facilitating participant
Robyn S Berkessel
robyn at litglobal.com
Fri Dec 30 11:36:27 PST 2005
Hi Kevin,
I had this same dilemma back in August this year. I invited, hosted and
facilitated a session about which I am fully passionate. I had some very
supportive and constructive comments from members of this list serve - on
and off line. For me it was also about creating an opportunity to gain
more experience.
I found I had no difficulty on the day, as my role was clear - I was the
facilitator and the holder of the space. I did welcome the attendees as
host (it was my own home) and then went straight into the facilitator role
and opened the space according to "the Book".
As Michael describes in his third paragraph below, my contribution unfolded
in a wonderful way by keeping out of the way, ensuring the coffee was fresh,
plenty of water and food was available and had side conversations in breaks,
over lunch and with some butterflies from time to time. My occasional
butterflying around the different groups felt very fine and non-intrusive.
I felt invisible a lot of the time, and, at the same time, I did pick up
lots and gained heaps. Sure there were times when I would liked to have
contributed my experiences and ideas, and in one group I did offer a quote
and the impact was minimal - the conversation continued to flow with ease.
Here is some of the feedback I received that I hope will inspire you to go
ahead and love the experience.
Thank you for stepping back from the discussions to do such a wonderful job
as a
facilitator and as a host (you seem to have
forgotten that important role). What
a wonderful day and the possibility of
continuing these discussions in the future
makes me very happy, indeed.
You conceived of -- and created --- a fabulous day for all of us.
~~~ from your networking capacity with a number of different groups so
that you have a rich pool of cool people to invite ---
~~~ to conceiving the day and creating the great invitations and
instructions ---
~~~ to hosting us so very graciously in your great, beautiful and
welcoming home --- and your humor and light-heartedness in transforming
into
~~~ facilitating the open space so very well......
~~~ to dropping in on our conversations, yet leaving us completely free
and responsible for whatever was to arise.
Go for it.
Robyn
_______________________________
Robyn Stratton-Berkessel
LIT Global ...connecting the dots
+1 732 291 0462
+1 917 816 5597 (cell)
http://www.litglobal.com
-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Michael
Herman
Sent: Friday, December 30, 2005 12:51 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: facilitating participant
kevin,
when i *really* want to participate in something, i do it in the middle
breakout sessions, and sometimes just in side conversations...
not the first session, which gives me a chance to establish my facilitator
role, and not the last session, which keeps me from being tangled in
somehting when i'm supposed to be bringing people back into the big circle
for closing...
notice, too, that when we're playing both roles, we're having a surprisingly
different and bigger (i think) experience that the participants... the first
time i did this i found that when i spoke in a group, i did so from that
experience, and that almost nobody understood what i was talking about. it
didn't do any harm, only reinforced that i wasn't 'with' everybody else in
the same way that they were 'with' each other. so it goes both ways... the
holding role can be lost, or the participant role not quite found.
resolution, i think, might be to understand that you are already
participating, in a rarefied way, as the convener of this session, as you
make and hold a space for the anything to happen. presumably you've written
the invitation and have already given some shape to what and who will show
up... so then you can sit back and facilitate, knowing that at the end of
the day you can convene another one, can call people to have followup
discussions, can butterfly around and sample what's happening, have side
conversations about what might happen next. there's always time to get
hands dirty, sign up for next steps (if there would be any) when the event
is over. in the end, nobody will forget that you were there just because
you didn't post any topics or sit in a bunch of sessions.
also, no need, and no good way really, to decide now if you will or won't
jump into a discussion. you'll get some of the landscape/options from
friends here and then i'm sure you'll find your own best course when it
actually is happening.
good luck! michael
On 12/30/05, Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net> wrote:
> Sure it is OK -- but it can be a little difficult, particularly if it
> is your first (or early) time as facilitator. The problem is that when
> you are passionate about a subject there is a natural tendency to jump
> right in with both feet. This is great, but if you are also the
> facilitator you may just forget your primary task -- to Hold Space for
> all the others. I think if it were me, I would find somebody else to
> facilitate it -- but what the heck, just go for it!!
>
> Harrison
>
> NEW EMAIL ADDRESS!!!!
> hhowen at verizon.net
> Harrison Owen
> 7808 River Falls Drive
> Potomac, Maryland 20854
> Phone 301-365-2093
> Skype hhowen
> Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com Open Space Institute
> www.openspaceworld.org Personal website www.ho-image.com
> OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the
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>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Kevin Cameron
> Sent: Friday, December 30, 2005 9:14 AM
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Subject: facilitating participant
>
> Hey all.
>
> I'm planning an open space mainly to get myself some experience (it
> will be my first as a leader) but also because it is a topic I am
> passionate about, one I really want to have the opportunity to
> participate in an open space about.
>
> My simple questions:
>
> What about being a participant and a facilitator at the same time?
> What should I watch out for?
> What should I avoid?
> What should I make sure to do?
> Is it a "no-no"?
>
> If it was a traditional meeting, and I was acting as a traditional
> facilitator, I would not want to compromise my "neutrality" by
> participating in the discussion, thus risking alienating some
> participants, making them feel that it is "biased". But since OST is
> so different, and the facilitator doesn't really have any say over
> what happens and what gets said, is it OK to participate?
>
>
> Just looking for thoughts,
>
> Kevin
> http://www.bastish.net
>
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--
Michael Herman
Michael Herman Associates
300 West North Ave #1105
Chicago IL 60610 USA
Phone: 312-280-7838
mherman at globalchicago.net
skype: globalchicago
http://www.michaelherman.com
http://www.globalchicago.net/wiki
http://www.openspaceworld.org
Executive Facilitation ...getting
the most important things done in
the easiest possible ways.
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