The SocraTes Conference1 in Soltau has been one of the most progressive conferences in the last years. Of course, there are also conflicts, and some solutions are worse than others. What I want to say is, it’s not the paradise on earth, but this conference is very special in a positive way, because people care much about each other. It might surprise you, but this conference is simply about work on one hand – and it’s also about people and relationships on the other.
One of the prominent roles in this conference is the facilitator’s one. It’s special because of the format of the Open Space conference, and because this event hosts a lot of people (this year about 200 persons). In the last few years, the conference had the pleasure to win Juke as the facilitator of this event. This year Juke gave a Q&A session on how to facilitate Open Space formats. This is a summary of what we talked about and reflected on.
Q: What is Open Space and where have you learned to facilitate it?
A: To learn, what Open Space is, it’s good to visit one. So you (the participant) already did the first step. To go more into details (mechanisms, etc.) there is a book that I read: it’s Open Space Technology by Harrison Owen2. I also had great mentors who supported me.
So, my role is a special one. It already starts with the invitation to the Open Space and ends with having collecting protocols. Actually this can’t be done by a single person. There are so many people, sessions, events, so you have to learn one thing: facilitate things (market place with the schedule, world cafe, retros, …), but then go out of the way.
Trust people to do the right things. You just care for some logistics: where does the event take place, are there enough rooms, is there an invitation, is there enough material, is everything prepared, is there food and beverage, so people can concentrate on their topics, etc.
You have to closely work with the organizers, but also keep these roles (facilitator and organizer) separated.
Q: Remote vs. on-site Open Space?
A: During pandemic the remote Open Space was the best alternative, we had. Besides that, we’ve learned a lot about other advantages: remote sessions increases accessibility, it costs less and enables more people to attend.
On the other hand, there is not that much exchange between sessions in the remote format. This by the way also happens when there is SoCraTes in bigger cities. People tend to go anywhere else in the evening. This is different here in Soltau. People stay in the hotel and spend more time together.
We also thought about a hybrid format, but that means a much higher effort which we weren’t able to bring up. Organizing an unconference means a lot of stress ;-).
Q: I’m afraid there won’t be topics coming up, when I offer this in my company. What would you recommend?
A: In fact we’ve welcomed new persons at every conference (about 60%). That’s why we’ve started to offer training days to come into the right attitude, before we actually start the conference.
For other places, it might be useful to…
- … talk about personal experiences people made when attending Open Spaces.
- … exercise formats as “appetizers” offer a view on the advantage of selforganization, i.e. Liberating Structures3
- … actively invite people to join and to bring their topics to the conference
- … show examples of other conferences and what people did
- … start with a World Café4 to support people to find topics (this is the event on Thursday evenings at Soltau)
- … get a good facilitator experienced in Open Spaces
Please be aware that Open Spaces should be voluntary. People who are forced to go there probably won’t be free enough to share their thoughts.
Q: What makes a person a good facilitator for the Open Space format?
A: I don’t know what made me better. In the end, it’s the trust in myself. Being in my “authentic ME” ist important, people feel it. This is what I’ve learned:
Confide in people and their flow. I can use small interventions to keep things flowing. With the emphasize on “small”. Give space to the people, don’t be toxic.
Always try to calm down, use an appreciative language. A facilitator needs to know how to be in control with non-violent tools. This is i.e. important in situations people exaggerate their time for speech. Tools can be simple: slowly approach the person and stand next to him/her, smile, start interrupting with a joke, etc.
Use your self-reflection. Think about what was good and was not so good. Collect more experience, listen to people, to the group you are there for. Have an awareness team.
Can you remember what happened with the advertising? During the marketplace, organizers stepped in to name our sponsors which is good. But interrupting participants can increase anxiety. I mean, it’s hard to be in front of 200 persons and to tell your topic. I wouldn’t do that.
Q: How about doing a continuous marketplace on the second day?
A: Have you seen there are people who wrote their issues before the marketplace even started. Are they inspired by what they hear? A continuous marketplace can be a solution for that.
Some people decide spontaneously what to visit. Others make a plan for the day. A slot for the marketplace helps you to see people and their appearance. How do they present their topic? There are good arguments for both formats, and it’s worth to try out.
Q: When, where and how does facilitation start?
A: Facilitation starts with the invitation, with the announcement. Facilitation also means documentation, but that’s difficult because so many things happen.
Q: Do you visit sessions during the conference?
A: That’s a question of energy. Am I able to do my job after a session? As facilitator there is power in your role, so this job should come first. By the way, you should be earlier in the room to prepare it 🙂 It’s a question of attitude.
And there is one thing that makes life easier: topics repeat, so there is a good chance to hear a topic another time.
Q: What do you do in situations, when there is no tool or plan available? And how to handle incidents like harassment, racism, …?
A: This in fact happened last year. So, if you don’t know what to do (a) make your uncertainty visible (b) “We can’t help you here at the moment!”, which doesn’t men, that there aren’t other who can care! (c) split up group into smaller groups to deescalate.
It’s also the organizer’s job to provide that. Support them to find a good solution. For those situations, an awareness team is mandatory. This team cares about inclusion and awareness. It also helps the conference to learn and to become more and more inclusive and to increase awareness.
Q: When do I interrupt a person as a facilitator?
A: Ask yourself about the goal of your session or meeting. Is the group still on track? If not, that might be a good point to interrupt. Please be aware that there is obviously a conflict to be solved.
Q: In my company I experience persons from higher management taking much space and time. What can I do in these cases?
A: Managers are used to talk in bigger groups. This is good for a company, but can cause an Open Space to fail. It’s about mis-use of power. Open Spaces are there to listen to many, to the gentle and different voices. It is necessary to clarify expectations and explain the mechanism.
Sometimes persons behave in a toxic way (i.e. using their power, prevent free flow, etc.). In that case it’s a good idea to make the event as unattractive as possible to keep these persons away.
Another strategy might be to split group in smaller groups. There will be parts that will be influenced, but others can work freely. Liberating structures offer a lot of alternatives.
Q; What’s your fee range?
A: Check your personal situation: what do you have to earn to make this event a good job for yourself. What would be a fair fee? If you are interested to facilitate, but the event can’t afford it, try to find alternative solutions.
Q: Do you make your power visible?
A: It’s not about living out your power, but to structure the session in a good way. In the end we have the power to give speech time to persons and to take it from others. We have to handle this in a responsible way.
This summary was transcribed from flipcharts we made notices on. Some contents have been changed a bit to make it more understandable.
- The Conference page is https://www.socrates-conference.de/home . ↩︎
- Owen H.H. (2012). Open Space Technology. A User’s Guide: A User’s Guide (Easyread Large Edition). ReadHowYouWant; 016 Edition. ISBN 978-1442966420 ↩︎
- Liberating Structures are tools to engange people in meetings and discussions. A summary can be found here: https://www.liberatingstructures.com/. ↩︎
- World Café/Conversation Café is a format of the Liberating Structures. Details can be found here: https://www.liberatingstructures.com/17-conversation-cafe/ ↩︎