A little help -- Please

Wed Apr 27 10:17:37 PDT 2005

Thank you, Therese for your kind words.

And you said:
<People in contemporary workplaces need to be able to 'be' together as
people, not just for task.  People need context and meaning, steadily.
 For some reason, we have fallen into a pattern of separating the
personal when we walk in to work. . . .>

I agree.

And all of this mixing and matching and sharing and teaching of each
other builds networks which really help the work get done better (people
don't just get to know Madge in the copy room and go to HER for
everything, but they meet Maya in Accounting and Mei-Ling in Receiving
and get to share recipes and stories and skills and experiences with
each other, appreciating and valuing their similarities and their
differences....feeling a bit more resilient if there are any
misunderstandings that may arise at work, and so on.)

Ahhh, it sounds so simple.  And indeed mistakes can be made.  But there
are always little places to start.  And anything you do is...more....

Lisa

___________________________
L i s a   H e f t
Consultant, Facilitator, Educator
O p e n i n g  S p a c e
2325 Oregon
Berkeley, California
94705-1106   USA
+01 510 548-8449
lisaheft at openingspace.net
www.openingspace.net

-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of
Therese Fitzpatrick
Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2005 10:44 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: A little help -- Please

A deep thank to Lisa for dreaming out loud.  I love your suggestions
for organizations.  I esp. like your idea of regular open space
gatherings that are not always tied to action agendas.  I believe an
organization build the capacity of its people by creating
opportunities for co-workers to simply 'be' together.

People in contemporary workplaces need to be able to 'be' together as
people, not just for task.  People need context and meaning, steadily.
 For some reason, we have fallen into a pattern of separating the
personal when we walk in to work. . . .

All of your suggestions, Lisa, would contribute to the context and
meaning of workplaces.

On 4/25/05, Lisa Heft <lisaheft at openingspace.net> wrote:
> Hi, Harrison -
>
> The CEO you are going to meet with wrote:
> Basically I'm looking for techniques, methods, tools, and or simple
ways to
> create an open environment of trust within a growing organization.
> My Dilemma: How to create a communication environment that's open,
listens,
> hears, understands, and is responsive?  I am looking for practical
> executable methods to model these value behaviors within a for profit
> business enterprise.
>
> As you know, I worked with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation for some
years.
> So I am thinking of some of the things we did and some things I
imagine we
> might have done.
>
> Maybe s/he can think of using a facilitator-type-person as - instead
of an
> interventionist - an in-house (can be part-time with 'office hours')
sort of
> a 'nutritionist' / 'body worker' for the organization to keep it well.
I
> can think of a million things this person could do, from listening to
people
> and 'coaching' individually (management and front line), to offering,
> facilitating and teaching processes for group work, to noting the
> environment and how people communicate, to helping the organization
> celebrate (and to mourn, as they are working with cancer and people
they
> know or individual employees themselves may have struggles).
>
> How about holding department meetings every now and then with 2
departments
> getting together (for no 'reason' - just to hear what's going on in
each and
> get to know and appreciate each other more).
>
> How about staff socials where folks get to eat /bring foods of each
others'
> cultures?  And other in-house appreciation meetings that...maybe
employees
> can give to each other, to teach each other things (from their
cultures,
> crafts, reading circles, poetry 'slams' [readings], quilting lunches)
-
> whatever fits into the day where employees can bring their lunch (or
be
> provided with lunch by the company) and do things together that mixes
and
> matches and mixes them according to different non-work interests and
> passions?
>
> Maybe s/he can think of using someone whose skill is in writing
> understandable info as a conduit for sharing information on the latest
> science and breaking news, for both employees and the community.
Maybe that
> person is also available to anyone in the company who would like help
> writing more clearly, more carefully, more inclusively, whatever.
>
> Maybe this organization hosts regular Open Space for full-staff
meetings,
> for Board and staff and volunteers all together, for community
meetings.
> Maybe s/he ensures that all staff get training in Open Space so they
can
> rotate facilitation duties.
>
> It seems to me that it is also important to develop interview methods
that
> analyze which skills in an open position are teachable (so you don't
have to
> focus on those in an interview - just note whether someone has those
skills
> or will have to be taught them)...and then the qualities or skills in
a
> position that the interviewee absolutely has to have inside them...and
> design a way to tease that out in the interview process (through role
play,
> use of graphics, writing or a combination of methods).  And having an
> interview team with representatives from a cross-section of
departments with
> a diverse palate of individual cultural experience and from a
cross-section
> of the organization.
>
> How about quarterly dreaming sessions (where employees imagine what
could be
> if there were no budget issues?) - there might be great ideas that
came out
> of this that could influence the workplace and the work.
>
> I also think that really good supervision meetings are helpful - where
all
> supervisors have been trained in and supported in how often to hold
> individual meetings, what to cover, how to collaborate with the
employee on
> building a 3 month plan based on the job description, the requirements
of
> the job and the employee's need for growth, in how to document each
meeting
> in a way that is supportive of both the individual employee and the
> company's needs, and so on.
>
> Okay I could go on and on, because it's fun to think of this.  But
I'll
> spare everyone and...stop.
>
> I look forward to hearing what you add to this little list of ours as
you
> talk to your CEO - truly a wise person...for having found...YOU.
>
> Take care,
> Lisa
>
> ______________________
> L i s a   H e f t
> Consultant, Facilitator, Educator
> O p e n i n g  S p a c e
> 2325 Oregon
> Berkeley, California
> 94705-1106   USA
> +01 510 548-8449
> lisaheft at openingspace.net
> www.openingspace.net
>
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--
Warmly,
Therese Fitzpatrick

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