Convergence with more self-organization

Wed Sep 8 08:07:34 PDT 2010

Hi Michael,
Thank you Michael for your comments about the group identifying its collective priorities or not. 
If it's clear that the follow-ups to the event are the responsibility of each participant only and not of the event organizers, I agree that the priority-setting step is not relevant. The outcome is based on individual passion that may or may not be supported by the group. In my experience with intact organizations, when collective priorities were not set by the group, many participants felt the resources of the organization  were being channelled more to individuals interests and that the organization did not have a clear focus as a whole.

A surplus of enthusiasm and commitment may be a nice “problem” to have but it may be a damper when resources of the organization are felt to be already too too thin. Not establishing collective priorities requires that the leadership trusts its own capacities and that of the members of the organization, to manage necessary arrangements to actualize its priorities and activities.
So to skip the priority setting, it's important to ensure the leadership and the group is open to having an unpredictable number of actions to realize. The advantage, if they are open to this, is that management communicates it has a high level of confidence in the capacity of people to self-organize and to coordinate itself within the parameters established by the leadership. But that most be true and not just words. So testing the idea in advance with a a few people (e.g. the organization committee which should be a microcosm of the organization) may be wise.

An essential part of the facilitator's job is always to work with the leadership before the event so they already think of ways they themselves can adjust and ways to adapt their systems to bring the necessary flexibility to integrate the newness and changes coming out of an OS event. It is even more crucial work if no priorities will be determined by the collective.  

Diane

On 2010-09-08, at 6:58 AM, Michael M Pannwitz wrote:

> Dear Diane,
> for quite a while now I no longer include "priority" setting.
> 
> So, when Action Planning starts, its not on the basis of priorities the group arrived at and its also not really on the basis of the Book of Proceedings but actually only on the interest/passion people have for a particular action or project NOW.(Probably, all kinds of stuff from the previous two days and other considerations enter).
> Thats posted just as at the beginning of an open space and groups then assemble at the various "projects" and decide on action (one or two or several steps even though I tell them the first step is IT!)which is recorded on Next Step sheets which are made available to everyone (Name of Project, people participating, next steps, contact person).
> 
> What I find supports the quaint notion of sponsors around "action, sustainability, follow up, etc." is to include the date of the next meeting to follow the open space in the original invitation to the event.
> 
> Have a great day
> greetings from Berlin
> mmp
> 
> 
> Diane Gibeault schrieb:
>> Hi everyone,
>> At a recent training workshop I facilitated in Ottawa, some participants suggested an adaptation to the process of action planning for priorities set by the group after discussions. This option - One Market Place Per Priority - offers a convergence process with more space for self-organization, which is the fundamental intent  of Open Space. Participants choose which of the priorities they have passion to work on and regroup accordingly. Then each priority group opens space by itself and creates its own action market wall in relations to its specific priority. Among the action topics posted, nothing precludes that someone may propose a discussion of the priority itself.
>> This "one market place per priority" method is still a more structured approach that the option of opening space again for action with only one market place for everybody as they express their passion for actions on any of the identified priorities. For those organizations who prefer to structure the action identification a bit more, this new option still opens more space than having groups come up with only one action per priority which is what ends up happening in most cases despite the invitation to identify more than one action - at least this is what I have seen over many years of OS events. To provide some guidance to the various priority groups who will self-organize to open space and create their own market place for action, I added a few simple guiding steps on top of the Action Planning Guide which is usually in their kit or distributed on chairs before the start of convergence. I share them with you in case you may find it useful.
>> A. Create a market place of actions that will contribute to realize the priority you have chosen.
>> - Post the priority title at the top of a wall.
>> - Each participant can post on that wall, an action title with his/her name.
>> - Then, combinations of action sheets can be made if desired, by participants initiating the actions.
>> B. Participants form groups around actions of their choice
>> Action Initiator role – with help from the group:
>> - Posts high on the wall the action title so it is visible to bumblebees.
>> - Circulates a sheet to create a list of participants.
>> - Notes key points (the group may want to use the planning guide provided).
>> - After the discussion, prepares and posts a summary on one or two flip chart pages on the plenary wall for all participants to read during a walk about that will follow. - Registers at the News Room and enters the action plan on a computer.
>> Maybe some of you have already used this method of "one market place per priority". If so, learnings from your experience would  be most welcome. Gifts come from everywhere in Open Space, as it is a circle of people open to possibilities. Thank you to the participants of the Ottawa training group for bringing to light this different way of doing which is full of possibilities.
>> Diane
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