Greetings to the List, I am a new member as of today but have been exploring Open Space for a while. I work primarily with the provincial government in Victoria British Columbia and have assisted clients resolve a range of issues from business planning to program design and development.
Recently I have been approached by a client to undertake a review of their organizational structure. The client has a very real need but little idea of how to approach the review other than from a very linear and traditional approach that involves review of existing structure, interviews with section heads, consideration of best practices etc. She wants some very real, action orientated recommendations that she can begin to implement in the new year. To me this is a perfect application for OST and intend to pitch this to her as the best way to truly get results that mine the collective wisdom of her staff (about 80+),provide an opportunity to hear from stakeholders/clients and establish a priorized action plan that staff will have bought in to 'cause they created it themselves. So, I have a couple of questions some general and some rather basic I'm afraid. First, any words of advice to someone just starting out with OST? Any wisdom to impart regarding attempts to "sell" a client on the OST concept. I should say, the provincial government is not the most progressive when it comes to trying out new ways of getting at a problem. Second, I suspect that there may be some good and compelling examples of theme statments related to reviewing organizational structures. Can anyone share those with me? And finally, some questions about basics: - I'm confused about creating the Time/Space Matrix: - How do you anticipate the "right" number of breakout groups in advance? - While breakout rooms can be secured and placed on the matrix, how do you provide for the option that participants want to find their own spaces to hold meetings? - If over lunch is an acceptable time for meetings, how do participants schedule here if there are not post-its and locations provided in that time slot? I know, very basic and obviously, I've been reading (and re-reading) the book.... Anyhow, thank you all in advance for any help/expertise you can share. I have not felt so jazzed up about an approach for a long time. In fact, my husband is very perplexed that I am so obsessed on a Saturday afternoon!! Cheers, Sheila Beauchemin Victoria, BC Canada - * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
