Open Space Technology
Mary Ghikas, who is the power behind the ALA Library 2.0 Boot Camp currently underway, writes about her experience with Open Space Technology in her lovely blog The Green Kangaroo (added to the Learning 2.0 “reading list.) She says:
Explore posts in the same categories: Main PageOpen Space Technology is a method of self-organizing which allows the participants to create and manage their own working sessions. The “about” page(www.openspaceworld.org) says that “Open Space works best when the work to be done is complex, the people and ideas involved are diverse, the passion for resolution (and potential for conflict) are high, and the time to get it done was yesterday.” Sounds good.
Twice in 2003 I participated in meetings “built” by the participants using Open Space Technology. On return, I wrote up notes and passed them along to ALA staff — my version of throwing a handful of seeds up into the air. Then, I put this into my “interesting possibiities” bank and went on to other work.
Here is what I can tell you about the basic process — based on my own observation and participation.
-The group begins in a circle — whether it's 35 or 350 people, or more. It felt to me like starting with unity in our intent to work together.
-Participants self-identify topics for discussion — literally. You stand up, announce your name and topic to the group and write it on a flip chart page. You thereby take responsibility for convening the discussion — nothing more, nothing less.
-You attach your page to the wall (or the bulletin board or whatever's available).
-When all the topics are on the wall, all participants enter the “marketplace.” You express your interest in one or more (no limit) topics by signing your name to that page. There tends to be some consolidation during this phase as conveners with similar or overlapping topics agree to consolidate — or not.
-The next step is a self-scheduling process. A “matrix of opportunities” was pre-created (in my experience made up of “post-its” stuck on a schedule board)– essentially a matrix of available meeting places and available meeting times. Conveners filled the matrix with their topics — and, again, there was some negotiation as conveners tried to satisfy participants who discovered that the three topics of most interest to them were all being scheduled at the same time.(Now, this may sound cumbersome, but my experience was that it took about an hour to get from circle to a fully-scheduled array of concurrent sessions.)
-After that, groups meet as scheduled. The person who identified the topic convenes. Someone agrees to take notes.
-The “rules” are few. One of the “rules” is that “whoever comes is the right people.” (Yes, that is how it's expressed, so please don't call in the ALA grammar police.) The “one law” is the “law of two feet” or “law of personal mobility” (applicable in any number of situations): If you discover you aren't learning or contributing, use your two feet and move on. Try another topic, another session.(Another observation from my two experiences with this was that discussions were hard to “bound.” Often an interesting “side topic” would be raised. If most of the group found the side topic interesting, the group detoured. Often these detours were, to me, both fruitful and valuable.)
There are a number of books available. I have Expanding Our Now: The Story of Open Space Technology, by Harrison Owen. You might also check out Open Space Technology: A User's Guide (also Harrison Owen).
While this is self-organizing, it is organizing. Both times, there was unobtrusive (which means really good) facilitation. There is an Open Space “Guarantee,” that the issues of real concern of those participating will be discussed, that a written record will be created, that immediate next steps will be identified and, to the extent possible, responsibility for those next steps will be assigned. Sort of association-like, don't you think?
