Facilitator training

Thu Sep 21 07:30:55 PDT 2000

Laurel,

What a cool story!  If you really meant it, I'd love to see your power point
presentation.  I use OST in a corporate setting and continually seek to
enhance my OST "marketing" materials.  I think you were masterful in working
with the facilitator team.  So often, they can be the most difficult people
to deal with!  The self-discovery aspects of OST are so powerful. I am also
not sure about "Harrison's wonderful listserve posting about convergence and
how it depended on the group and the circumstances.  ("Am I
anti-convergence?. . . ")."  Can you point me to it?  I just got on the
listserve.  Congratulations on a wonderful training.

Leslie D'Agostino
630-713-9858

-----Original Message-----
From: Doersam, Laurel [mailto:Laurel.Doersam at CAPHEALTH.ORG]
Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2000 6:39 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Facilitator training

Here's a report on the OS facilitator training in Capital Health Region:

We started on Wednesday evening with 30 people.  I did an introduction to
Open Space Technology with a power point presentation (which I'd be happy to
share if it would be helpful to anyone) that introduced the group to the
theoretical underpinnings of OST.  This inspired a brief discussion about
the role of ritual in creating the magic, a theme which recurred over the
following days.  We then had a conversation about what the theme for the
Open Space the next morning would be, and the group decided on "Creating a
collaborative workplace".

One of the new facilitators who had attended several Open Space sessions in
the past and who intends to use OST for data collection for her MA thesis
research volunteered to open the space on Thursday morning.  She did a
wonderful job, and before we knew it the marketplace had 23 topics.  The
discussions were lively and heartfelt.  One of the topics was about what
should be done with the information that the group had generated in their
discussions, so we crafted convergence around this issue.

There was a lull in activity for about half an hour in the afternoon, prior
to convergence, with some people entering stuff into the computers, some
reading the breaking news and some butterflying about, deeply engaged in
their own discussions at the food table or reading the articles at the
information table. (This table, incidentally, was full of dozens of
wonderful postings I had pulled off the listserve!).  One man, a rather
intense person with a very strong work ethic came up to me and wanted me to
get things moving.  I explained that we had lots of time to do what needed
to be done and that sometimes lulls do happen in OST.  I refused to
intervene. (Remember, I wasn't the facilitator here - not that I would have
intervened anyway!!!)  At any rate, it was an interesting perspective on
time and timeliness.  He came close to leaving, then decided to stick it
out.  He convened a session the next day on the role of the facilitator in
moving the process along in sensitivity to the culture of the organization.

The group reconvened shortly and seemed satisfied with the work they'd done.
The group decided that the information should be sent to the chief nursing
officer, all four VP's and the CEO of our organization.  The excitement in
the room was palpable.  Several of the participants commented in the closing
circle that they had expected this "artificial" Open Space to feel quite
forced and phony, but they'd been amazed at how real issues had emerged and
how spirited the discussions had been.

At the end of circle, we took some time to go over the nuts and bolts (2
pages, already!!). The woman who had facilitated spent some time talking
about her experience and how it had felt.  When she mentioned the feeling of
vulnerability and nervousness she'd felt walking the circle for the first
time, I had an inspiration!  We had about half an hour left in the day, so I
suggested that everyone who would like to try it could walk the circle.  One
woman immediately jumped up and walked it, giving a brief introduction to
OST as she walked.  The next person to try it told a story about his kids.
One woman gave a delightful, hilarious demonstration of a pivoting technique
she'd learned in charm school when she was a teenager.  The mood was light,
playful and warm.  One fellow recited the entire theme song from "Gilligan's
Island" as he walked the circle.  All in all, it was a wonderful way to end
the day, and did a lot to alleviate the anxiety of this new and scary
facilitation method. I then asked for volunteer facilitators for the next
day and we had 6 facilitation pairs within about a minute.

Friday was our marathon day - we went from 9am to 9pm.  We had three
separate OST sessions, the first two being four-hour sessions, and the last
one only two hours.  While I know this will shock many seasoned
facilitators, it's the sad reality of our workplace that it is very
difficult to get groups of people together for ANY length of time.  With the
worldwide nursing shortage, I expect those of you who interface with health
care will understand the challenges.  We divided the large group into two,
and they headed off immediately after morning news for their separate OS
events.  The theme for both sessions was "The role of the facilitator in
OST".  I worked between the two groups and mostly provided moral support for
the facilitation teams, and also was able to participate in some of the
discussions.  I bumble-bee'd about and got to feel a part of the community.
Both sessions went wonderfully.

The next Open Space was on "Convergence".  Again, it was a hit, a theme
people felt strongly about.  (BTW, I divided the group differently for each
of the three events so that we had some fluidity within the larger group -
since I was hoping to build a supportive facilitator community, I didn't
want little cliques to develop - it worked well)  Each session did their own
convergence, then we met as a large group.  During the large group, I walked
them through one of the methods I've had the most success with - the one
where the convener writes his/her topic at the top of a flip chart, writes
key issues, and puts a heading for next steps and who will take
responsibility.  The group meandered around the room, visiting each
convener, and several had things to add to the flip charts.  The ongoing
discussions and level of engagement around the flipcharts was amazing.

After this exercise, we had a group discussion about convergence.  There was
lots of confusion in the room around convergence (gee, sound familiar??).  A
woman suggested that we needed to agree upon a clear and definitive recipe
for convergence.  One fellow intervened and said that in his opinion the
role of the facilitator (me, in this case) should be to lead this discussion
toward resolution.  What a perfect opening for me to clarify that to do that
would rob the group of resolving the issue on their own, and that in Open
Space the facilitator does not lead or direct discussion!!  They finally
decided that they could live with some ambiguity and uncertainty around
convergence and that there was no clear formula.  Having come to that
conclusion all on their own, I read them Harrison's wonderful listserve
posting about convergence and how it depended on the group and the
circumstances.  ("Am I anti-convergence?. . . ")

A really interesting session had been held in the morning on "The Unpure OST
facilitator".  The participants agreed that the ritual elements of OST were
optional and that the facilitator could pick and choose between what to
include and what not to include.  I raised the issue of ritual with the
larger group during this circle, and asked the question about how we
maintain the integrity of the process so that when someone asks for OST,
they can know what to expect.  (Walking the circle, the 4 principles, the
law of two feet, bumblebees, butterflies, etc and FOOD).  The discussion was
amazing, and the group ultimately agreed that the only way to maintain the
integrity of the process was to include ALL the ritual elements that
participants might come to expect.  Again, it was neat how the group taught
itself with minimal intervention from me.  I simply posed the question.

The last (two-hour) Open Space events of the day were around the topic: "How
can we best train facilitators?"  We again divided the group in two (again
with a different mix of people).  The intent of this OST, of course, was to
evaluate the training.  I got lots of positive feedback, and some great
ideas for the future!  The group felt a lot of anxiety about managing
sponsors' expectations and negotiating with sponsors.  We came up with an
action plan and some committed workers to formulate an information sheet for
the managers in our organization about the logistics of OST, when it is
appropriate and when it is not, the role and responsibilities of the
internal facilitator, and the sponsors role and responsibilities to follow
up on the recommendations. (I've had sponsors wanting me to do all the
groundwork from photocopying and putting together information packages to
organizing space, booking rooms and catering - this stuff ought to be done
by the sponsor, I believe.)

The next morning, we spent most of the day on nuts and bolts.  At the final
circle, several people commented on their about-face on the issue of ritual.
One woman mentioned that it was comforting to know what to expect in some
small way, as we sit on the edge of chaos.  Three people said that they had
been skeptical about the value of ritual, but had been converted.  (All this
conversion, and I didn't proselytize even once!!)  We decided on some
tactical issues such as how to engage the new CEO of our organization.  We
have planned an OST event in early October for our management group (of
close to 100), with our CEO as the sponsor!  The theme will be "Creating a
supportive community of managers".  The invitation went out today.

We've set a date near the end of October to meet again, after everyone has
one or more OST events under their belt, to share stories.  We'll meet
monthly for whoever can make it - "whoever comes . . ." !  One of the
fellows is setting up a discussion group on the internet for our little OST
community - and I expect that there are already a few newbies lurking on the
listserve.

My task this week is to collate all the information from all the sessions on
our marathon day to put together into a facilitator's manual.  I've already
sent copies of our proceedings from the first day to our CNO, our CEO and
all the VP's.

And the best thing of all . . . I now have a wonderful community of OST
colleagues that I can meet with in the flesh (not to disparage the
incredible community on the listserve that has been my lifeline the last few
months!).  We've set up a meeting for end of October - and, of course, we'll
be doing our meetings in Open Space.

Thanks to all who helped and advised me on this training.  Special thanks to
Jimbo for sharing his slides, for Peggy, Birgitt, Lisa, Annette and Chris
for their support and suggestions.  And a gigantic hug to Harrison for his
generosity, support and mentoring - not to mention the great training!
(Hope I haven't missed anybody - I've been so focused on this training the
past few weeks that it has occupied every waking moment - I've been a bit
foggy about everything else!)

I'm counting the days until Berlin. . .

Laurel.

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