What is involved in bringing an Open Space Technology meeting into your organization?

1. Enter into a contract with a facilitator who is skilled not only in facilitating an Open Space Technology meeting but also in working with Open Space Technology for the longer term benefit of your organization from even a single meeting. The contract will include provision for a planning meeting, the Open Space Technology meeting, and a de-brief meeting. The contract should be written in such a way that the decision about holding the Open Space Technology meeting, the theme for the meeting, the length of time of the meeting, and the "givens" for the meeting are to be determined at the planning meeting.

2. Planning meeting of 2-6 hours to determine whether to proceed with an Open Space Technology meeting, to determine the length of time needed for the Open Space Technology meeting to achieve your goals, and to clarify the right theme with the right givens. Ideally, the management team participates in this meeting. An alternative is to involve representation from all levels of the organization. If the latter alternative is chosen, the consultant will require about a one hour meeting with the senior staff person responsible for the organization. The organization is responsible for inviting participants to the meeting and providing a venue for the meeting. It is possible to conduct this meeting by teleconference if necessary.

3. Logistics meeting including development of the invitation. Staff of the organization is usually assigned to work with the consultant to sort through all of the logistical items that need to be attended to. This meeting can take place immediately following the planning meeting or on a subsequent day. The meeting can take place by teleconference or the details can be sorted through via e-mailing rather than a meeting. The organization is responsible for assigning the staff to work with the consultant, for providing the meeting venue, inviting the participants, and handling items such as registrations, food, transportation, and so on as per any type of meeting.

4. The Open Space Technology meeting itself, lasting from 4 hours to multiple days depending on what you are wanting to achieve. During the planning meeting, this would have been worked out including the choice of the option of a convergence and action planning time as the last component of the meeting. Meetings for strategic planning and product development requiring refinement of action planning generally last 1 1⁄2 to 2 1⁄2 days.

5. Debrief meeting with the management team/planning committee of 3-4 hours immediately after the Open Space Technology meeting. This generally takes place the day following the Open Space Technology meeting.

6. Follow up meeting 4-6 months following the Open Space Technology meeting. Participants from the Open Space Technology meeting account their progress to one another as a result of having participated in the Open Space Technology meeting. Accountability to each other is very important in achieving the greatest long term benefit.

Contact us for more information, or to book an in-house Open Space Technology meeting for your organization.