Facilitate Proceedings

I recently participated in a two-day workshop to learn about Open Space Technology (OST). A quick description of this method of meeting preparation and holding space might be “the art of facilitation by getting out of the way.” In addition to learning about this specific approach (see below) I valued the opportunity to reflect on facilitation techniques that could apply in other situations as well, including virtual meetings and webinars. Here are five facilitation reminders to take into the New Year.

1. The importance of purposeful preparation
   OST exemplifies the importance and value of meeting preparation by developing clear focus and intent. OST runs on two fundamentals: passion and responsibility. As Harrison Owen writes: “Without passion, nobody is interested. Without responsibility, nothing will get done. Obviously people feel passionately about different things. And it is unlikely that anybody will take responsibility for something they do not care about. It is extremely important, therefore, to declare right up front what the focus is.” Working with a client or meeting owner or a set of learning objectives to identify a theme and desired outcomes sets the stage for any meeting design. Sometimes the nature of a virtual meeting or webinar might lead a facilitator to work in isolation or assume that participants understand why they are attending. However, as with Open Space sessions, virtual meeting participants have a lot of flexibility in when and how they participate. Purposeful preparation and communication is therefore more important than ever.
2. Value of bringing together a group of people who care
   When creating a group who should come and how do you get them there? Harrison Owen writes that for an OST event: “The answer is: whoever cares should come, and the fact that they care is sufficient to ensure their attendance.” This too is a useful reminder, particularly for virtual meetings and webinars where we tend to have less control on attendance – both who shows and how present/engaged they are. As facilitators we have a role in clearly communicating the purpose and promise of the meeting or webinar. People will be less interested in the process. They care about the results and that their time will be well spent. If our invitations focus on attracting people who care about our theme and outcomes it will drive us to better articulate them and be more confident in those who show up – and glad to omit those who don’t.
3. Stay fully present while holding the space for others
   The very nature of the OST methodology is to hold a meeting space open to participants to discuss and explore whatever they choose. The preparation of the theme, the group, the time, the physical space and the methodology all lead up to time where a group of participants are given the space to convene their own conversations. This is clearly particular to the OST methodology but the practice has value to other kinds of events too. In virtual meetings, and most especially webinars, the facilitator tends to take up a lot of space and airtime. Facilitators often express discomfort with silence on a teleconference and quickly fill the space themselves. The audio technology may limit who can speak or can be awkward in passing around the microphone. Participants can be reluctant to speak up when they are unsure who else is on the call or may go on and on, unaware that others also have things to contribute. The lesson here from OST is for us to find ways in our agenda design, selection of technology, creation of exercises, moderation of discussions, and opening of virtual meeting spaces that enable people to fully contribute. This means using meeting time and online meeting spaces in creative ways, less driven by a single focal point of the facilitator and with greater attention on providing participants with more times and places to contribute their ideas.
4. The law of two feet (or ten fingers and thumbs)
   OST uses some wonderfully simple but powerful principles in creating the space for full participation. There is also one law, the “Law of Two Feet” which says that, as Harrison Owen writes, “If, during our time together, you find yourself in any situation where you are neither learning nor contributing, use your two feet and go to some more productive place.” This too has immediate application to the world of virtual meetings – it is the way virtual participants operate, whether we want them to or not. Instead of fighting a tendency to multi-task, what if we designed our virtual meetings and webinars with this law in mind? I think it leads us to find out more about what participants care about in advance of the meeting, provide more varied ways for participants to contribute during a meeting, spend less time talking as the facilitator or presenter, use both asynchronous and real time activities, provide additional forms of collaboration outside the formal meeting room, create spaces for virtual breakout groups, and use collaboration tools that allow for multiple inputs and immediate documentation.
5. Whatever happens was the only thing that could have
   This is one of the OST principles mentioned above. On first reading it could seem a little trite, but on reflection it is an important lesson in taking responsibility for our own outcomes and applies equally to facilitators and participants. As Harrison Owen emphasizes “Voluntary self-selection is the absolute sine qua non for participation in Open Space.” While this is particular to this methodology I took away a clear lesson that is applicable in all that I do as a facilitator and as a meeting participant: I am responsible for my own experience and whatever happens in a meeting is the result of how I choose to show up and participate. As we prepare for any kind of meeting, workshop or webinar, whether as a facilitator or participant we will benefit from thinking hard about what conversations we are truly passionate about on a certain theme. Being asked to choose what discussions to convene or participate in sets a different level of expectation for involvement and attention. So does being asked to consider during a discussion, am I getting something out of this and if not how can I change this… or leave.

As facilitators come to me for ideas and advice on how to run successful virtual meetings and webinars I encourage them to seek out a variety of meeting and workshop experiences to see what others are doing. I am glad that I followed my own advice(!) and sought out Lisa Heft and her excellent Open Space workshop. There is a lot to learn from this methodology, for its own sake and in reflection in other types of meetings, both in-person and virtual.

Posted by Julia Young, Facilitate.com

Open Space Technology (OST) is a meeting methodology that enables self-organizing groups of all sizes to deal with complex issues in a very short period of time. Originated by Harrison Owen and refined over the past 20 years by a community of facilitators and practitioners, it is useful in situations where there is: a real business issue; a great deal of complexity; lots of diversity in terms of people and points of view; real passion (people care!) and probably also conflict; genuine urgency. For more information reference Open Space Technology – A User’s Guide (Third Edition) by Harrison Owen, 2008.

For more details about this methodology and workshops visit http://www.openingspace.net or contact Lisa Heft at Lisa@openingspace.net.

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