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Hi Bronwyn,<br>
<br>
You cite this specific (and BIG) problem:<br>
"...People feeling very unsupported by their hierarchy, lack of
recognition by senior management that they are part of the problem,
lack of responsiveness to past recommendations for action, and deep
cynicism that anything will come from 'yet another talkfest'. "<br>
<br>
Wow, sounds like the "high potential for conflict" property is set
to "True"....!<br>
<br>
Because of this, the authorization level of the Sponsor is key. <br>
<br>
I would find someone from senior management who is
"highly-and-formally-authorized", and willing to stand up and say
something like:<br>
<br>
0/ Welcome<br>
1/ This is authorized time & space<br>
2/ We have some problems, they are [list issues here]. This meeting
is designed to explore these issues together.<br>
3/ Our theme is [list theme here.]<br>
4/ I promise the following on behalf of senior management: to
inspect proceedings & take action on the most pressing issues<br>
5/ Enjoy! And now here is our facilitator...<br>
<br>
....having that highly-and-formally-authorized Sponsor stand up like
that, and also <b>be present for much of the event</b> is also very
important in my view, because it signals high interest and
commitment items {1..5} above.<br>
<u><br>
</u><u>Based on your citation of this as a fact:</u><br>
"...People feeling very unsupported by their hierarchy, lack of
recognition by senior management that they are part of the problem,
lack of responsiveness to past recommendations for action, and deep
cynicism that anything will come from 'yet another talkfest'. "<br>
<br>
<u>...My guidance is: </u><br>
proceed cautiously unless and until you can locate a
"highly-and-formally-authorized" Sponsor. My concern is that if your
middle-manager is the Sponsor, and that they may not have enough
authorization to help make the event be (and feel like) a
significant shift from the status-quo.<br>
<br>
Kind Regards,<br>
Daniel<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 5/11/14 8:38 AM, Bronwyn Pagram
wrote:<br>
</div>
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<div dir="ltr">Hi there. I have quietly enjoyed os-list for a
couple of months now - thank you for all the open sharing. Very
valuable for a 'newby' to open space like me.
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I have been asked to facilitate several regional open space
workshops for an organization where there is a lot of
deep-seated pain and anger behind the scenes. People feeling
very unsupported by their hierarchy, lack of recognition by
senior management that they are part of the problem, lack of
responsiveness to past recommendations for action, and deep
cynicism that anything will come from 'yet another talkfest'.
The topic is staff wellbeing. The workshops are being done in
the context of middle management concern for their people
(they are the sponsors) as well as an organisational strategy
refresh for which staff wellbeing will form part for the first
time (senior managers are aware of concerns and also of
several stress-related illnesses and staff leaving).</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>There is no prior experience of open space in this
organisation, although the middle-manager driving these events
has been exposed elsewhere. I would be grateful for any
suggestions as to how to best structure the day (5.5 hours -
limited by considerable travel time to come in/go home). I am
thinking to include both talking/listening circles as well as
traditional open space.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Ideally participants would take away some actions
themselves... as well as there being some meaty inputs to
senior mgmt for the strategy refresh.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Thanks a lot. Bronwyn</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
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<br>
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<p class="p1">Daniel Mezick, President</p>
<p class="p1">New Technology Solutions Inc.</p>
<p class="p1">(203) 915 7248 (cell)</p>
<p class="p2"><span class="s1"><a
href="http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/">Bio</a></span><span
class="s2">. <a href="http://newtechusa.net/blog/"><span
class="s1">Blog</span></a>. <a
href="http://twitter.com/#%21/danmezick/"><span class="s1">Twitter</span></a>.<span
class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p>
<p class="p3"><span class="s2">Examine my new book:<span
class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a
href="http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/"><span
class="s1">The Culture Game </span></a></span><span
class="s1">: Tools for the Agile Manager</span><span
class="s2">.</span></p>
<p class="p1">Explore Agile Team <a
href="http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-training/"><span
class="s3">Training</span></a> and <a
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class="s3">Coaching.</span></a></p>
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