Facilitation based on two principles, passion and responsibility, worked really well this week for a group of 8 Asian country directors and 6 functional leads. The objective was to achieve increased profitability through “regional collaboration.”
The office meeting room would have assumed an attitude of business as usual. Therefore, I proposed an off-site venue: a newly opened padel center on top of a shopping mall. We started the day with a social ball game called padel, which was new to everyone and created a fun and collaborative spirit.
The actual meeting facilitation is called “Open Space.” The self-organising nature of this process is highly effective for addressing complex and urgent issues. Within half a day, 8 self-chosen plans were discussed and action plans were developed. The participants labeled the meeting format as empowering and effective, as the passion for the topics drove the process and the clarity of responsibility for the plans ensured work was accomplished.
It was an honor to facilitate such a meeting again for this multinational group, and I hope to have inspired other leaders to utilise this meeting format for their complex and important business meetings.
