Open Space with seniors

[Lisa Heft]

Ms. Catherine -

Adding my thoughts and reflections into the mix...

Not only do some people have trouble hearing (as dear Gerard says) -  
if you wear hearing aids there can occasionally be a little feedback  
from loudspeakers if you are on microphone - that are only heard  
inside one's head (!)
And Tibetan bells can sometimes produce that same feedback (ringing in  
one's hearing-aided ears).
Not something to re-design for as it only happens very occasionally  
that all this electronic equipment or bell ringing lines up just so -  
and usually people with hearing aids are used to that - and there are  
people with hearing aids in any group you will ever work with, young  
or old.  But if there are a larger number of people who may also have  
hearing aids, you may wish to ask (if this is a site with a sound  
technician where you will have a microphone) what that technician's  
lessons learned are about placement of loudspeakers.

And if you see some people making faces at those times it's just  
something going on inside their / our heads ;o)

Also: if you feel there are more than a few people with mobility  
issues, you might want to set up one topic-sign-making-area on the  
ground, as usual (let's hear it for people whose bodies go up and down  
no matter what their ages!) and maybe also a table for doing the same  
thing - I usually put it in an aisle / a break in the circle.  
Placement all depends how big the group and circle are. Then from the  
table and from the center - people walk to the center to read their  
topic signs via a microphone and show those signs to the circle.

Yes yes yes do not make any assumptions about age and ability. I agree.

One way to understand a group's needs - any age group - is to ask in  
your pre-registration process if folks have any mobility, access or  
ability issues / preferences they would like to share.
Pre-registration not only lets you know how many people will be coming  
but it also helps you gather and share information with the  
participants.
Then you will know which individuals might need a little extra help -  
or if a good number do - and can design accordingly.

You may or may not need to do any of the following - depending on the  
information you gather:
- Large size print
- Larger aisles and more room between discussion groups so wheelchairs  
and crutches can get around (oh and the people in them, too)
- A sharp eye all day long on which furniture may be blocking which  
people of different mobility-ability
- Placing topic signs lower on the wall so all eyes can see
- Using unscented markers
- Ensuring that in your pre-registration process you have asked about  
how people need to receive the Book of Proceedings (if you are one of  
those whose clients send out the Book a few weeks post-event with  
photos or other items included) - again: with any mixed crowd of any  
age - who can receive electronic versions / has access to email and  
who needs hard-copy mailed to them.
- Creating a quiet room if you feel this particular group has informed  
you that it may be needed
... and so on. Note I am not recommending any adjustments to the basic  
Open Space process.

Okay now for the client's question about people liking to tell stories  
from their earlier lives.
What is wrong with that? Is that something that your client will be  
uncomfortable with - that the participants will feel it's more useful  
to them to share stories than to think about their / Gray Panther's  
future and image?
Well if that is the case - if people tell stories instead and that's  
uncomfortable for this client - or if some people do not really care  
about the future as much as the client does (and who can say that they  
do not care about the future - if we re-frame it maybe they are living  
totally in the present, a practice many people work towards...)

a) maybe this is not the client for Open Space or
b) maybe they should hear again that this is not a directive process or
c) maybe it is important to take a look at whether just this client  
and a few others feel that that task is important - if others do not  
share their sense of urgency then no amount of 'they should feel this  
is important' is going to matter.

So is this the right client for OS, is this the right task to for the  
needs and interests of the participants, and is there a need for  
further conversation and exploration of the issues and possibilities?

I personally don't think you should 'give time' for storytelling - I  
think you should not try to control or design a day where with Open  
Space naturally anyone can share their stories whenever they want.

So if this is the right tool for the job and the client and task -  
after further discussion with this client - (now you know what I am  
going to say...) trust the process, trust the people, and get out of  
the way to let these amazing participants take good care of themselves  
and do what best serves them in Open Space.

Also: many clients - of many kinds - think before they experience the  
event that a whole day is too long for them / their people - **if**  
they have never experienced Open Space. Because thinking of a day-long  
(traditional format) meeting can be a dreadful tiring thought. Could  
this be the case for your client / some of the people you have spoken  
with?

Are the participants going to be isolated in the site somehow so they  
cannot come and go as may best fit their energies and interests?

Assuming they have the ability to come and go from the meeting site -  
if they are invited to come on time and stay as long as they can -  
then anyone who has to plan their day can see when they want to go  
take a nap, come back for a later session, or whatever best fits their  
needs and interests. Right?

Lastly - more than once I have facilitated an Open Space for an  
organization that felt its members should think hard about the future  
and their image. And at some of these event mosts of the participants  
did not convene or join any of the conversations about those future /  
image topics. Because only a very small percentage / the hosts felt  
connected to that particular matter of urgency.  Everyone else got so  
much out of the Open Space day and really felt it served them -  
because it gave them a chance to share their experiences, memories,  
resources and community with each other.

So were those particular events a success or a failure, or neither? I  
would say it gave the hosts a true picture of who cares about what  
they care about and a 'kick in the pants' to decide what they want to  
do about that issue (of their own), if anything. And also it told them  
that they do not see the organization as the others / members see it -  
which is very useful information. So in these instances the small core  
host team may have been frustrated, but amazing things happened after  
the event in all these cases - spontaneously generated by both members  
and the little core team.  I would say that was a great success -  
though not in the way the host had originally envisioned or intended.   
Life is like that sometimes isn't it? Hmmm. More practice needed in  
letting go attachment to outcome?

Love from a starry evening in California,
Lisa


Lisa Heft
Consultant, Facilitator, Educator
Opening Space
lisaheft at openingspace.net

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