Open Space – A Model for Self-Organizing Conferences
February 3rd through the 7th I was in Seattle at the annual Agile Open Northwest conference. This is a small self-organizing conference that occurs in alternate years in Seattle and Portland. Next winter, it will be in Portland. You can sign up to be notified when registration opens. The conference tends to fill in a number of hours. For many years this conference has used the Open Space model of self-organization to work on the difficult problem of helping agile emerge well in all kinds of organizations—large/small, for-profit/non-profit/government, and, increasingly, non-software development organizations.
Open Space was developed by a Harrison Owen to provide a way for large groups of people to come together to work on problems in a conference-like setting with as little overhead and preparation as possible. The smallest open space I’ve heard of involved 13 people; the largest, thousands. A friend of mine who is an internal agile coach for a small software company with a few teams uses it periodically for company off-sites held at a local hotel. It could be used to initiate a new project or program or turnaround a flagging one.
The principles of open space are:
- Whoever shows up are the right people.
- Whenever it starts, it starts.
- Whenever it’s over, it’s over.
- Wherever it happens is the right place.
- Whatever happens is the only thing that could.
Looking at the principles, you may be alarmed at what they say about requirements for attendance and the overall shape of the event. What I have seen at Open Space events is that the encompassing Opening and Closing ceremonies are eagerly attended, especially the Opening ceremony which launches the theme, establishes a sense of community among the attendees, and opens the “marketplace of ideas” which generates the self-organized agenda for discussion.
Just as in planning a retrospective, it is within the scope of the facilitator, or host, to publicize the event, and ensure the target audience is engaged by the offering. In the case of turning around a red project, educating people that they can be part of turning the project around can be a great motivator for attendance. The Opening and Closing ceremonies “bound” the schedule of the event, though conversations may occur before or after, as is true of other more formal conferences.
The roles in Open Space are:
- Hosts who can act in organizational capacities related to the facility and may be the convener for the conference. In other words, they facilitate the opening and closing sessions.
- Participants who propose and facilitate and attend sessions in alignment with the overall theme of the conference. They do not need to have “answers” or formal presentations or slides or any of the usual conference paraphernalia to lead or participate in a session. They can simply come with a question or a problem they would like help with. I did that once at an open space conference and got lots of assistance and made a number of helpful connections for solving a client’s Jira Greenhopper customization problems.
- Bumblebees who find they can best add value by constantly flitting from meeting to meeting. Like their avian counterparts, they pollinate and cross-pollinate, as they move from session to session. They do best if they listen long enough to understand what is going on in a session they have newly joined to contribute helpfully to the discussion.
- Butterflies who may not participate in any session but rather hang out in an unclaimed space or drift off on their own. They may have identified a good “resting place,” and every so often someone passing between sessions or taking a break may come by to talk about what’s on their minds.
The Law of Two Feet applies for all sessions: If you find yourself in a place where you are not learning or contributing, use your two feet to move to someplace where you can learn or contribute. This is also known as the Law of Personal Mobility.
The Opening takes place in a circle. The attendees must be able to easily see each other. The convener stands in the center of the circle turning as she speaks so she can address each member of the group or walking around the group if it is quite large. She makes direct eye contact with each person as she describes the principles and roles of open space, the purpose of the group in coming together, and describes any important information about the facility, time constraints, and preparations for participants comfort such as meals and special gatherings.
Then the convener opens what is called a “marketplace of ideas,” an initially blank wall demarcated by timeboxes for sessions and locations for discussions. She then invites the participants forward to the center of the circle where paper and pens are waiting to help them identify the topics they want to discuss. There is a period of furious writing, and then people begin speak up in turn or form a line at an appointed place (especially if a microphone must be used and shared) and each person states the title of her session and, briefly, what is important to her about it. The participant then takes her topic to the “marketplace of ideas” and places it in the timebox and room that works best for her. There are periods throughout the conference, especially in a multi-day conference, where session changes generated by the proposer can be announced.
As the sessions proceed, individual sessions may shut down early because the topic is exhausted or the group hears a session that is more interesting. Or, sessions may combine or subdivide based on the content discussed. Sessions may extend if the topic is particularly engrossing.
The participant who is leading the session is expected to take notes or recruit a note taker, and these notes may be as basic as bullet points on flip chart. These notes may be later transcribed or a picture may be taken of each page and posted to a wiki or other public space. One of the downsides of an Open Space conference is that your presence is required to get the benefit of a session. Rarely are the notes sufficiently evocative to help you understand what happened in the discussion.
The Closing session, after all the session timeboxes are completed, is again, in a large area where everyone can face each other in a circle. The convener reflects on the conference and what was accomplished there, reminds people to nurture the relationships they’ve formed, and involves participants in a conversation about what they gained from the conference. Shutting down an Open Space conference area is also typically a collaborative effort.
This year’s Agile Open Northwest conference was as rewarding as usual. It was clear that Lean has entered the picture and some people have been using it side-by-side with agile for some time. It’s also clear that one of the Global Agile Community of Practices identified hot trends for this year—agile beyond software—is a alive and well in the northwest. There was at least one meaty session where agilists doing non-software projects had an engrossing discussion. And, as usual, I got good feedback during the session I proposed on the leadership model I’ve been working on for the last few years, Pervasive Leadership. This model encompasses and goes beyond servant leadership, the dominant model in agile, and helps organizations move to greater agility.
If you should attend an Open Space conference in the future, don’t hesitate to ask questions about the process. And you can learn more about Open Space conferences and their various uses through the resources provided below. Yes, this is yet another favorite self-organization model used in the agile community. Participating in an Open Space conference helps you experience the essence of agile culture.
If you want to talk to people who have experienced Open Space or would like the Chapter to sponsor and Open Space event, please let me know. I’d be happy to connect you with people who can help or lend my voice in support of yours.
Resources
Open Space Technology on Wikipedia
Open Space Technology: A User’s Guide
Join the OSList to see Open Space practitioners discussing their experiences.
About the Author
Jean Richardson is an agile coach and project management professional with more than 20 years’ experience. Her initial agile training, the Certified Scrum Master (CSM) credential, was provided by Ken Schwaber, one of the two developers of the Scrum framework. You can read her blog on leadership, agile, and project management at http://azuregate.net/blog-archive/ and link with her at http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=7674981&trk=tab_pro. You can correspond with her at jean@azuregate.net.