Harrison has done one OS with a group of 5 when the rest of a larger group was unable to get to the site due to a snowstorm. He says it worked fine.
I believe you can have a productive and valuable session with your 10 senior managers if you have: (1) an issue that truly engages the managers, (2) a need - preferably a critical need - for immediate decisions and/or actions of which they feel competent, and (3) an atmosphere relatively free of significant interpersonal power issues. What you MAY lose with a small group is (1) diversity - especially ideas at the edges - and (2) commitment - if the small group is planning for a larger group's implementation. OS is one way for "getting the whole system into the room." If the 10 senior managers are the "whole system" with respect to the issue(s) that they will be addressing, they are sufficient under both criteria. On the other hand we should remember Margaret Mead's dictum about the effectiveness of a small group. And continue to hold before us that "whatever happens if the only thing that could have happened." One other consideration: It may be more difficult for you to "disappear into the background" if you are 10% of the people in the room. When you constitute 1% or fewer you may hope to get the sort of reaction Harrison reports getting at the end of one of his sessions: "Who are you?" Geoff Bellman argues that it's important in any intervention, but it seems particularly so in OS that we be able to "get out of the way." This is especially difficult, I think, for internal consultants and may be even more difficult if the consultant is at about the same "level" of the organization as the client group. -----Original Message----- From: Bert Elliott <[email protected]> To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Date: Tuesday, May 26, 1998 3:43 PM Subject: Open Space >To: OSI --INTERNET [email protected] > >I just read Open Space Technology and am really excited about using it. I have >an opportunity soon with a group of about 10 senior managers. Any advice about >using it with small groups. The book references large groups in most cases. > >Regards, >Bert Elliott >Program Administrator >Staff Development and Training (952-2334) >
