mini Open Space

Change Management Toolbook holger at CHANGE-MANAGEMENT-TOOLBOOK.COM
Wed Feb 16 23:40:11 PST 2005


Hi Gyuri,

thanks for sharing. I had a somehow similar experience three months ago. I
was invited to speak at the annual assmbly of a large international chain
of travel agents on Change Management. Now, I usually don't consider it a
good idea to talk too much about things that people have to experience.

My idea to have the entire assembly as an Open Space was turned down -
they wanted lots of keynote speaker and of course the motivation guy at
the beginning. So they offered me three time slots of 2 hours each for
workshops. I was supposed to repeat the same workshop, and different
participants would come (there was a series of parallel workshops).

I made the assumption that on such an annual event the franchisees would
really like to exchange instead of listening to too much keynotes. So I
decided to create mini open spaces.

I started off with talking about service quality and asked the
participants to name service quality criteria. Then, they scored their own
service according to the criteria. I had round tables prepared and next I
assigned time and space. Each of the service criteria was an issue, which
I distributed over 2 time slots of 30 minutes each. People were encouraged
to join any group they wanted, and regroup after 30 minutes. They were
also encouraged to use the law of the two feet. We met for a short final
round, and then it was over. We had people make short documentations, but
I don't know wht my client did with them (she promised to put them into
their Intranet).

It created a lot of energy, and people were excited about the new ideas
they got. I did not call it Open Space, and it wasn't an Open Space, far
from that. As we agreed on our last learning retreat in Vlotho, we should
only call something OST, if the minimum requirements are guaranteed - the
circle, the 4 princples and the law, full self-organization, etc. However,
it showed that elements of OST can work in other settings and can help to
energize people.

Hey, I heared that you Hungarian guys meet in Cafe Central! I was there
just three weeks ago. Great place. What is the schedule of your meetings?
I am in the region quite often.

Love,
Holger

Our website has been relaunched! Check the tools:
http://www.change-management-toolbook.com/

Appreciative Inquiry for Change in Organizations and Communities
Training in Berlin, Feb 26-Mar 2, 2005
http://www.change-management-toolbook.com/about/training_2005_ai1.html

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