[OSList] After the OS event

Tue May 24 08:17:45 PDT 2011

Hi Lisa,

Not in business or corporate environment, but my manager would happily provide information on how she has worked with the results of Open Space after the first event. Her name is Reina Buijs, she is Head of the Health Division in the Directorate General for International Cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Her email address: reina.buijs at minbuza.nl<mailto:reina.buijs at minbuza.nl>
Your client can also contact her by telephone (+31703485825)

Warm greetings,

Dicky
From: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Lisa Heft
Sent: dinsdag 17 mei 2011 17:11
To: OSLIST
Subject: [OSList] After the OS event

Hi, folks - just another request, as I have not yet heard from anyone.

If you have a client (especially a business / corporate client) that might be happy to chat with a client of mine about how they integrated the information / learning / achievements from an OS meeting or retreat into the work of the organization **after** the dialogue meeting (OS or otherwise) - thank you for sending me an email with either that direct contact information or a few lines you write describing that.

Then I can share that with this particular client.

Many thanks. You can send this to me directly at lisaheft at openingspace.net<mailto:lisaheft at openingspace.net>

Of course, I have also described to this client that thinking about how to sustain the ideas and momentum of the OS (or any other dialogue) event is an essential thing to talk about (design, create mechanisms for) in this pre-work stage. So I am delighted that she is asking for more ideas about this. Other clients I have had trained different levels of staff in convening meetings and groups post-event, trained their members how to apply for funding, sent out 'news flashes' to show the full group / system what is happening across the system post-event, and more. All ways of showing the system back to itself - all ways of sustaining and growing capacity and feeding information back into the system for continuous learning. This has been true amongst my 'dream clients' whether for Open Space or other work where people gather together for projects, retreats and working groups.

And here is a little present - an experience I had with a client who fully understood how to support sustainability after an OS (or any retreat / working meeting) event...

Enjoy,
Lisa

Sustainability: Leveraging the Momentum of the Open Space Event

by Lisa Heft

When discussing action or follow-up (during the pre-work stage), it is important to analyze who has capacity for follow-up, in what form, and how this might fit into ongoing projects, abilities and timelines for an organization or community. This is true whether the meeting process is Open Space or any other approach.

I facilitated two day-long Open Space retreats for a global corporation's Information Technology division - to generate ideas, opportunities and issues in preparation for their division's strategic planning process.  The objective of these meetings was idea generation, after which the Executive team would take that data to inform their budget work and decisions on the strategic plan.  Every single Information Technology employee attended one of these two retreats - from the data entry workers to the administrative assistants to the Chief Technical Officer.

Ideas were generated, and then there was a short Action Planning session as a part of this particular event's design. The reason for action planning at the event was that the Chief Technical Officer wanted to see what projects and people might need short- or long-term support and resources. He uses Open Space as one of the ways to convene his employees, and he knew there could be some surprise topics and projects that the Executive Team might need to fold into their resources and their strategic plan decisions. The Executive Team would be meeting immediately after the all-employee Open Space to start working on the plan itself.

Because this top executive knew Open Space and was fully ready for whatever surprises may come out of it - and because the organization could commit to every employee attending being given the freedom, mobility, time and support from the top for whatever they might feel inspired to work on - action planning was designed as a re-opening of the space. Eight action champions announced action groups and that 45 minutes was very spirited, with other participants butterflying and bumblebeeing from group to group to help with good ideas.

At the end of that time I re-convened the group in Closing Circle.  Action champions announced their headlines, and the entire group cheered. One data entry person convened a group - he announced "I'm going to redesign the entire database!" (cheers and applause!).

During the action group session, the Chief Technical Officer had been conferring with his Number Two executive. After the headlines and cheering, he stepped forward to say 'While you were working with your action champions, I asked my second-in-command to become the champion for you champions.  He will be meeting with you to help support you with resources, will create time on the agenda of our Executive Team Meetings to report your progress, he will create time on the agenda of our company's quarterly Town Hall Meetings, and he will research and provide you with whatever else is needed to make your actions a success." (More cheering.)

During the cheering he leaned over to me and whispered "That gentleman who wants to re-design the database has so much enthusiasm, I can tell he is a leader, and can serve the organization in much greater ways than his current job title and description.  Unfortunately he does not know that the database re-design project is already in progress. But with that kind of energy and leadership, we are going to find a place for him on the project."

So in that case, action supported by resources, time, dedicated staff, and support from the top. A recipe for sustainability and success.

Lisa Heft
Consultant, Facilitator, Educator
Opening Space
lisaheft at openingspace.net<mailto:lisaheft at openingspace.net>

Ask me about these 2011 workshops for facilitators and others who convene people:
 - The Open Space Learning Workshop
        - June and October - Santiago, Chile (en
español)
        - July-August - Buenos Aires, Argentina (en
español)
        - December 14-16 - San Francisco, USA
 - The Power of Pre-Work - August 24-26 - San Francisco, USA

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