OS Story

Barry Owen barryo at comcast.net
Thu Nov 9 03:23:55 PST 2006


Greetings folks,

 

I’m trying to report (document) every Open Space event I do . . . Below is
the story from yesterday’s event copied and pasted from my blog HYPERLINK
"http://www.creatingspaces.blogspot.com"www.creatingspaces.blogspot.com

 

 

Wishing you all the best,

 

b

 

Opening Space for Keller Williams . . . Today, we did the Open Space retreat
for our office in our new office space completely devoid of furniture so the
invitation read: "BYOC - Bring your own chair." Unbelievably, 65 of our 99
members showed up . . . each carrying a chair. I say this is unbelievable
because these are all independent contractors - Real estate sales people. A
stark reality hit me this morning. Opening space for these folks is a
completely different animal than Opening space for the typical organization.
Typically, the organization is wound into a tight (Top down) bundle, and
Open Space is used to unwind the bundle a bit so as to define new
directions. With these folks, we begin with a diverged group and use the
Open Space in search of convergence of ideas, passion, commitment &
responsibility from a group of people who have no formal accountability for
the results. This is a vast difference. These people are each operating
their own independent businesses and have by all outward appearances little
to gain from optimizing the business of the Brokerage firm.

Recognizing this, I saw the real need for good, solid, quantifiable results
from this Open Space Retreat. I did the classic Opening - offered 2 covers
of a book and said that our job was to fill the book by the end of our time
together. I had pared the time matrix down to 2 morning sessions, lunch, 2
afternoon sessions . . . then the closing followed by a party.

We were packed like sardines in the main space for the opening - 2
concentric circles . . . I had @ 10 foot diameter interior circle for my
walking space. The opening was the smoothest I've ever done. I flowed
through it without any hitches - I guess my grounding and centering this
morning was enough to carry me through. My initial trepidation about
facilitating this retreat for my own organization proved to be not such a
big deal. I was true to the process - Opened the space and got out of the
way immediately . . . The group shifted into gear and cruised along
magnificently.

The group looked at me with panic in their eyes when I sat down and said it
was now time to post their issues and opportunities - They asked me for
examples . . . they begged for me to enable them - I held fast and true -
didn't budge . . . and finally someone came forward. Within 10 minutes,
there were 25 issues posted - using nearly all of the 28 time/place slots
available. THIS was the true test for me. I felt that if I wavered here, it
would tip the scales in a dangerous direction for the results of the entire
event. A few folks acknowledged later that they were grateful I had left the
group to their devices to figure these things out.

I immediately opened the Market place and observed the entire group swing
into action. EXACTLY 52 minutes after the beginning of the opening, all 65
of the participants were in sessions in passionate dialogue - The main
circle was empty if not for me wandering around picking up coffee cups -
most of the chairs had gone with the human they arrived with . . . I found
humor in the fact that any time a person moved to a different space he/she
was carrying a chair. As the day progressed, the chairs became more
stationary as people tired of carrying them about the place.

The closing was phenomenal ... 50 folks stayed to the end. I am accustomed
to seeing more "fall-out" than that . . . so I was feeling that this event
was a good one. The comments in the closing were SO validating for the
group. This group of independent contractors was speaking as ONE. There was
a solidarity I have never witnessed in a real estate environment . . . and
the party that ensued was unbridled passion.

Reports are due to me in the morning - I will compile them and distribute
them mid-day along with a set of dots for prioritizing . . . Our intent is
to consider this prioritized list of issues FIRST as we formulate our plans
for Productivity, profitability, Growth, and culture for the 2007 year.

Our Operating Partner and City Manager for the Nashville area Keller
Williams Realty market showed up at 5. They had missed the meeting because
at 4:40 the group had declared the time to "now be 5:00" thus giving the
green light to the opening of the wine and beer. Someone said:: "It's 5
o'clock somewhere!" and so the party was well under way. We had our new
Public Relations person present and the environment was as festive as it
could get. The OP asked the question: "Could this happen for other market
centers in our area? How can we make this happen for everyone in the city,
the region, the nation?" I replied: "ABSOLUTELY!"

In a post here a few months ago, I laid out a plan to do just that . . .
host a retreat in each of the market centers in the city . . . then do a
full city-wide Open Space . . . and let the results speak for themselves. If
our PPGC (Productivity, Profit, Growth, & Culture) do what I think they'll
do given that scenario, the Regional folks will notice . . . If Region
notices, the International office will notice . . .

Best,
b
Barry Owen
HYPERLINK "http://www.theowengroup.net"www.theowengroup.net 



 

Also . . . if you know of anyone (friend, family, work associate) in need of
help with real estate, please give me a call. I LOVE referrals and treat
them like royalty :-)

 

Website HYPERLINK "http://www.theowengroup.net"www.theowengroup.net

Visit my BLOG @ HYPERLINK
"http://creatingspaces.blogspot.com/"http://creatingspaces.blogspot.com/


Barry Owen

Principal Broker
The Owen Group
Keller Williams Realty - Green Hills Market Center
2209 Crestmoor Road Ste 210
Nashville, TN 37215
Direct - 615.568.2123
Toll Free 866.375.0965
Fax - 615.523.2462

 

Keller Williams Realty is a learning-based Training & Consulting Company
supporting our Real Estate Professionals by offering business models,
systems, tools, & support to Build Careers Worth Having, Businesses Worth
Owning, and Lives worth living . . . We are THE fastest growing, most
innovative real estate company in America. Check us out @ HYPERLINK
"http://www.theowengroup.net/"www.theowengroup.net OR HYPERLINK
"http://www.geocities.com/barryo.geo"www.geocities.com/barryo.geo


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