5 Simultaneous Open Spaces

[Pannwitz, Michael M]

Larry and the others with you!
I can feel your excitement all across the pond!
Greetings from Berlin
mmp

On Sun, 7 Mar 2004 11:52:33 -0500, Larry Peterson wrote:

>Yesterday, March 6, a major non-profit housing provider in Toronto held
>a one day session with 5 simultaneous OSTs in one large room.  (May be a
>record, I don't know.)  The groups were 150, 85, 85, 45 and 45
>participants in size.  There were 5 themes, 5 sets of  "sponsors",  5
>circles and breakout areas,  5 OST facilitators, 5 convergence
>processes.  Judy Gast and I were the leads for Starfield consulting who
>planned the "content" part and worked with their logistics teams under
>the oversight of a broader Planning Committee.  We all did the planning
>in about 6 weeks.
>
>I won't tell the whole story here as it will take a while to digest but
>here are a few points that might interest you.  The March 6 event was a
>follow-up OST after a previous event for 360 tenants and staff last
>October.  That was one event, one circle and one convergence in 1.5
>days.  We did that convergence by voting and then people met in their
>local units.  These were Tenant representatives elected to each of 27
>new clusters of housing complexes.  (There are 139,000 tenants in all.)
>They were staff involved in managing and supporting the new local
>housing clusters. They are moving toward more local management of the
>housing clusters with active elected tenant councils and managers
>accountable for the plan for each cluster.
>
>The October meeting produced six clear do-its for priority attention by
>the organization.  Substantial progress has been made on all six.  It
>also identified 5 key areas for further conversation: Safety,
>Maintenance, Tenant & Staff Relations, Human Rights & Equity and Youth
>Initiatives.  There were top voted topics in those categories but the
>"next steps" were not as clear as needed.
>
>So, after some planning struggles, the committee decided to engage us
>again to help them have the next steps discussions - with about 6 weeks
>to plan.
>
>So, we prepared the overall approach with the Planning Committee, and
>then worked to develop 5 sets of background framing, givens, parameters
>for action with the staff and tenant leads for each group.  That also
>meant working with their logistics committees for setting up the
>previously booked room for 5 events in a previously determined one day
>short time frame 10-3:30.
>
>Starfied found 3 other facilitators plus Judy and I - Sharon King (who
>is Starfield), Meg Salter and Becky Peterson (who lives with me).  We
>got them up to speed on the background and into meetings with the leads
>for their theme group.
>
>Even with some sound problems - each circle had its own sound system in
>one huge room - I believe it went very well.  Each of the 5 OST's had
>great discussions on their theme, came up with some good ideas for going
>further, set some priorities for attention and had volunteers ready lead
>some ongoing initiatives.  But, it was the conversations that were
>exiting with tenant and staff working together to lead and record.  It
>was fun, hard work and the energy at the end was remarkable when we all
>a came together for a quick thank you from the CEO  (who was there for
>the whole thing).
>
>Someday, the whole story will be put together - with video, digital
>pictures, etc. - but I wanted to let you know that its possible to have
>5 at one time in the same room.
>
>Larry
>
>Larry Peterson
>Associates in Transformation
>Toronto, ON, Canada
>416.653.4829
>
>larry at spiritedorg.com
>www.spiritedorg.com
>
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Michael M Pannwitz
boscop
Draisweg 1
12209 Berlin, Germany
FON +49 - 30-772 8000     FAX +49 - 30-773 92 464
www.michaelmpannwitz.de
www.openspace-landschaft.de

An der E-Gruppe "openspacedeutsch" für deutschsprechende open space-PraktikerInnen interessiert? Enfach eine mail an mich.

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