very short events - Re: Optimal Time-Slots

[Joelle Lyons Everett]

Frank--

With one of my clients, we used meetings similar to yours to follow a one-day 
Open Space of the whole organization.   The organization was building and 
planning to move to a new facility in a new location, bringing together staff 
from two offices.

In the nine months between the Open Space and the move into the new space, I 
met monthly with the Transition Team, who had the responsibility of project 
management for the move and following up on work done at the Open Space.   We 
met around a large table for the simple reason that there was nowhere to put the 
table in the old office if we had tried to move it.   We started with a stack 
of blank paper and pens in the center, and team members posted topics they 
wanted to discuss.   I took the responsibility of going over notes from earlier 
meetings to check for conversations that needed to be continued.   The group 
decided the order to address the topics, and we almost never left without 
covering all of them.   Someone almost always brought the Talking Rock they had 
used for their Open Space, and sometimes a team member picked it up before she 
spoke--this really brought the feeling of the Open Space meeting into the room.

This proved to be a workable format for keeping the spirit of Open Space in 
the follow-on work.   We met weekly in the last month, then everyone pitched in 
for the actual movee.

The building was finished on time and within budget, the ongoing Capital 
Campaign brought in sufficient funds by the time they were needed.   The physical 
move was accomplished over a period of three days, with public functions 
available somewhere every day, and key information available via the director's 
laptop and a couple of cell phones.   The new facility is light years beyond the 
old in every way, and continues to lift everyone's spirits.

Joelle Everett
Shelton, Washington, USA  

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