OST and Open Forums

[Erich Kolenaty]

  ----- Original Message -----

  Can you (or any other) please make a summary in a few
  sentences about what is Open Forum amd how it compares
  with OST.
  Artur
Artur,

Dannemiller-Tyson folks call an "Open Forum" a sequence of specific steps to
work on informations (especially in organizations).  Here we go:
.
The basic setting: Participants are sitting in groups of (about) 8 in
circles, sometimes around tables. People are conscious seated and preferable
every table has a max-mix constellation of persons and is a microcosmos of
the organization itself.

1. step:
The "Head" of the organization gives a presentation  e.g. on "What happend,
where we are, which directions we go" for 20, maybe 30 minutes. Sometimes I
prefer an interview instead of a presentation, because it shows more lively
aspects.

2. step:
Groups choose a facilitator, recorder (writer) and a questionasker and work
on the questions: "What did we hear? What were our reactions? What are our
burning questions"  In most cases 10 to 20 minutes of workingtime.

3. step:
Reporting brief impressions of mood (one sentence only!) and burning
questions (1 or 2 max. each table) by tablespeakers.

4. step:
Answering of questions by "head" or other VIPS.

It takes altogether between 1,5 and 2 hours of time, even in very large
groups.

Compared to Open Space:
There is a lot of structure, there is a lot of speech, there is a lot of
facilitation, for openspacnics a horrible lot of control.

At the other side: If you decide to go this path a little, you can gain a
lot of advantages. I found this procedure always very satisfying, because it
initiates a dialogue of "what really matters" between stage and back in very
short time. And though the outcomes of the conversation are all public, it
is an intimate frame at the same time. It supports a realistic common view
"what is on". And that is in many cases (e.g. when the participants are not
volunteers) a beautiful basic to start an Open Space.

greetings Erich



*
*
==========================================================
OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
------------------------------
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html

To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/20040504/924d43cb/attachment-0016.htm>