facilitation of diverse ~150 stakeholders within the broad scope (theme: > Making the Planning Strategy a Success) , could you please kindly advise > based on the desired outcomes (below) as to whether any other > facilitation method would achieve the same outcomes as Open Space > Technology (OST). > > · Time and labour efficient > R: I know of no other process that will get 150 people working on what > they want to work on together as quickly as OST; with the opening > explanation and agenda creation taking about 45-50mins, the whole 150 > participants can get down to work quickly on issues that are important to > them. > > · Memorable and inspiring > R: This is a product of participation on the day. The participants will > create their own agenda around what's important to them and so they are > invited to take responsibility for what they offer and engage with i.e. if > it is not memorable and inspiring, then it may be that they have not > responded fully to the invitation and they are in the wrong place - they > can use the Law of Mobility to move elsewhere - or even leave if what's on > offer is not why they came. Hence the importance of creating a clear, > transparent and irresistible invitation for those who wish to make this > Strategy a success. It is extremely important for the Sponsors to be > familiar with, and endorse, the guarantees of an OST meeting - see attached > explanation. > > · collaborative > R: There are many levels of collaboration. Mature collaboration is about > engaging with others - who may have very similar or very different views- > and taking time to listen well, to speak truthfully about issues that are > important and to be open to what emerges. Lesser forms/models of > collaboration adopt coercion, compliance and competition as a container for > obtaining predetermined desired outcomes. OST provides a container for > self-organising around what is identified as important by those who wish to > (or even, 'have to') do something about implementing this strategy. The OST > process models the intention of seeking more mature collaboration around > complex issues involving multiple stakeholders. > > · Enables strategic thinking > R: The Planning Strategy has been developed - i.e. the diagnostics have > been completed - based on various previous consultations. Now is the time > for moving into implementation and operationalising the outcomes. This > requires a dialogical process - where those responsible for implementation > have opportunities to interpret, clarify, be creative, innovative and > consider how they are going to do this within their own circles of > influence. As I understand it, it's exploratory and open - there is not one > uniform way of making this work successfully - it there is, then OST is not > needed - people are told what to do and resourced to do it. OST provides > space for creativity, diverse views and novel ideas to be named and > explored. This cannot be legislated in advance - it needs to emerge from > the confluence of energy, knowledge, skills, experiences and potentially > contentious views of those who show up. OST is the most transparent process > for this, with inbuilt principles of self-determination that enable high > levels of passionate energy, high levels of learning and high levels of > 'fun' to show up on the day. > > · Rapid consensus > R: This is another question entirely. In a one-day meeting of 150 > diverse stakeholders, what are you seeking 'rapid consensus' on? > I would need to hear more from you about your purpose and intentions here. > In my experience, when consensus is an expectation in such a short > time-frame with so many people, there are too often 'winners and losers' > and people can easily get bogged down in detail around language > interpretation, aggressive defensiveness and even destructive competition > to try to force a neat outcome. There are other, often more appropriate, > ways of creating and sustaining alignment with the Strategy into the future > (e.g. by creating and supporting 'communities of practice' around key > themes emerging from the OST meeting) > > > R: Thanks for asking these key clarifying questions. I realise how > important this conference is in terms of creating a platform for > implementation of the Planning Strategy. I agree that the process on the > day needs to be the best match for your purpose. > > I have inserted a few comments and attached a brief 2 page explanation of > OST and its 'guarantees'. > > In a nutshell, OST is not driven by 'predetermined outcomes' (my words) - > it is about creating space for engagement and emergence with those who will > be doing the work of implementation. It is a self-organising dialogical > process that, in my opinion, is most suitable for this stage of your > Planning Strategy. > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > > > > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > >
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