Hello, you can find here a movie of how I open the space in a conference meeting, I create a new facilitation tool for that you can see it in action during this movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUEcan5V2u0&feature=plcp I hope it can help you This movies is the firt use of this tool during a on hour session during a conference, I plan to finalise the capitalization for the end of december (I planed to be speacker for 4 intervention with this tool before make a publication). If you feel like using it, I can take time to brief on that facilitation style. cheers Luc Bizeul Le 18 nov. 2012 à 19:41, Sandy Gee a écrit : > Hello again lovely OS community, > I posted a question asking for advice on here a few months ago. It was about > organising a 3 hour OS slot in the afternoon of an Existential Psychotherapy > Conference in a non-ideal setting - A very formal and smart space with an > auditorium in fixed tiered rows. > > I benefitted hugely from all the input I got here as well as at Lisa's > workshop in London and at WOSONOS. > > It happened on Saturday and I'd like to report that it was a great success! > > Though the organisers had been very nervous about it and the setting was > pretty challenging I was well prepared and had found ways to address all the > difficulties... > > For the OS introduction and marketplace I followed Harrison's idea of making > an approximate circle by putting 2 rows of chairs in an arc across the front > of the auditorium facing the tiered rows (the chairs just going right across > where there was a raised platform). It took a number of devices to get them > to co-operate with sitting there - a 'welcome to Open Space' PP slide > projected onto the screen, with the request to 'please sit in the chairs > across the front and the first 3 rows of the auditorium'. I reinforced it > with 'DO NOT SIT IN THIS ROW' signs on all the upper rows (and string > blocking off the rows on the other side). And then when I saw that they were > nervous and reluctant - strong personal appeals to "please come forward and > sit across the front - nothing special or spotlighting will be asked of you, > we're just trying to create a sort-of circle". The reluctance was very > understandable as they had been in that space earlier with 3 big name > speakers just presenting and them all as passive audience. And indeed this is > the style previous conferences have all been. > > I used humour about the awkward and uneven circle - telling them that the > varied height circle was intending to communicate our equality! And I was > able to easily link it all to the conference theme which was 'Challenging > Contexts and Uncertain Landscapes'! Indeed this seemed to help break the > initial ice. > > I followed your idea Lisa of 'implying the circle' by placing the principles > around the perimeter of the circle (having to invent some creative ways of > doing that using string and pegs in places to avoid anything attached to the > walls) and by circling around the space as I gave my introduction and > explanation of the process. Thank you too Lisa for your advice in your > 'thoughts and Ideas' PDF, in which you suggested setting up my living room > with the themes on the wall and practicing circling the space and speaking > aloud whilst imagining being there. That helped me to get more clear and > concise. It helped me to notice where I had a tendency to get repetitive or > long-winded/unclear and discipline myself to keep it simple and brief enough > for the short time I had. I also typed out pretty much what I would say with > coloured sub-headings to orientate me if I should get a bit lost in the > nerves of it all. I only looked at it once, but the process of writing that > and then just having it there helped. This was a much more formal, bigger and > more time constrained situation than I've done OS in before and all this > helped me cope with that. > > Actually the awkwardness and obvious inconvenience of using the auditorium in > that way in some ways helped make the transition to the informality and > 'mucking in' quality OS needs. Following their initial reluctance to sit in > the awkward circle - I was pleased and surprised that they got stuck in quite > easily with the paper and pens for writing up their topics - some handing > paper back for people to write in their rows before coming forward and others > even speaking first with a just blank paper in their hand and then writing up > what they'd said more concisely afterwards. > > We started a bit late but easily got through the marketplace in the 45mins > and off they went to their 1st sessions (11 topics in each of the 2 > sessions). (I managed to wangle an extra 15 minutes on initially proposed 30 > minutes by encouraging the organisers to let me take more of the time for the > OS closure out of the whole conference closure - thanks for that idea Lisa). > > For session topic zones I used laminated orange A4 sheets with letters on > bamboo poles cable-tied to the chair legs (like at WOSONOS 2012). I attached > velcro re-usable cable ties to the top of the poles which i could then thread > through slots in the laminated A4 sheets to create 'zone flags' (easier to > dismantle and transport) for each of the circles of chairs. These were set up > in other rooms than the auditorium (according to a layout plan I'd drawn up) > and this worked well. > > We had a challenge with the agenda wall being created in the auditorium but > the topic zone areas being in a separate part of the venue. That made it > impractical for people to refer to the auditorium agenda board when > bumblebeeing between sessions. So we simply got moveable boards and, after > the marketplace, we moved them to the hall outside where the OS topic > sessions were taking place. We used light A2 foam boards, used 'dual tack > double-sided tape' to 'post-it' them to the auditorium wall, then were able > to remove and reposition them, after the marketplace, onto doors in the hall. > > The closing session was back in the auditorium in the awkward circle at the > front and by then people had got comfortable with participating, so freely > offered snippets of their experience of both the process and the content. > Many were energised, enjoyed it, felt excited and had started conversations > they'd wanted to have but didn't know how. One said that this now felt like a > community in a way that it never had before. A few expressed discomfort with > aspects of the process - feeling conflicted in having to decide whether to > stay or move, being much more aware of the encounter with the people rather > than just the material for discussion, feeling grumpy and rebellious about > notetaking and how they felt it interrupted the process. But even those who > had found it uncomfortable also expressed that they'd got something from it. > And the content that they fed back about was expressed with interest, > excitement and edginess. A couple expressed surprise that it worked when they > had felt sure it couldn't! > > Interestingly one of them expressed a sense of slight stiltedness and > flattening of the energy to be back in the formality of the auditorium for > the closure after the freedom of the Open Space sessions and suggested that > if we'd just got people to re-position the chairs in the larger room where > the sessions had taken place it would have retained more of the energy of OS. > I hadn't imagined that this could be possible due to the numbers, but by that > point we were down to about half the participants so it actually could have > worked. (About a third left at lunchtime and another third before the OS > closure - apparently very usual at this conference and partly a result of an > overly long and packed agenda). Interestingly - another case of that 'once > they've had a taste, they resist any going back into a more constricted > space' phenomena! > > I personally received a lot of great feedback both directly and in how people > interacted with me - many people seemed to find me easily approachable and > came and talked to me or just dropped in a comment in passing. A lot were > very appreciative, two gave me very specific feedback on how I had been a > great facilitator (unflustered when things went wrong, informal, warm, > clear). A couple expressed dilemmas - what they wanted to do, but felt too > shy (I encouraged them to dare to do it anyway and they did), another felt a > bit bad about not having taken notes (I encouraged him to consider - was > there anything now they were finished that they'd like to share with the rest > of the conference? and just write that - which he did). > > All in all there was a real energetic buzz, people were excited and > appreciative, several things had been started that there were plans to carry > forward further and it looks very likely that Open Space will be part of next > years conference. > > Thank you everyone who helped me with your great ideas and generous > encouragement. I'm thrilled and look forward to more... > > Sandy Gee > wildbala...@gmail.com > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to OSList@lists.openspacetech.org > To unsubscribe send an email to oslist-le...@lists.openspacetech.org > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
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