Harrison Owen created a largely leaderless and formless meeting methodology in 1985 which he calls Open Space Technology after discovering that attendees of his symposium reportedly enjoyed the coffee breaks most. He decided to create his next symposium around coffee breaks.
He now spends about five minutes preparing for one to five day conferences which are an effective way to empower individuals to network and have significant conversations about topics of interest to the participants. The technology works for any size group.
It is highly dynamic, very organic and has built-in flexibility in the moment.
Structure of the Event
The large group convenes. The facilitator briefly re-states the theme of the meeting, and invites participants to raise a related topic and announce it to the large group. These participants become the small group discussion leaders for the topic they have raised.
Someone writes each topic on an individual sheet of paper, which gets posted on a wall. The discussion leaders may agree to combine similar topics into a single small group.
When someone determines that posting on all issues is complete, times and places are set for the small group meetings of approximately one hour.
The discussion leader shows up to lead discussion on their topic. If no one shows up, they consider the topic themselves. People may come and go during the course of the hour.
There are four Principles and one Law of Open Space.
Four Principles
1. Whoever comes is the right people.
2. Whatever happens is the only thing that could have.
3. Whenever it starts is the right time.
4. When it’s over, it’s over.
The Law of Two Feet, or the Law of Mobility
“If at any time during our time together you find yourself in any situation where you are neither learning nor contributing, use your two feet. Go to some other place where you may learn and contribute.”
For more information:
Open Space Technology: A User’s Guide by Harrison Owen
Berrett-Koehler Publishers
ISBN: 978-1576750247
Best wishes,
Marilyn McLeod
Marilyn@PersonalizedHealthCoach.com
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