[OSList] The role of session transcribers, this is my oslist session invite.

Kári Gunnarsson kari.gunnarsson at simnet.is
Wed Oct 24 03:57:58 PDT 2012


These are good questions

I think that bad notes are fine for the people that participated in a
session. Now I have been reading the notes from London Wosonos as I was not
able to be at location, these notes are a narrow window into the
conversations that took place, like half shadows of the dialog that was
there. Also in the blog of some critics there are complaints abut the
quality of note takers work with the context of "My contribution is not in
the notes", I wonder if each participant in my next Open Space was made
responsible to write his contributions and responses to this contribution,
this will distribute the note taking within the group based on the
contributions. I will encourage people to take care of there needs and ask
for help, but I think the task for the formal session note-taker falls in
the category for me of one less thing to do.

In past years where I have been privileged to host a session in open space,
I have felt that it was my responsibility that good notes would be taken
during the session. Therefore I have found a willing hand and asked her to
take the formal notes. This task has effect on the participation of the
note-taker and the dream of external not-takers comes to light as the notes
are of different quality and the person taking the would perhaps rather be
a butterfly at the time of the bother.

When I host my session, my old meeting culture takes over and my
expectations dictate my options. The principles and the guiding Law of open
space restrict this culture somewhat and boost productivity. I have had
experience of hosting a session of one, I had all the contributions and I
was the note-taker, at the end of my session I had some discussion next to
the coffee tables where I added some responses to my contributions notes.

This experience coupled with my need to design some documentation process
for my next open space have brought  these issues on the forefront.  I am
doing a series of short open spaces with service industry. I question the
dogma of one session - one report.  I think there will be more reporting
and more total quality if each person took care of there own contribution.

For this paradigm shift of mine, Ill probably make some paper forms with
fields like:
(Time, Space, Name of originator, Session title, Your name, Your
contribution to session with reflections and responses.) And in my
introduction I spend good time on introducing the documentation.




On 24 October 2012 08:47, Eleder_BuM <eleder.aurtenetxe at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Kari, I share you concern and I think that distributed note-taking
> would be the "natural" way in Open Space. My experience, though, is that
> even if we as facilitators encourage it or as conveners ask for it to other
> participants, people tend to keep their own notes.
>
> Maybe it´s an extra effort people don´t value much?
>
> Maybe something is telling us not to be so stubborn with notes, that the
> really important stuff is the shift on participants bodies&spiritis and the
> actions that will be born from conversations?
>
> Maybe that some lazy lines is enough to know what the conversation content
> and atmosphere was like and whoever reads it, if moved, should go to the
> participants´ and start new / continue old conversations on the issue?
>
> A big hug from Bilbao,
>
> @Eleder_BuM <https://twitter.com/Eleder_BuM>
>  www.flowandshow.blogspot.com (En) www.burumapak.blogspot.com (Basque)
> www.in-fluyendo.blogspot.com (Sp) www.bilbohiria.com/gaika/berbaz (radio)
>
> 2012/10/23 Kári Gunnarsson <kari.gunnarsson at simnet.is>
>
>> Hello dear oslist community
>>
>> I think about introducing distributed not-taking for sessions so that the
>> responsibility of notes is in the hands of every participant and not the
>> participant appointed session transcriber as is the general structured
>> meeting practice. I long for an opening in the passion and responsibility
>> for the written notes as well as the spoken word.
>>
>> As I read about some participation content begin lost by transcribers and
>> experiencing it for my self, I think about the documentation design style
>> and the call by some to have scribes at each group. Having scribes at
>> groups makes my face expression wrinkle a little and I think of an
>> alternative solution based on the responsibility and passion of every
>> member.
>>
>> What if everyone could dot down there own contributions or ask a fellow
>> in the discussion to dot down there contributions if that is there need.
>> This way the responsibility of not-taking is distributed, and half, if not
>> all present take notes to there contributions.
>>
>> But then we have a problem when all the different notes enter the
>> computers, the complexity of adding several documents as one discussion
>> will be like a discussion in the lists or some different beast.
>>
>> I imagen that this idea has especially had some fieald time in the hads
>> of multi-language gathering facilitators.
>>
>> My vision is a shared and individual responsibility for session
>> note-taking without the use of session selected representative for the role.
>>
>> I ask about your experiences with this idea of distributed documentation
>> for each session and the solutions you have identified.
>>
>> with love from Iceland
>> Kári
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Kári Gunnarsson
>> kari.gunnarsson at simnet.is
>> gsm: +354 8645189
>>
>>
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>
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-- 
Kári Gunnarsson
kari.gunnarsson at simnet.is
gsm: +354 8645189
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