Strategic Planning in Open Space

Strategic planning using Open Space Technology for small businesses and community-based organizations

Strategic planning tends to be put off. It often seems to be in the ‘too hard basket’ – too many imponderables. Who should be invited to participate? What should be on the agenda? How will decisions be communicated to staff and clients affected? When can we find the time? Often the short-term urgent issues crowd out the long-term important concerns of a small business or a community organization.

Open Space Technology offers a way of conducting productive business meetings that is ideally suited to the process of strategic planning. Small businesses and community organizations where time is at a premium can benefit enormously from using the Open Space process with the help of an experienced Open Space Practitioner.

Open Space saves time, invites contribution from the people who are actively involved in the issues, improves relationships amongst the participants, and encourages the formation of ongoing working groups to follow up on the issues identified in the Open Space activity.

What is Open Space Technology?

Open Space Technology, first developed by Harrison Owen in 1988, is a way of involving groups of people in contributing to decisions on matters that they care about and for which they are prepared to take responsibility. He describes it as based on the twin energies of passion and responsibility. Without passion, no-one is interested. Without responsibility, nothing gets done. Open Space works best when the issues involved are complex, many different points of view are involved (and perhaps some conflict) and no-one claims to know the best way to proceed. For most small businesses, these conditions are very familiar. Currently the Open Space process is being used in over 80 countries around the world.

Invites contribution

Strategic planning involves making decisions about the long-term future direction of a business or organization. Strategic planning decisions affect many people and groups, staff, customers, clients, other businesses and the community. The view from the top can be very different from the view from the bottom. Open Space invites contribution from all those affected by and concerned about the planning process.

Saves time

Deciding what goes on the agenda of a strategic planning process has been known to take months. The Open Space process is economical with time. Open Space starts with a theme of concern to all those involved. It could be something like, The Future of our Business/Community – Issues and Opportunities. Once the theme is decided, a date can be set and all those interested invited to attend.

The agenda is decided on the day and usually takes about half an hour. Participants sit in an open circle and are invited to contribute issues. These are posted on a blank wall visible to all. Participants sign up to discuss the posted issues by adding their names to those that actively interest them. Sub-groups then adjourn to pre-selected break out spots to consider the issues of their choice. Their deliberations are recorded and also posted up for all to review.

Gets ideas from the people who are actively involved in the issues

Small businesses and community organizations share a need to invite maximum contribution from everyone involved. When the people who do the work are consulted, they can often find cost-effective solutions that can be readily implemented to improve their working environment and productivity. Open Space evokes the passion in people. It also recognizes people’s right to remove themselves from situations where they are no longer either learning or contributing. This is the ‘law of two feet’ or ‘the law of mobility’.

Guarantees that all the important issues will be considered if the people present so choose

How are the most important issues decided? In a more conventional situation, the person or people at the top decide which issues are of the most concern. However, they may be quite unaware of issues that are of burning concern to others. The neglect of these unrecognized issues can result in feelings of frustration that eventually show up as conflict. This can be avoided if at an early stage – in the strategic planning process – everyone involved is invited to identify issues of concern. These will be included in the final documentation that comes out of the process. At the end of the day, people are more likely to act with enthusiasm and commitment when they have some ownership of the process.

Encourages action

By the end of an Open Space event, a number of issues will have been documented and prioritized and working groups formed to further the action, which may be to call for another Open Space to be convened.

Improves relationships

The informal nature of Open Space encourages people to relax and talk about what most concerns them. Through the informal exchange of views, people get to know each other better and greater levels of trust can develop. Open Space can be fun. Improved relationships amongst key players speeds the subsequent implementation of a strategic plan.

Increases productivity

The bottom line of any business or service provider is productivity, whether this is measured in terms of profits or outcomes. Profits and outcomes depend on a synergy of factors – people, systems and commitment. Open Space encourages people to take active responsibility for what they care about.

Allows collective ownership and invokes the energy of the group

We know that the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts. Open Space is a way of engaging the energy of the parts (the individual people) with the energy of the whole group (the business and its future) so as to produce surprisingly creative outcomes that could not have been foreseen beforehand.

The next step

Please contact me for further information. I will spend time with you to determine your needs, the outcomes to be achieved, the wording of the theme, and the best way to proceed.

I also run Open Space Practice Workshops where you have a chance to participate in an Open Space event, debrief the process, and practice new skills in a safe environment.

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Transformasia Pty Ltd
ACN 097 139 725
Tel: +61 3 9525 3409
E-mail:
www.transformasia.com.au