<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><HTML><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2">Jon--<BR>
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Paul and I facilitated a series of meetings for a manufacturing company which wanted to identify management practices which helped create safety, and find a way to measure managers on those things. They could see that their current system only measured failures of safety.<BR>
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The meetings were not in Open Space--the client was not ready for that--but they would have been more effective in Open Space. The safety professionals and middle managers identified some intriguing ideas. But they were afraid of going back to their general managers and "rocking the boat." In Open Space, I think some of those fearful feelings might have been part of the discussion, and the group collectively could have developed strategies for implementation.<BR>
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In contrast, I worked with an organization which was planning a move to a new facility. They were concerned about the disruptions of working relationships, commuting patterns and other social and psychological aspects of the change. The whole organization gathered in Open Space about 9 months before the move, and I was amazed at the depth of the discussions, ranging from how to allocate storage space (a very hot issue in this group) to grief and change. A number of the discussions in Open Space led directly to committees and task forces who worked out many of the needed policies and plans. The move was completed on schedule--I asked the director if she was satisfied that this had worked out as she hoped; she replied that the process had exceeded her highest expectations.<BR>
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Good luck with your proposal--I personally think that Open Space is ideally suited to the work the client wants to accomplish!<BR>
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Joelle Everett<BR>
Shelton, Washington, USA<BR>
jleshelton@aol.com</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"></FONT></HTML>
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