Open Space Technology
Open Space Technology (OST) is a more accessible mutual method than participatory appraisal. I first experienced OST with a local NHS Primary Care Trust who ran sessions in a couple of hours. I think it works better over 2 – 3 days, when you have time to develop ideas. However, in my experience, a group of people prepared to dedicate this amount to time without input from experts can be hard to find.
Practicalities
Informed Consent
The real problem is getting informed consent from the participants. The chances are they will have experienced nothing like it before and so informed consent is not always possible. Many simply do not believe a group of people can generate sufficient activity and creative insight without an agenda. Done properly OST is an opportunity for generative dialogue.
Common Ground
Participants set the agenda themselves and so they need some common ground, some shared understanding of the topic of the meeting. I’ve found explaining the method can take a long time. Once people get going they usually find it works better than they expected. But there’s a lot to explain about bumblebees and butterflies, the law of two feet and a whole load of process related issues.
Holding the Space
The role of the person who holds the session together needs to be understood. It is a subtle role. A lot of the time you don’t feel like you’re doing anything at all! And yet your presence is essential. You may be answering questions, reassuring people about their role, helping to resolve disputes, ensuring groups write and post reports; but a lot of the time you simply have to be present.
Long Workshop Sessions
One thing I have learned from using OST is the value of long workshop sessions. At conventional conferences, allowing 90 minutes for group work often results in positive feedback. People want opportunities to confer at conferences (who would have thought it?). OST began with the observation that the best conference business happens during coffee breaks and so asked why not have one long coffee break? This observation can be acted upon in many ways and OST is one highly developed approach.
Perhaps it’s best to start with short sessions and then offer an opportunity to meet for a longer period as participants experience the power of the method. This might work if you are operating locally. The method can also work with communities of interest across a country or internationally but obviously it is harder to get them together for preliminary meetings.
“Open Space Technology: A User’s Guide” by Harrison Owen, the person who invented the method and is the best introduction to the method I have found. It is still in print.
Have you used OST or anything like it? How effective did you find it was at generating new ideas and insights?