Day 2 Bounce and some elementary matters.

[owen]

At 06:59 PM 12/15/1998 -0400, you wrote:
>Greetings,
>
>I am facilitating my first OST meeting this Thursday, based primarily on
>reading Owens book and a very helpful conversation from Brigitt Bolton.
>
>Although the meeting is coming very soon, there are several points on which
>I am unclear and would welcome some assistance, one of them regarding the
>Day 2 bounce.
>
>This is a two day meeting, but with a gap of several weeks between meeting
>days. The theme is to surface the issues and concerns that must be addressed
>in order to report on the state of the environment in the areas of land and
>biota in this province--and to suggest indicators that must be monitored in
>order to track those issues.  The participants are government scientists,
>environmentalists and a representatives of native organizations.  About 40
>people have indicated they will participate.  The gap between meetings is
>there to allow participants to consult with colleagues who are not at the
>meeting and to bring in pertinent information that my be helpful, but may
>not be held by the participants, because no one had yet identified those
>areas or needs.  The gap is long because of the intervening holidays --the
>second meeting day is scheduled for January 14.
>
>I am wondering if such a long gap will dilute the power of the second day
>and we should seek to reschedule, or if this is not likely to pose a
>problem?
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There is no question in my mind that Day II will be less powerful than it
could be were it contiguous to Day I -- at the same time, it could be a
very useful experiment. If it were me, i think I would go for two
contigusou days with whoever came, and trust that the phones / emails would
work over the period for additional info, and further that the folks
present would get a lot further than you or they ever thought possible.
Lastly, the degree of bonding that takes place on a two day event goes
pretty deep. And if the exercise is at least as much about creating an
ongoing, effective working group as it is about information... I would
definitely go for two contiguous days. either way we learn something. h.
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>-Lunch break.  The 1.5 hr break the book proposes seems awfully long for a
>one day meeting (which in effect is what this one seems to me because of the
>gap) and where only one workshop period will have taken place by lunch.
>Does it make sense to shorten it in a one day situation?  Are there any
>other suggestions regarding incorporating this time, for instance if a group
>wants to schedule a session?
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By all means, make it less - but just remember it is all open space. If
groups want to meet they certainly can. Their time and space.
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>>-Does the 3rd Principle mean that if someone has signed up to convene a
>group at 2:00, but who is in a conversation or meeting. they don't want to
>leave, they have no responsibility to show up at 2?
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It means the choice is theirs as it always is. If asked, I compare it to a
party you host. It would be rather strange if you did not come... but it
could happen. Indeed it has happened, and guess what -- everything worked
out just perfectly.
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>-Does the Law of two Feet mean that people do not need to make a commitment
>to participate for the day? h.
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Sure -- but what are your alternatives? Stand there with pistols? Also,
what do you mean by participation? Some people come to the gathering and
never join a session. We call them butterflies. Very useful. And as a
continuing Butterfly, I want to stand up for the rights, duties and
obligations -- to be free. h.
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>-Does the facilitator play a role in resolution of scheduling conflict?  How
>long is this part of the meeting likely to take?
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No -- Presumably your folks are conscenting adults and they, for sure will
work it out. Most important, they will learn a lot just in the process of
doing same. As for time -- normative experience is that from the time you
start to speak until the time all participants are in their first sessions
is something like 1 1/2 hours. This is true whether there are 25, 250, 500
or 1000 people. h.
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>-And most elementary of all,  how do you speak from the centre of a circle
>for an extended period of time when part of the participants always at your
>back?
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Keep walking about. Go to the edges, cross the circle, engage the people.
And don't talk too long. 15 min max will get a group up and running. Longer
than that and your are heading for a speach. Just remember you want to get
out quickly for your nap. But most important remember that the thing is to
get the folks to work as soon as possible. h.