Open Space Technology - Asia

 “Action Planning” + Post Work

Participants : Bhav, Lisa, Brian, Tim, Michael, Gail, ET, Tara, Mark, Jorie, Jochen, Alan, Jessie, Pasany, Teresa, Larry,

-          Action Planning

-          Brian uses red dots

o   Gives everybody 5 red dots, you can rip them, steal them, sell them

o   Then invites them to read the news

o   Q. “Which are the more important things that need next steps now?”

o   Put main ones on the floor

o   Ask the person who put it up whether they are prepared to take it forward, and ask who else would like to work with them

o   Only gives them 10min to plan

o   Re-opening the space can sometimes re-open the question and content, rather than bringing it to a close and next steps

-          Another method is red dots and then re-open the space, and maybe the topics match the dots and maybe they don’t

-          Dots

o   can help everyone get a bigger picture of what is going on, to reflect and integrate

o   can also be culturally reflective

o   sometimes people aren’t ready for dots if it has been one day, could put post its out and ask people to write on them what they are gonna do next and then stick them up

-          Put postcards under the chair, and ask them to write personal actions on them and then hand them in, and then 3 months later they are sent back to the person

o   Could also capture them without names and notice patterns

-          Write one word on a card and then after the event, you take the words and see which ones repeat to show importance

-          Big question method – write them down and people can vote on them in 2s

-          In the Pre-Work, ask whether :

o   action is needed – then what am I asking them to do? What is their capacity? Do they have the power, resources, support to take them forward? What do they have power to do?

o   Or a sense of accomplishment

o   It may not be about voting, because one person can change the world, it doesn’t have to be a majority

o   Check with the client what are you really asking for, are you ready for what might happen?

-          Berlin

o   Read book of proceedings – 30min

o   What did it mean to me personally – 7min

o   Exchange with another person on helping me better understand what I have found for myself – 14min

o   Reopen space – plan, share,

§  What, who, first step, contact person, time of next meeting,

o   Share exciting headline of action and celebrate, more detail is not needed because it is in the proceedings

o   Closing circle

o   Offer follow up and has a follow up meeting with all the participants involved to show transparency and what is going on

-          Can do a full day convergence, when the senior management turn up and decide where resources go, support, policy changes, give them a clear role and help them how to intentionally support

-          Post OST

-          Meeting with sponsor to support them following up and helping them understand how to keep the space open

-          Check if client wants it, provide the space for people to meet again, harvesting, see what they want to do next

-          Depends on the situation, sometimes I don’t follow up if there is no need to pursue

-          The pre-work is key to this

-          How do you change behaviour, an intervention doesn’t, it is the environment before and after it

-          How does the news happen after the event, how does the data go back to the system? To show how the system is changing, improving, healing…

-          Supporting people who have had a great idea but no idea how to take it forward, because they may not have the needed skill sets

-          Realising that after a 2 day open space people are not gonna be re-skilled!!

-          Books – “power vs force”, “spiral dynamics”

-          Technical skill differences in different countries, some people don’t know how to type

-          In Corporate, meet with sponsor 2-3 weeks after to discuss how actions will be supported, and could then go into project management(PSP or WAVE) to plan the actions

-          Or no follow up, unless invited back for further OS – because if the facilitator gets involved then it is not self-organisation, it is the old system

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