A Different Kind of Convergence

[Chris Corrigan]

Maybe I'm missing something, but why isn't everyone working together here?  If
you give the work to the senior managers on the third day you lose all the
passion of the middle managers.  It sounds like the senior managers think that
they are the only ones who can improve the company.  It won't work.  And it will
have the opposite effect of encouraging responsibility on behalf of the middle
managers.  Why should they take responsibility if they have no room to exercise
that responsibility?

My recommendation would be to have everybody in Open Space for 2.5 days with a
proper convergence and action planning exercise on the third day.  If the senior
management say that they can't afford the time investment, ask them how they
think the middle managers can.

If you get them all in the same room, and the leadership really opens the space,
and they stay toegther for the whole time, it will work wonders.  But dividng
them up like that won't work.  You will have put a wall between the groups
through which neither passion or responsibility can flow.

Sorry to seem a little heavy handed, but unless I'm missing something, this is my
advice.

Chris

"Esther ." wrote:

> Hi folks:
>
> I am doing a two day open space with finance managers (about 60) from a
> telecommunications company. The topic is How Can We Make Finance at "x"
> organization a better, more productive place to work?
>
> The idea is to get the middle managers to step up to participating more and
> taking more responsibilty. However, the invitation asks them to make
> recommendations that the senior finance group (about 10 people) will take and
> work with on the third day.
>
> My question is, how can I make the third day meaningful? Anyone have
> suggestions for process? I managed to get the senior folk to circulate some
> key strategic information to the middle managers that they had not been
> given. As well, the context in this organization is that they have just come
> through some voluntary separations and none of those folks are to be
> replaced. So there are questions to wrestle with like how they can get the
> important work done and not still labour on trying to do everything they've
> always done? Also how can they do the kind of work that they need to do to
> assist the organization meet its goals in ways that makes finance a more
> valuable business partner with the rest of the organization.
>
> Any ideas on what I could do on the third day? I've already got them looking
> at their 1999 plan to do an assessment on what they planned to do in 99-2000
> and what has yet to be done and what will they just not do.
>
> I could really use some suggestions.
>
> Best regards
> Esther Ewing
>
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--
CHRIS CORRIGAN
Consultation - Facilitation
Open Space Technology

108-1035 Pacific Street
Vancouver BC
V6E 4G7

Phone: 604.683.3080
Fax: 604.683.3036
corcom at interchange.ubc.ca
http://www.geocities.com/chris_corrigan

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