Both test 1 and 2 received about an hour apart. Pretty good!
Gail
(okay, here also is my second test to see if I am back on the
OSLIST, able to post and to receive - thanks Michael for your
thoughtful attention and thanks to the Boise person as
well...here...goes... with my signature in plain text, not in the
usual colors or font I use....and sent about an hour after my
earlier message...)
Thanks for inviting this, Annamarie -
It helps me explore where my own points of 'going for it' are - and
where I tell a client it is not the right tool when there is so
short a time:
I have also done very short Open Spaces - I bow to Jeff Aitken who
inspired me in this area when I was holding so tightly to 'no
shorter than three or four hours'.
However, I am a big believer of analyzing overarching objectives,
desired outcomes, context of the task and what comes before and
after this particular meeting connected to that task, designing in
appropriate and useful participant-driven documentation and more.
I then ask myself: with this short a time availability, and for
these objectives and desired outcomes, what is the right tool for
the deliverables? (including Open Space, World Cafe and other great
dialogic tools - and knowing that Open Space has different
deliverables depending on the amount of meeting time).
I am also passionate about access and inclusion. So another question
I ask myself is - is making very short discussion rounds or only a
few minutes to post topics favoring only the quick responders in the
room - and does that give a sense of the overall group's interests
or issues.
I consider how one of the useful elements of Open Space is
*multiple* sessions so people can see their thoughts link and change
across the sessions, and as the conversations progress, notice
things they didn't see before.
I am also very big on documentation - a way to provide data for the
ongoing work of the group - more than the feeling of the moment of
conversation.
I ask the host if more time is available (including that lunch,
including that networking time - whatever I can get to expand the
meeting length) and I explain why more is better.
I explore what other designs would deliver what the host is asking
for in a way that allows for reflection or emergence or breathing
room.
And if I end up using OS (which I have done on occasion for such a
short time) it is because there is no other alternative which will
provide the desired outcomes and deliverables in this short of a
timeframe.
I do not use a part of Open Space and call it Open Space. If I use
one element or adjust it (for example just the part about inviting
people to think of topics they are passionate about, making a sign,
posting it on the wall and being amazed at the diversity of thought)
I do not call it Open Space.
And I look out for opportunities to invite the group or host to a
full-on Open Space sometime soon, so they will come to know the
difference in what is possible and how the mind (and relationships,
and networking, and discovery) work over longer times in Open Space
together.
Thank you for inviting the question - I had fun opening up my brain
to see how I do things when asked to do short Open Spaces.
Lisa
Lisa Heft
Consultant, Facilitator, Educator
Opening Space
<mailto:lisah...@openingspace.net>lisah...@openingspace.net
<http://www.openingspace.net>www.openingspace.net
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--
Gail West
ICA
3F, No. 12, Lane 5, Tien Mou West Road
Taipei, Taiwan 111
8862) 2871-3150
SKYPE gwestica
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