My name is David Cox and I am a dept chair (and prof of ed) at Arkansas State Univ. I attended an OS training event in August in Maine with Harrison Owen and Sue Inches. I have just joined this listserv.
I am getting ready to hold my first Open Space. I have sold the concept to the Vice President for Academic Affairs. He is willing to trust me with his annual retreat for Academic Affairs Sept 17 (all day) and Sept 18 (half day). The group is about 25 in number. About 7 Deans are included in the 25. I don't want to mess up (at least not big time) my first time out of the chute. I have four questions I would like some help with. (I have e-mailed both Harrison and Sue, but I don't their schedules. They may not have time to get back to me.) (1) As it stands right now attendance at the retreat is expected and not voluntary. I would prefer it be voluntary but I don't think I can sell the Vice President on that. As a manager he expects his people to be there. I can see that the Law of Two Feet is honored during Open Space, but am I making a big mistake by not insisting on a voluntary retreat? If the retreat itself is not voluntary should I back out? Will it work to honor voluntary participation during the retreat? (2) With only a day and a half to work with, am I okay to ask for written reports at the end of day 1? (I'll print overnight and do the prioritization, convergence, action stuff on the morning of day 2) (3) Is there a rule of thumb for how many breakout spaces and rooms you plan for during a one and a half hour session? I know the book says 5 breakout rooms for 100 people, but what about rooms AND spaces. When I prepare the time matrix, how many breakouts (post its with time and location) do I have for a particular session (e.g., 10:30 to 12:00)? For a group of 25, 4 breakouts, 3, 6,? (4) If you folks recommend (for example) 4 breakouts per session and I have 3 sessions in day 1, that allows for 12 issues to emerge. What would I do if more than 12 issues surfaced? Isn't it important for everyone to get their stuff out? I hope somebody out there can give me some quick guidance. Excitement combined with a little anxiety has set in. Thank you so much!
