SV: Holding space in the small group

[Sheila Beauchemin]

I recently held an open space in which some of the issues you mention came 
up - dominant individual, different facilitation styles/abilities of 
convenors etc.  I am new to facilitating in open space but I resisted the 
urge to jump in and "correct" what traditionally would have been viewed as 
poor group dynamics.  I remained in my corner seat, quietly avaiable as I 
had mentioned I would be.  Gradually, over the course of the morning, 
something interesting happened.  Every now and then, someone would stop by 
and sit down at my little cafe table.  One person said, "You didn't give 
any guidance on how to facilitate in the small groups and it is 
frustrating.  The convenor doesn't seem in charge and is not writing on 
the flip charts."  My response was to ask, how could you have contributed 
to the group to resolve what she saw as an issue?  Could you have offered 
to capture some of the ideas on a chart?  Being a convenor does not 
necessarily also mean responsibility for 100% of the facilitation of the 
group.  Faced with this notion, the individual seemed to look at the day 
very differently.  I had a couple of other questions of this nature 
throughout the morning but by the afternoon, those floating to my table 
were more interested in sharing their excitement and fascination with 
their experience then with any perceived facilitaion problems.

I know this doesn't address your question specifically but perhaps it 
provides some food for thought.

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