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Issue: The short (3 hour) OS meeting Convenor: AlexanderKjerulf Participants: *AlexanderKjerulf *SheilaIsakson *GerhardBizer *IngeStruckJoergensen? *MareKiele? *TerrySampson? *EraBrorns? *MonaSundberg? *KerryNepuk? *KoosdeHeer? *ShufangTsai? *MartinvandenBlink Summary of the meeting: This is all about short OS meetings. The discussions have been captured in a kinda to-do format, with reasons for doing short OS's as well as do's and dont's. Generally we found that the short OS's create much the same buzz and creativity as the longer ones. And you get amazing amounts of work done. Reasons for doing short OS's include: *In order to combine OS with other formats (ie. speakers). There was some strong sentiment against this in the group, but also some positive experiences. *If there's just no more time. *To try out OS without spending 3 days *To share information rather Short OS's work best when: *The topic is narrow *The group is fairly homogeneous (though some in the group argued that it works better with heterogeneous groups) *The participants are familiar with OS Short OS's do not work well for: *Strategic planning *Broad topics Things to do when facilitating short OS's: A sample format could look like this: Welcome (5 min) OS intro (10 min) Agenda planning (15 min) 2 1-hour sessions voting and closing (25 min) Align expectations. Ask the customer what they want to achieve. They will typically want way too much. Inform them that all of this will take two days, then settle on realistic expectations for a 3-hour session. Sessions can be from 30 minutes to one hour. You can have sessions of different lengths, ie. 2 30 minute sessions and 1 1-hour session. Shortest possible OS meeting os probably around 2,5 to 3 hours. During the closing mention something like "Just imagine what we could've done in three days". If you combine OS with other formats, end with OS. The short OS has been tried succesfully with up to 120 participants. In the short OS, the invitation becomes even more important. There is less time, so you need to be very clear on the topic. The crucial question to ask when considering a short OS meeting is: Is it better then no OS meeting at all? You might consider an additional hout after the OS meeting to convene working groups. A format that uses partly pre-defined topics has also been succesfully tried. In this case participants met around flipover charts. Five were pre-filled with topics and 2-3 were blank, and could be filled out by participants. Planning doesn't take long in short OS's because there's fewer topics. Always do more than one session. Ie. instead of one one-hour session (if you're really pressed for time, take two half-hour sessions. Things NOT to do: Don't rush. Act like you have all the time in the world, eg. in the intro. Don't tell people to change sessions when it's time. They'll move on when they're ready. Follow up: Online Comments: *The following represents two out of the three criteria that you identified for Short OS's working best *The topic is narrow *The group is fairly homogeneous (though some in the group argued that it works better with heterogeneous groups) *The participants are familiar with OS (this was not the case) MY FAVORITE 3 HOUR OST - While facilitating another type of "program" for the intact staff of a non-profit agency, the Executive Director (who was not familiar with OST but with whom we have deep rapport) my partners and I spontaneously decided to open space after the first couple of hours indicated that would best serve the very different agendas and needs of the participants. The entire group of 25 gave input to the convening question, my partners quickly made posters of the principles and law, posting them on the sticky wall just in time as I was orienting the participants to OST. Within half an hour, we had shifted from a much more formal "staff development" session to a three hour OST with 3 forty minute breakouts meeting. Everyone caught on quickly and those participants who wanted some of the training session material (an overview of the Enneagram for example)posted them as topics. In the closing circle, comments like, "I finally feel that my perspectives have been understood" and "I can't believe how much I shared with my supervisor" and "It is so exciting to see the passion and commitment of our staff come alive" underscored the value of full participation in a safe space. Christine Whitney Sanchez (Thanks for creating such an easy way for me to participate! Blessings to you all.) |
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