SV: Design question for an OS-meeting (PRETTY LONG)

Michael M Pannwitz mmpanne at boscop.de
Fri Jun 30 00:24:47 PDT 2006


Dear Henri,
hmmm, what kind of workshop followed the conversation cafe? An open space?
Reason I ask is that what you describe happening in the conversation 
cafe is what happens in open space all along, anyhow, productively, etc.
The "painful issue" not surfacing: the way you describe it sounds like a 
success.
Greetings from Berlin
mmp

Henri Lipmanowicz wrote:
> Thomas,
> 
> I have used conversation café on a couple of occasions right at the
> beginning of workshops when it was evident that there was fresh pain from
> some recent bad news. The thought was: if we don't deal with this issue
> upfront it will be on the mind of all, will be the talk during breaks and
> meals and will poison the workshop. We had tables of 5 for an hour or so and
> then sharing main points from each table with the whole group. It worked
> like a charm. It gave space for all to talk about what was on their mind and
> to put the issue behind them. To my surprise the "painful issue" didn't
> resurface for the rest of the workshop. All participants were able to jump
> into the workshop and have a grand time.
> There was great appreciation on the part of all that such a space had been
> provided for them to talk freely about what was on their mind.
> 
> Henri
>    
>      "On n'entend bien qu'avec le coeur"    Le Petit Prince
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Michael M
> Pannwitz
> Sent: Wednesday, June 28, 2006 11:26 AM
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Subject: Re: SV: Design question for an OS-meeting (PRETTY LONG)
> 
> Dear Thomas,
> storytelling and the phase in the grief cycle which is called "memories" 
> might be two different kinds of things. "Memories" comes before 
> "despair" and "silence" and "vision"...so if you do "memories" in the 
> morning there is no time for despair and silence before entering into 
> the open space phase of the event.
> "Just" storytelling might keep people from goint into working on issues 
> and then on projects.
> 
> On action planning: if you do the 55 dot delphi stuff with the issues 
> there is a phase for both identifying related issues and for jotting 
> down further ideas and actions and questions on the "hot issues" 
> identified. This, of course, is done only to the 6, 7, or 8 issues that 
> are weighed most heavily.
> The reading and augmentation exercise is done before action planning and 
> preferrably the night (here lunch break)before action planning.
> 
> To me, action planning is not the work on the identified most weighed 
> issues but the work on projects participants bring forward. The entire 
> process of prioritization (Delphi or what have you) is in essence more 
> data on the system and not yet a real indication in which projects 
> people want to invest themselves. Thats why sometimes (I have not 
> experienced this myself, yet) people are becoming impatient with Delphi 
> etc. because they want to work on the action plans of their projects.
> 
> I wonder about what you said is supportive or not for people to follow 
> their passion. My experience is that when there is passion and 
> responsibiliy leadership will in fact show up in force...even if there 
> seems no or little support from others (least from me or my interventions).
> 
> Thanks for letting me in on this project of yours, always a great chance 
> to go to new places and ideas.
> 
> Right, I would also like to hear how it went...
> Greetings from Berlin
> mmp
> 
> Thomas Herrmann wrote:
>> Dear Chris, dear Michael
>> Thanks for your sharing of thoughts and experiences.
>> I agree with you Chris, 3 sessions back2back is heavy. I am working on 
>> trying not to push too much into the designs. Although is´s so free, my 
>> experience too is that people often work quite hard in OS, especially 
>> when time is limited - OK this time we have at least 2 days which is 
>> good! Thanks for the reminder!
>>  
>> STORYTELLING
>> Michel, the decision to include storytelling was done when we during the 
>> pre-work identified that there is some grief due to the changes they are 
>> facing, and some not too constructive myths living in the organization - 
>> a bit of mistrust between the two schools that are being merged. So the 
>> idea is to give space for stories to be shared before lunch, and thereby 
>> releasing more energy for the work towards the common future of this new 
>> organization. Chris, I do prefer storytelling the night before, but this 
>> time it was not possible.
>>  
>> (I tried a design for storytelling in a meeting in Norway in January 
>> (which I think I shared about) which I plan to use again. It includes 
>> brief opening, transfer in, sharing in groups of 10 + documenting on 
>> flip-charts which are put into the large circle when we re-gather. 
>> Finally an invitation to share stories in the large circle. In all 2,5 
>> hours - we start our meeting at 9.30 so that´s a good fit. Worked 
>> marvellous in Norway anyway, where there was BIG grief. It´s good to 
>> have at least the lunch to digest and prepare for OS.)
>>  
>> ACTIONPLANNING/INPUT FOR ACTIONTEAMS
>> Michael I like your suggestion - to save the actionplanning phase until 
>> monday. Unfortunately we do not have enough time/space available on 
>> monday to work as a whole group. There is only small time (about 1,5 
>> hours) & small spaces for groups to gather to continue their work.
>> So I think we´ll at the minimum identify hot topics on friday.
>>  
>> I like the idea of having some sort of an "audium" - exibition/input of 
>> ideas. I guess that could be either on the reports produced or maybe on 
>> issues that are brought up for actionplanning or the actionplans? If we 
>> have brief next-step-sessions, say 30 mts. They could post their actions 
>> on flip-charts on each a space in the main room. Then we could  have say 
>> 30 mts for all to walk around read and add ideas as input for the 
>> groups. At the same time they could sign up for those groups they wish 
>> to take part in. And then closing circle. This would all be added into 
>> the documentation which they would all get on monday morning, before 
>> gathering their groups. How does that sound?
>>  
>> REGARDING VOTING/GROUPING OF TOPICS
>> My experience is that the top voters are almost always taken into action 
>> by someone. I heard on the list that people are sometimes angry with 
>> this process. I can´t recall I ever had critical feedback on this and I 
>> think it is partly because i make the purpose so clear. Just to get the 
>> info what topics have most energy for the group as a whole. It can also 
>> be of value to the sponsor regarding priorities regarding financial means.
>>  
>> I think that getting a lot of votes can be supportive for those who have 
>> passion to bring the topic further. So on the other hand not getting 
>> support could work the other way around. HOpefully it helps that I point 
>> out that a topic which has only  a few votes can be of great important 
>> to just a few people and be of value for the organization anyhow. So go 
>> with where your energy is - is the message for the re-opening where 
>> anyone can bring any issue forth for action planning.
>>  
>> Chris, I promise to have fun!
>> Cheers
>> Thomas
>>  
>>  
>>
>>     -----Ursprungligt meddelande-----
>>     *Från:* OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU]*För *Chris
>>     Corrigan
>>     *Skickat:* den 28 juni 2006 11:27
>>     *Till:* OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
>>     *Ämne:* Re: Design question for an OS-meeting
>>
>>     Hiya:
>>
>>     I see...
>>
>>     In my experience 3 1.5 hour sessions back to back is a heavy load
>>     for attention.  I would stay at four total, which should be fine for
>>     a group of 100.  I don't work much with same day storytelling, and I
>>     might be tempted to add a session to the morning of day one if I
>>     needed another. 
>>
>>     It seems like you have a good opportunity to deepen comittment to
>>     action if you start the action planning conversations on day two and
>>     then invite the groups to "park downhill" by leaving with a clear
>>     sense of the work to continue on Monday.  Then come back Monday and
>>     continue the conversations then with the benefit of a couple of
>>     sleeps under their belts.
>>
>>     I'd be interested to see how that goes actually, to have two formal
>>     action planning meeting scheduled within the context of an event. 
>>
>>     Hope this helps...interested to see how it goes.
>>
>>     Chris
>>
>>     On 6/28/06, *Thomas Herrmann* <thomas at openspaceconsulting.com
>>     <mailto:thomas at openspaceconsulting.com>> wrote:
>>
>>         Hi Chris
>>         What I was thinking about more particularily was:
>>         1. Maybe include another session in the morning day 2. I´ve
>>         planned to start at 8.00. That would mean lunch at 12 or 12.30
>>         and less time in the afternoon for activities such as
>>         actionplanning.
>>         2. Spending less time working on actionplans, instead give time
>>         to let people give each other feedback to bring to the action
>>         planning sessions coming monday.
>>          
>>         Regarding the voting and grouping of topics I still often do
>>         that. My experience is that sponsors in organizations like to
>>         have this information and it gives a good structure, common
>>         picture to the participants. I AM VERY CLEAR that this is not a
>>         process to exclude any topics, that´s why I also use re-opening
>>         (guess it is what you call non-convergence) to identify topics
>>         for action planning. The voting/grouping does take some time and
>>         I agree a "clean" re-opening is nice too...
>>         Cheers
>>         Thomas
>>          
>>
>>             -----Ursprungligt meddelande-----
>>             *Från:* OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
>>             <mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>]*För *Chris Corrigan
>>             *Skickat:* den 28 juni 2006 10:37
>>             *Till:* OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
>>             <mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
>>             *Ämne:* Re: Design question for an OS-meeting
>>
>>         I canlt see anything wrong with your design here Thomas.  I
>>         would opt for "non-convergence" on day two, or more precisely
>>         "non-prioritization" by simply re-opening the space for those
>>         that are willing to take responsibility for convening the action
>>         teams they want to see happen.
>>
>>         Other than that, it looks perfectly workable to me...or am I
>>         missing something in your question?
>>
>>         Cheers,
>>
>>         Chris
>>         (Frolunda Fan in passing!)
>>
>>         On 6/28/06, *Thomas Herrmann* <thomas at openspaceconsulting.com
>>         <mailto:thomas at openspaceconsulting.com>> wrote:
>>
>>             Dear friends in Open Space
>>             I am planning a two day OS-meeting and would like to ask for
>>             any ideas from
>>             you.
>>             My sponsor is a headmaster. Two schools are being merged
>>             into one unit and
>>             the start will be a 2-day OS-meeting in August. About 100
>>             participants both
>>             teachers and other employees.
>>
>>             The OS-meeting is Thursday-friday and on Monday there will
>>             be time for
>>             action teams to meet to work more on the action plans. So my
>>             question is
>>             around how to get the most out of the afternoon day 2,
>>             having in mind there
>>             will be a few hours to work further on Monday. We have to be
>>             finished by
>>             15.30. Any sharing of experiences, suggestions and ideas
>>             welcome!
>>
>>             Yesterday we had our pre-meeting and the design we discussed
>>             goes like this:
>>             ---DAY 1---
>>             Storytelling in the morning
>>             LUNCH
>>             Opening
>>             2 sessions (1,5 hours)
>>             Evening news
>>             Dinner
>>
>>             ---DAY 2---
>>             Morning news
>>             2 sessions (1,5 hours)
>>             LUNCH (printing reports)
>>             Reading all the reports
>>             Prioritization/grouping of topics (to get a structure of the
>>             material and
>>             info about where the energy is in the groups as a whole)
>>             Re-opening
>>             Next step action meeting
>>             Closing
>>             ---
>>             Hugs
>>             Thomas Herrmann         Phone +46 (0)709-98 97 81
>>             Open Space Consulting   Fax   +46 (0)300-713 89
>>             Pensévägen 4
>>             434 46 Kungsbacka, Sweden
>>             Email: thomas at openspaceconsulting.com
>>             <mailto:thomas at openspaceconsulting.com>
>>             www.openspaceconsulting.com
> <http://www.openspaceconsulting.com>
>>             *
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>>
>>         -- 
>>         CHRIS CORRIGAN
>>         Consultation - Facilitation
>>         Open Space Technology
>>
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>>     CHRIS CORRIGAN
>>     Consultation - Facilitation
>>     Open Space Technology
>>
>>     Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot
>>     <http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot>
>>     Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.com
>>     Open Space Resources:  http://tinyurl.com/r94tj * *
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> 
> 
> 
> 
> Michael M Pannwitz, boscop eg
> Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany
> ++49-30-772 8000
> www.boscop.de   www.michaelmpannwitz.de
> 
> 
> Check out the new Open Space World Map now with 404 resident Open Space 
> Workers in 67 countries (working in a total of 122 countries worldwide)
> www.openspaceworldmap.org
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Michael M Pannwitz, boscop eg
Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany
++49-30-772 8000
www.boscop.de   www.michaelmpannwitz.de


Check out the new Open Space World Map now with 405 resident Open Space 
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