A Dozen eBooks in an Hour

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Open Space Technology Is a meeting framework that allows groups of people to come together and self organize around big topics.

Instead of someone dictating the meeting agenda ahead of time… !

The participants create the agenda and discuss the issues they feel most passionate about.

Open Space methodology supports: • Collaboration • Productivity • Action • Open, honest conversation

Open Space is great for setting strategic direction, building morale, consulting with stakeholders and gathering unique and deep learnings about big issues in a timely manner.

Let’s Apply Open Space to eBook Creation

Marketers often limit themselves to opinions solely from within the marketing department, losing touch with the valuable insight that colleagues from other departments can contribute.

Have you ever asked a colleague from another department what type of ebook content they feel would be valuable to produce? You may be surprised how insightful their requests are.

Open space meetings bring together team members from various areas of the business including sales, customer service or research & development for open, collaborative discussions.

How to Facilitate an Open Space Meeting to Create eBook Content

Step 1 Invite a cross-functional selection of colleagues to a meeting.

Open Space is useful for groups of any size from 10-1,000 people, but meetings tend to have a point of critical mass. 15-20 people tends to be a good number to start with.

Provide your invitees with a copy of your buyer personas and marketing triggers prior to the meeting. This will help them prepare ideas and formulate opinions before being influenced by other people’s views.

Step 2 Based on the objective of the discussion, the number of people attending and the length of the meeting, split the session into a series of equal blocks.

Step 3 With a group of people assembled, form a circle and provide the group with a general overview of the process and subjects that you would like to address during the session.

In our case we are looking for ideas of content that our colleagues think our customers and prospects would find valuable.

Step 4 As the facilitator, invite people with ideas for ebooks to write their concepts down on a piece of paper and announce it to the group.

Step 5 With a grid of time + space drawn out, have each of the people who contributed an idea post their piece of paper in one of the time slots until all are full.

Step 6 Have the group quickly scan the ideas posted on the wall, taking note of the concepts they would like to discuss further.

Step 7 During each session there should be a designated recorder that captures the important points and posts these ideas on the wall. The recorder shares the notes later.

The Four Roles of Open Space Collaborators: • The Host • Participants • Bumblebees • Butterflies

The Host The person who suggests a session as the agenda is being established.

Participants are the people who join the Host in discussion.

Bumblebees are people who move from one discussion to another, serving to cross-pollinate and tie the discussion together.

Butterflies are people who choose not to participate in any sessions, but instead use the allotted time to reflect individually.

Open Space has been used to facilitate meetings for every type of organization from Fortune 100 companies and third world villages to religious communities and government agencies.

So, why does Open Space methodology work so well? Because of the focus on collaboration, action and the lack of hierarchy.

There are four principles & one law of Open Space meetings

Principle 1 The people who show up are the right people. This reminds people that getting something done is not a matter of having more resources or people involved.

Principle 2 Whenever it starts is the right time. You know how you always seem to get your best ideas in the shower? Genuine creativity has no regard for time.

Principle 3 Whatever happens is the only thing that could have. This sets an expectation that the group will come to a conclusion and that will be that. This limits excuses about what ‘could have been’.

Principle 4 When it’s over, it’s over. When the session ends, that’s that. Don’t waste time. Do what needs to be done and move on.

The one law of Open Space – the law of two feet

The only so-called rule of Open Space simply states that if at any time you find yourself in a situation where you are neither learning nor contributing – use your two feet and move onto another conversation.

Photo Credits Norman Lear Center - Creativity & Collaboration NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Open Space Circle NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Open Space 2 Innovate Open Space schedule - Travis Isaacs ebook - Maria Elena KLCC Circle Team Meeting !All other photos © 2014 Kula Partners