Open Space technology is a method for hosting large events, such as retreats and conferences, without a prepared agenda. Instead, participants are brought together under a guiding purpose and create the agenda for themselves in a bulletin-board fashion. These items become potential breakout sessions, and participants have the freedom to "vote with their feet" by moving between breakouts.
Open Space was founded by Harrison Owen in the 1980s out of a desire to "open the space" for people to self-organize around a purpose. Many meetings and examples have been recorded at Openspaceworld.org. Hosting a small Open Space meeting is fairly straightforward, but requires an amount of "letting go" on the part of the organizer, who must recognize that the participants will develop a richer approach and solution to the challenge at hand.
Perhaps the most important work of the organizer is developing a compelling invitation. The ideal invitation will frame a challenge that is urgent, important, and complex enough to require a diverse set of perspectives to solve.
It might sound as simple as "How can we revitalize our city's schools?" or "What's our strategic direction?"
At the start of the process, participants sit in a circle, or in concentric circles, to get oriented and start to create their agenda. Given the challenge of the meeting, participants are invited to come to the center and write out an issue they're passionate about, and then post it on a "marketplace" wall with a time and place at which they are willing to host the discussion.
All are invited to create an item for the marketplace, but no one is required to. Creating the agenda in this fashion should take between 60 and 90 minutes.
The breakouts then begin, typically lasting 90 minutes per session. Participants may organize their breakouts however they see fit; the host records the discussion so that others may join the conversation at any time. Participants are asked to observe the one law of Open Space, the Law of Two Feet, which asks that if you find yourself neither learning nor contributing, use your two feet to go somewhere else. In this sense, participants are given full responsibility over their learning and contributions.
Breakouts may last for a day or more, depending on the scope of the event. Closing the event may take many forms, the least desirable of which is a formal report from the groups. Instead, return to the circle arrangement that started the event, and open the space again for participants who want to reflect on what they've discovered and their next steps.
Keep in mind the four principles of Open Space that will help set the tone of the event:
Whoever comes are the right people. Passion is more important than position on an org chart.
Whenever it starts is the right time. Spirit and creativity do not run on the clock.
Whatever happens is the only thing that could have. Dwelling or complaining about past events and missed opportunities is a waste of time; move on.
When it's over, it's over. When a conversation is finished, move on. Do the work, not the time.
Open Space game rules been popularized and incorporated into many self-organizing events which are known under different names, most prominently BarCamps and Unconferences.
The concept of Open Space was put forth in Open Space Technology: A User's Guide, by Harrison Owen.