Dealing with New Entrants to OS sessions

[Chris Corrigan]

Hi there:

It sounds to me that the issue was deeper than coming late.  If there had
been speculation about the motives of the five newcomers taking money and
not showing, it seems that the conversation needs to be deeper than simply
stating expectations.

Often, when there is some unresolved issue in front of the group (we
sometimes call this the "dead moose") it helps to simply allow it to come up
in a circle process, using a talking piece.  I have found it especially
important, in terms of "holding space" to not take on the role of picking
and choosing parts of the agenda, or inviting specific people to speak.
Your five latecomers might well be right...they were singled out.  The
question is, what do we do with people who were coming to circle with
different expectations, under different circumstances?  What does this say
about the kind of circle we are?  How should we together deal with these
kinds of issues?  Opening space then using a talking piece invites people to
take responsibility for the questions, and lessens their reliance on me (and
the subsequent detachment of responsibility) as the facilitator.

A talking piece is a marvelous and effective way to handle these kinds of
conversations.  It allows the time and spaciousness to keep a group opened
beyond partisan bickering, and it makes for a very rich group conversation.
I remember several, including the one that happened this year at OSonOS in
Halifax where we were deciding where OSonOS 2006 should be.  I was, and
still am, in awe of the conversation that took place between 120 people that
afternoon, all in a circle, all using a talking piece and all in the spirit
of OS.

Cheers,

Chris

On 6/9/06, Stuart Worsley <sworsley at snvworld.org> wrote:
>
> New Arrivals into OS sessions.
>
> Yesterday, I completed a two day OS session with the council, executive
> and public stakeholders of the city of Eldoret in Kenya. We took the first
> day so seek and document the divergant views, and on the second day
> produced convergance and specific action plans. The group was a collection
> of hitherto conflicting parties, and this became the first time that they
> could sit together and dialogue. The event was highly energised and all
> participated fully.
>
> However, at the end of the first day, to close, I asked participants to
> throw a light ball to one another, and as they received it, to reflect one
> thing that they had learned. A couple of people stated that although they
> had really enjoyed the sessions, they felt aggrieved that others of their
> colleagues had collected council perdiem to attend, and had not shown up.
> Of course I reminded them of the principles - whoever comes are the right
> people.
>
> Next morning, we started with convergance. Reports were given out and an
> hour allowed for reflection and voting. We used stickies to indicate votes
> on each issue. After we started, 5 new people arrived, grabbed a report
> found some stickies and started to vote with the group. These were the
> counsellors that were the subject of complaint the evening before. When
> the circle was reformed, in order to hold the space, I decided to welcome
> them in, and ask them to give their names and their expectations in
> attending - as all had done yesterday. They stood up, and gave names and
> sat down. From within the group, one vocal individual called out that they
> should give their expectations too, in light of the fact that they had not
> arrived until now. The new arrivals began to react demanding why they were
> being singled out for attention. Some of the group started to defend them
> saying that others were being too harsh, and the spirit of the circle
> quickly dissipated into partisan hostility.
>
> At this point, I decided to intervene by stating that we only wished to
> welcome them in, and that we should move on to discuss the next stage of
> convergance. I explained the next steps to a restless group, and suggested
> that we all take some coffee.
>
> After reconvening to add up votes and form small groups on priority
> issues, things settled, and we returned to productive energised attention
> for the remainder. Some of the new arrivals did settle in, while others
> remained aloof, and even tried to leave the procedings, only to return
> later.
>
> I would appreciate anyone's reflections on this specifically with respect
> to a) handling new arrivals to an OS session, and b) what experience is
> there in managing the balance between holding space, and letting the group
> degenerate into divisions.
>
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-- 
CHRIS CORRIGAN
Consultation - Facilitation
Open Space Technology

Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot
Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.com
Open Space Resources:  http://tinyurl.com/r94tj

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