[OSList] About Facilitating OS Trainning

Thu Apr 14 10:46:38 PDT 2011

Hi Bhavesh,    
I looked at the link for your training. Very appealing web page. In terms of 
content, you cover very similar things -  see the description at my web 
site www.dianegibeault.com  follow the Open Space menu to Training, see the 2010 
workshop info. This is a 3 or 4 day workshop. Some participants stay for the 4th 
day or choose to come back instead a year later to a one day OSonOS for a 
refresher or to go deeper with the new questions that have arrisen during their 
year of practice. 

You say : I am particularly interested in the details of Diane's comment - "some 
reaffirmation of things that work well everywhere". 

An appropriate place to start is with Harrison Owen's various training programs: 
they have always been lead with a sharing of some basic thoughts and ideas 
followed by an Open Space right after to go deeper in the reflection.

What I see as a common threads in the different other training programs I have 
been made aware of in North America and elsewhere is:
- their non traditional training approach 
- an extensive experiential approach: participants live through the whole 
process (pre-work, preparation of an OS and living an OS for at least a full day 
including convergence and action planning).
- Participants then deepen their knowledge with Open Space on ''Open Space''
- Outstanding questions are addressed after by the trainers.

Those elements are in the program I use which was I developed mainly with Larry 
Peterson from Toronto. In addition to what I've outlined above, in this program 
all participants get to practice the facilitator's opening of an OS. It is done 
in a very safe way, in small groups of three, where participants then 
offer feedback to one another. It makes for a rich dialogue after on the role of 
the facilitator in general. Different training programs have different 
additional offerings.

The training I had with Harrison Owen in 1996 was a 6-day training. I really 
appreciated its residential aspect for the additional reflection time and 
informal exchange it allows. The residential approach has not been 
very successful in Canada in the later years (attempts as recent as last year). 
The economics has constantly squeezed worker's time and organizations' 
resources, corporations and governments have cut training funding. The emerging 
values in the work place of balance between family life and work is often also 
given as a reason for wanting non-residential workshops. 

Still, in my experience, participants come out of the 3-4 day non residential 
training, feeling that they have discovered a very different, refreshing and 
open way of being, meeting, organizing and leading. Those that choose to become 
OS facilitators are really passionate about it. 

The best to you in our training workshop ....from Ottawa, Canada to which I will 
soon return. I'm taking a couple of days still in Berlin to take in some of the 
beauties of this city.

Diane

________________________________
From: Bhavesh Patel <bhavmail at gmail.com>
To: Diane Gibeault <diane.gibeault at rogers.com>
Cc: OSLIST <OSLIST at listserv.boisestate.edu>
Sent: Thu, April 14, 2011 6:00:55 AM
Subject: Re: [OSList] About Facilitating OS Trainning

Hi Friends,

I am planning to run an OST Learning Workshop soon: 
http://www.openspacemalaysia.webs.com/

I will be going into design mode next week and would appreciate any ideas, 
designs, plans, anything you are happy to share. It is a 3 day 9:00am-6:00pm 
non-residential workshop, with the majority of the participants being civil 
society activists.

I have been in Malaysia 3 years now, and planning to leave in June sometime. I 
haven't really come across any other OST facilitators, and so I am running this 
workshop hoping that some will continue to open space after I am gone.

I am particularly interested in the details of Diane's comment - "some 
reaffirmation of things that work well everywhere".

Smiles Bhav....

P.S. and Michael, I am still planning to put my events on the world open space 
map, just still have not got round to it....

On 14 April 2011 01:45, Diane Gibeault <diane.gibeault at rogers.com> wrote:

Hi Michael,
>
>First of all, a big thank you Michael for your hospitality and for expanding our 
>Berlin-Canada conversations on OS training and OS trainers last Monday to 
>include other OS facilitators and trainers from Berlin. Everyone was very open 
>and generous in sharing their ways and their experiences. This made for rich 
>discussions, learnings and some reaffirmation of things that work well 
>everywhere.   
>
>In addition to the May learning event in Italy that you mention below, 
>conversations on OS training may very well continue in Québec on May 29th during 
>a one-day meeting in French of OS facilitators and people interested in OS. It 
>is organized by Marquis Bureau who began sending invitations this week.  OS 
>training may be a topic on the Market Place or a butterfly conversation but 
>there is usually space for such discussions one way or the other.  
>
> 
>I will also pursue these training discussions with Déborah Maarek from Brussels 
>who co-facilitated with me an OS training a couple of weeks ago in her home 
>city. She really wanted to join us in Berlin but could not. Déborah is planning 
>to organize and facilitate another OS training workshop sometime this year. 
>
> 
>PS: I changed the title of the email so others could see this side thread that 
>has developed from Esther Matte's original reminder of her Stammtisch, ...and 
>hopefully join in the future learning exchanges. 
>
> 
>Again, thank you for the warm welcome. 
>Sincerely,
>Diane
> 
>
________________________________

>From: Michael M Pannwitz <mmpanne at boscop.org>
>To: oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
>Sent: Tue, April 12, 2011 2:16:01 PM
>Subject: Re: [OSList] Reminder: Open Space Stammtisch Tomorrow April 12!
>
>Dear Esther,
>greetings to all that show up at your Stammtisch tonite!
>We had an extraordinary Stammtisch yesterday in our traditional hangout, 
>the Kreuzberger Weltlaterne, on the occasion of Diane Gibeaults visit to 
>Berlin. There was a great discussion about open space trainings... with 
>some indepth insight into her 4-day non-residential model and the 6-day 
>residential model practiced by some in these realms... and the benefits 
>of having seasoned practitioners stage these events.
>It would not surprise me if issues around training facilitators and the 
>training design come up at the 2nd European Open Space Learning Exchange 
>in Sardinia next month... including conceiving the Learning Exchanges as 
>ongoing trainings for facilitators, new and seasoned.
>Greetings from Berlin
>mmp
>
>On 11.04.2011 21:49, Esther Matte wrote:
>> Hi everyone,
>>
>> Just a quick reminder of our bi-monthly Open Space informal gathering at
>> The Perfect Pint on the East Side (203 E 45th St., second floor).
>>
>> Welcome to anyone with an interest for Open Space! We will talk about
>> whatever question arises regarding OST oror about interesting books or
>> conferences we can share. I'm almost finished reading /Liquid
>> Leadership: From Woodstock to Wikipedia /- /Multigenerational Management
>> Ideas That Are Changing The Way We Run Things/ and it's a great read!
>>
>> Come for drinks or dinner, stay for a while or just drop by and say
>> hello! And feel free to circulate this e-mail to anyone you think would
>> be interested!
>>
>> Looking forward to seeing you. Until then, have great fun!
>>
>>
>> Esther Matte
>> Discover - Engage - Accomplish
>> New York: 212-755-0551
>> Montreal: 450-583-5849
>> www.esthermatte.com <http://www.esthermatte.com>
>>
>> 
>Michael M Pannwitz, boscop eg
>Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany
>++49-30-772 8000
>mmpanne at boscop.org
>www.boscop.org
>
>
>Check out the Open Space World Map presently showing 430 resident Open 
>Space Workers in 71 countries working in a total of 141 countries worldwide
>Have a look:
>www.openspaceworldmap.org
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