As you have gathered folks do everything under the Sun from 1 hour to three or four days. And it also seems that some basic rules of thumb can be helpful. Just remember it takes an hour and a bit to get going (open the space, post the issues, etc) so if you only have three hours, I find you are cutting things a little close. To be sure you can have 3 45 min sessions, and with a group that is experienced with Open Space, one hour can cover a lot of ground. That said, I also find that with anything less than a day the participants will discover that they feel rather like two little boys on a rainy Saturday --- just about the time they have all the toys out and are really having a good time, Mother comes in with the clean-up call, and it is all over. Basic rules of thumb for me are: 1 Day you will get most of the issues out, but not terribly deeply. 2 Days There will be a few more issues discussed (posted) and almost all of them will be dealt with in some depth. 2 and ½ Days and you can get everything in priority order, related issues converged, and actions planned. I have gone on as long as 4 days, but I find the fatigue level begins to show. There are two other things I try to keep in mind when talking with the client about How Long? First is the level of complexity and conflict. If you have a hugely complex issue laced with lots of conflict, I just wouldnt think about anything less that 2 or better 2 ½ days. I know this can sound like a lot of time, but when the stakes are high, people will spend the time. And there are also lots of cases where groups have done in 2 days what they knew could not be accomplished in less than a year. So it ends up being time well spent. A second thing I bring to peoples attention is the whole question of Proceedings. Records of conversation can certainly be done in a 1 day setting, but I find the level of quality vastly improves when two days are allotted. Lastly I think you will find most of what I just outlined in Open Space Technology: A Users Guide :-) Harrison -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dominique Proudhon Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2003 10:33 AM To: [email protected] Subject: OS format flexibility? Here is another question I have: It is not always easy to gather a group of people on a given issue for a full day, less 2 or 3. For example, if a city council wants to use OS to involve citizens in resolving a given issue, it seems difficult to propose a full day or two. In such settings, meetings usually happen in the evenings after work hours. What experiences have been done, if any, around splitting OS events in smaller time periods? I guess some momentum would be lost, but would the process still work? Or is the best option to just refuse to organize a less than a day event? All the best, Dominique. Dominique Proudhon Group Facilitation Problem solving Conflict resolution Dampierre 38470 Notre Dame de l'Osier (33) 4 76 36 71 34 (33) 6 78 91 48 77 -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Catherine Pfaehler Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2003 4:56 PM To: [email protected] Subject: AW: New member Dear Dominique What you write resonates very much with me, all of it. Welcome to the list, and keep your spirits up Wonderful what you share about your first OS experiences. Congratulations! You might find a lot of kindred spirits in France who would love to participate in a public OS on the topics you raised in your first paragraph. Can you find a city council who would be interested in such input from its inhabitants? Love, Catherine Catherine Pfaehler Kellersriedweg 8 CH - 2503 Biel/Bienne T/F/B ++41 - (0)32 - 365 68 41 -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- Von: OSLIST [mailto:[email protected]]Im Auftrag von Dominique Proudhon Gesendet: Dienstag, 16. Dezember 2003 08:58 An: [email protected] Betreff: New member Good day all, I joined the OSlist a few days ago and have been lurking for a while. I am very impressed with the quality of the exchanges on this list and find myself drawn to participate. Several threads called my attention; in particular the one questioning the list itself (what are we doing? Arent we loosing our spirit, Should we split?) I find these conversations very healthy. And also the one about Civil Conversation, which resonates with an old questioning of mine around ways to implement real participative democracy I am dreaming of initiating some real debate around the question what world do we chose to build for tomorrow?. I believe we humans are caught up in our own contradictions: after centuries of evolving faster and faster technically, and having more transformative power than ever, we are now facing the essential question of Meaning: How do we participate in the world and to what end? What is our responsibility in regard to what is happening in our world? Especially all the not so nice little things like irreversible destruction of earth resources, loss of entire species, wars and weapon builders, starving, and all that noisy ongoing disconnected stupidity on our tv and radio shows that take people away from being I believe that for the first time, we, at least in developed countries, have won the freedom to look beyond simply working for survival, to ask ourselves: how do I want to also make this place a little better? Anyway. Ill stop here for today. My goal was actually to introduce myself: I am French and leave in Grenoble. After a PhD in molecular/cellular biology and 6 years of research. I decided to do something else with my life and moved to human resources development. I actually did that career move in the US: I lived 10 years in North Carolina. I wanted to understand why people so often get into conflicts because of films they make in their heads that have little to do with reality. I wanted to find ways to work on re-establishing lost connections, especially in the workplace, where they could serve common projects and goals. I trained with Will Schutz, originator of the Human Element, became a mediator, trained in various psychometric tools and got to work with various groups. Two years ago, just before I came back to France, I bought a book that called my attention: Open Space Technology, a users guide. I read it in the plane. It was one of those ha ha: I found something I was looking for. A piece of extreme simplicity that called on very ecological principles to set the stage for real connection between people and for meaning to happen. On top of that, this approach was shared openly without any bind, just as a gift to humanity, which seduced me even more... I decided to try it as soon as I would get the opportunity, here, in France. Starting a new business as a group facilitator/team consultant has not been easy thing. Things are slow going and I often get discouraged. But I finally got the opportunity to run two different open space events for two different clients in the last year (30 people and 36 people). Both very energizing experiences and both around the question How could we improve the way we function as a team?: I loved the first moments of surprise in peoples eyes, and then the sudden rush to bring up issues as they understood that the event was theirs. Several persons approached me at the end telling me how much this work had moved them from a negative reactive position to an engaged position and telling me about a number of places they would see such work as useful. Thanks to Harrison, they got a gift they deserved. Felt quite good to serve in such a meaningful way. Ill continue. I now would like to share this approach with others in France and starting a French Open Space Institute (web site in preparation for sometime next year). Of course, I have plenty of questions around OST, but Ill wait: This post is already long enough, you guys are busy, and I need to read more of the documentation to make sure I am not asking questions that have already been answered 20 times. All the best to each of you, Dominique Note: I am a guy, for those who would wonder. Dominique Proudhon Group Facilitation Problem solving Conflict resolution Dampierre 38470 Notre Dame de l'Osier (33) 4 76 36 71 34 (33) 6 78 91 48 77 * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected], Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected], Visit:
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