Evolution
at Work:

A Personal
Journey
and Public
Invitation to
Open Space

by
Michael Herman
_______

Comments and
Questions to:

mherman@
globalchicago.net
or
312-280-7838
_______

For Reprints,
Electronic Copies
and Permissions:

reprints@
globalchicago.net
_______

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Open Space Outcomes


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Appropriate Structure

Open Space is a simple, dynamic, integrative and expanding environment, that allows planning, learning and implementation to occur simultaneously, in a unique and powerful (self-organizing) combination of:

  • Support Group - where resources are shared, creativity nurtured, hunches confirmed, decision-making supported, learning and risk-taking encouraged, peers consulted, progress and accountability maintained, and successes celebrated;
  • Think Tank - where events are reviewed, patterns and relationships identified, experiences analyzed, theories critiqued, observations shared, futures envisioned, scenarios sharpened;
  • Learning Laboratory - where assumptions are tested, issues explored, experiments attempted, products design, plans drafted, possibilities discovered, and new ways to work invented and practiced;
  • Workshop/Working Model - where actions are taken, phone calls made, blueprints finished, invitations issued, momentum experienced, contributions made, services delivered, products delivered, and responsible, intentional, self-organization demonstrated productively.

 

Certain Productivity

Opening Space may be the fastest way to get an impossible amount of work done with any size of group, especially with issues that are larger, more complex, more diverse or more conflicted than your usual meeting. An Open Space meeting or event can happen, literally, as fast as the sponsors can find a meeting space and the invitees can clear their schedules. And, while we never know exactly what solutions will emerge when we ask a group to go to work on a really tough issue, we can be sure that with just a few days in Open Space, any organization or group can:

  • Engage everyone who really cares about the question, theme or situation
  • Identify all of the most important issues and opportunities related to the question, theme or situation
  • Create working groups to address all of the issues and opportunities identified as essential to success
  • Practice effective leadership, planning, teamwork, and implementation behaviors without lectures, manipulation, or other external motivation
  • Do everything that can be done right now or immediately following the meeting, in the normal course of business
  • Make Plans for those issues and opportunities that will require additional study and review before implementation
  • Refocus attention on those issues and opportunities that require long-term or ongoing monitoring, assessment and/or activity
  • Document the discussion, ideas, plans, commitments and other progress made on every issue and opportunity identified
  • Prioritize all of the issues and opportunities raised, based on the best judgment of the entire group
  • Associate secondary issues and opportunities with top priority items, so nothing important gets lost in the shuffle
  • Determine immediate next steps in each high-priority area
  • Distribute the entire proceedings, priorities and action steps to every participant before the end of the meeting
  • Disseminate the entire proceedings, priorities and action steps online, just days after the meeting ends
  • Raise the level of awareness, conversation, learning and activity around every aspect of the organization's most important business or community interests
  • Begin to raise the level of learning and contribution, organization-wide

 

Growing the Bottom Line

Open Space is, far and away, the most cost-effective way of getting people, information, and spirit moving in an organization, alliance or coalition. The actual costs of holding a meeting or conference in Open Space are low relative to other large-group methods and a mere drop in the bucket when held up against the very real costs of delayed projects and disheartened people.

Remembering that the Open Space approach can be used with groups of 5 to 500 (or more) people, one rule of thumb for estimating consulting/facilitation costs is it that takes 3-4 days of preparation, meeting and follow-up time for every day (or partial day) of the meeting or conference itself. According to this rule, estimate half-day meetings at 4 days total and 2 1/2 day conferences at 8-12 days total, on the part of the consultant/facilitator.

More importantly, Open Space really hits the bottom-line in terms of lowered costs and increased revenue because it gets so much work done so quickly. When a project that is expected to take 10 months comes in 6 or 8 months early, the reductions in direct costs alone are tremendous. On the revenue side, one company created a whole new product line in two days and made $24 million in its first year of sales. Suffice it to say that bottom-line gains are all about being prepared to be surprised!

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Evolution at Work: A Personal Journey and Public Invitation to Open Space, by Michael Herman (www.michaelherman.com)
© Copyright 1998-2000 Michael Herman. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reprint or distribute without permission and full attribution, including web address and copyright notice. Permission will be granted gladly if you'll just say what you'd like to copy and where you'd like to share it. [email protected]