when a client hires Open Space Technology, is this what she gets?

[Birgitt Williams]

Today I received a call, similar to others I have received, in which an
organization has hired a consultant to facilitate an Open Space Technology
meeting. The decision to hire the consultant and to use the process was made
at a senior management level. The contract is in place. The story, one that
I have had to deal with before (this is the third time in the last 6 weeks),
is that the senior manager has been in discussion with another manager who
has used OST and the discussion led to the satisfaction that the other
manager had because of the convergence and action planning process at the
end of the meeting. The senior manager who phoned me realized that there was
no plan for this type of convergence in the contract. When she had phoned
the consultant, the manager discovered that the consultant did not know what
she was speaking of. This caused the manager to go onto the internet to find
out a little more, came upon my website, and wanted to know if she had hired
a consultant who would do a good job and deliver Open Space Technology as
she now understood it to be.

The name of the consultant was unfamiliar to me. I have no idea what the
consultant does that he calls Open Space Technology. I do know he charged a
lot. I said I did not know the consultant, couldn't speak for his work, and
then I e-mailed the manager a list of what key ingredients would be in an
Open Space Technology meeting and suggested questions that she ask of the
consultant. She phoned me back and wanted to know about standards of
performance. She said that she had hired Open Space Technology, in good
faith, because she was convinced it was the right thing to do. She assumed
that this is what she would get from someone who provided Open Space
Technology.

I believe strongly that situations such as this are going to cause a
backlash against Open Space Technology. I stand even more firmly in my
belief that each facilitator of Open Space Technology will facilitate in
accordance with his/her uniqueness as well as with his/her interpretation
and perception of what Open Space Technology is AND that certain key
ingredients must be attended to.

Years ago, when I worked in social services, the various agencies were
working hard, doing good works, and were filled with pride but not
necessarily focused on meeting the needs of the clients, working with the
clients on what the clients wanted. I feel the same at this moment about the
way we are offering Open Space Technology. Are we the ones interpreting the
needs of the clients in the same way social services did? Or are we
listening to what the clients want and meeting their needs? What if one of
their needs is assurance that if they hire Open Space Technology, that this
is what they will actually get? To date, in my experience, we do not offer
this. The client gets whatever the consultant chooses to deliver and calls
Open Space or Open Space Technology.

Birgitt

Birgitt Williams
Make Genuine Contact!
Dalar Associates: organizational
effectiveness consultants

Striving for Success? Ready to exceed
your expectations?

Contact us for consulting services, training,
conference and meeting facilitation,
and keynote speaking.

www.openspacetechnology.com

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/20000902/76aadb7a/attachment-0009.htm>