We are all asked (or is that strictly correct?) to attend company or organisation meetings on a regular basis but what do we, honestly, take from them for the long term? And, ultimately, how do you judge the success of such a meeting - the variety of the food, the way the event ran to schedule, the quality of the people you talked with at the coffee breaks?

How about these for more suitable criteria? -

Open Space Technology is the one proven way to enable all kinds of people, in any kind of organisation, to create inspired meetings and events - where ordinary people genuinely work together to create extraordinary results.

First established in 1985, OST began as the result of feedback to a major conference where the one true outstanding takeaway was the quality and energy of the coffee breaks - where participants expressed their passions, discussed those topics that really mattered, made alliances that lasted.

OST works best when the work to be done is complex, where the people and the ideas involved are diverse, the passion for resolution (and potentially conflict) is high, and where the timeframe is immediate. It has been called 'passion bounded by responsibility', 'the energy of a good coffee break', 'a simple powerful way to get people and organisations moving - when and where it's needed most'.

OST has been used over 60,000 in multiple countries and cultures worldwide, in groups varying in size from 5 to 2000, by governments and non-government organisations, companies and charities, religious and sporting organisations. It has been used to create and foster organisational culture, manage change, solve problems, launch initiatives, achieve deep understanding across widely different viewpoints, increase profitability, support moves to peace and religious harmony…and IT WORKS on every occasion.

Instead of a predefined agenda created to reflect the desired outcomes, with presentations dominated by PowerPoint, a lectern at the front of the room and fixed breakout subjects with thirty minutes to feedback to the entire group, OST begins with an invitation to attend and a theme, issue or question that evokes curiosity in your mind. The theme or issue you are invited to work on is open, broad, and demands a creative, collective response.

Once assembled, and the space is opened by the facilitator, the participants are invited to create their own agenda, by identifying topics within the overall theme that are important to them, they are passionate about and want to discuss. What appears to be an unstructured meeting soon shows itself as very structured, but so perfectly fit to the people and the work at hand that it goes unnoticed in its proper role of supporting (not blocking) the best work.

Once the agenda is established, and laid out all across the previously totally blank wall, participants attend those meetings they are interested in, can contribute to, want to learn from, believe are important. There is no compulsion to attend a topic that you are not committed to, or interested in. If there are clashing topics you choose the one most important to you, or flit between the two, applying the one "Law" of OST - the Law of Two Feet.

The timetable is determined by a simple principle - "when it's over, it's over" - why waste valuable time and energy beating a subject to death when it is fully discussed and why stop the conversation before it is finalised just to fit in with a pre-conceived (and generally ill-conceived) timetable?

Nobody is spoken at - everybody is listened to because the meetings they attend they are committed to, and the subject is relevant to them - nobody dominates and dictates, and leadership fluctuates through interest and commitment

Outcomes, which are relevant and most important actionable and sustainable, are crucial to any such gathering but these are reinforced by the very power of the Open Space system.

From topics that are relevant and important are created action plans by people who are committed to the results thereof - which ensures the opposite to traditional meetings, where your contribution diminishes the moment the meeting finishes

Finally, from each topic discussed, all the most important ideas, discussion, recommendation, conclusions, action plans and questions are typed into a comprehensive report which is distributed (certainly in multi-day events and whenever possible in one day ones) to all participants when they leave. Where not practical through time constraints, this is always delivered the next day. Thereafter all these results can then be distributed to the wider organisation, or community, so the conversations held immediately invite every stakeholder into implementation.

Most importantly, results like these can be planned and implemented faster than any other kind of 'large group intervention'. It is literally possible to accomplish in days and weeks what some other approaches take months and years to do.

Power to the People - for every Manager or Director who understands that their organisation runs on the passion and commitment of its people, and not just from the corner office, this is the solution to harnessing that power in an open, honest, positive manner

Passion Bounded by Responsibility - a perfect structure to provide exceptional results for any organisation