Small Group OS

Bert Elliott bert.elliott at moh.hnet.bc.ca
Wed Feb 10 15:09:01 PST 1999


I have had success using a OS with a small group in that it gave people
a chance to develop a relevant agenda and people dealt with it
earnestly. I did notice however that people did not use the law of two
feet when it looked like they were neither  learning nor contributing.
It was also hard for me to not play the facilitator role when I could
see the group process wavering. (I did resist the temptation to
facilitate in a direct way.)

At the end of the day, the people said it was extremely valuable to have
the time to talk to each other about things that mattered to them. The
space was as open as trust would allow and it worked.

Joe Szostak wrote:

>  Friends, Are there any special considerations when using Open Space
> with a small group within a small company--say 7-12 people? I have
> colleague who runs a small sporting goods store.  She is a remarkable
> person who won a national Entrepreneur of the Year Award awhile back.
> She has taken pains to grow her business through growing her people,
> and is quite interested in trying OS for an all day planning session
> on how to further develop the business, respond to new conditions,
> etc. I have used OS several times with medium size groups of very
> diverse people from different organizations. And, to repeat the
> question, am wondering if the situation I've described is any
> different.  For example, the first concerns that come to my mind is
> how to set up meeting so that people are there  because they want to
> be rather because they feel they have to be.... I'd appreciate your
> thoughts and experiences.  Joe Szostak

--
Bert Elliott
Program Administrator
Staff Development and Training, Ministry of Health
848 Pandora Avenue, Victoria, B.C. V8W 1P2
Phone: (250)952-2334     Fax: (250)952-2335

WEB SITE: http://admin.moh.hnet.bc.ca/staffdev/



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