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If you are a facilitator, a change manager … even a program manager, then check this out! The idea of Open Space (a form of large group facilitation) has been going for over 20 years. Michael Lindfield, one of the champions of the approach, described it as ”a simple and effective way of creating an environment where things are possible”. That may sound slightly pink and fluffy but, goodness me, doesn’t it also describe the kind of thing that most organizations need in the struggle to keep a head above the economic crisis and keep in touch with the breakneck speed of social, technological and business change? This year’s World Open Space event is in London, between 11th and 14th October. Gower’s contribution to the concept is Kerry Napuk and Eddy Palmer’s Large Group Facilitator’s Manual, which will be on show at the event.
To many of us, mobile phones may seem to represent everything that is wrong about the current economic model; products associated with unbridled consumerism, with people’s wants rather than needs, and products that are produced using resources from conflict zones. So I found the article Engaging Developing Markets, co-authored by Anxo Roibás, a very interesting read. The authors focus on how mobile phone providers have engaged with developing markets and, in the process, reveal the extraordinary power this techology has for enabling technological and social change. It is interesting to see such a contrasting perspective on the same technology, seen through the lens of the developed and the developing world. Anxo Roibás is co-editor of the Gower book, Design for Sport.
Employee engagement can seem like rather a one-sided affair for many senior managers. Andrew Mayo’s article Finding the Right Balance offers a useful perspective on how to balance engagement on the one-hand and employee performance on the other. Andrew Mayo is author of the forthcoming Gower book Human Resources or Human Capital: Managing People as Assets.
Mary-Lee Sachs is facilitating a webinar hosted by the PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) 3-4 pm EDT on July 14th on The Changing MO of the CMO. If you ever doubted the scale of the revolution that is taking in place in marketing and communications … and if you want to make sense of where it will take your organization, then do sign up for this free webinar. You can find more details of exactly what she will be covering on the PRSA website, along with the process for registering. MaryLee Sachs is author of Gower’s The Changing MO of the CMO, which is out this month.
Anthony Landale (Editor of Gower Handbook of Training and Development and co-author of The Fast Facilitator) has a way of making the difficult challenges of leadership so much more understandable. In his piece ‘Why Big Conversations Matter’ he offers a perspective on how and why leaders need to converse (rather than communicate) with their employees.
There is a fascinating report on the Bernard Hodes UK website about managing alumni; in other words, the people who used to work for you and have moved on. I wonder how many organizations even have this group on their radar? And yet they could be hugely influential in terms of reputation and employer brand. Helen Rosethorn and members of the Bernard Hodes team are the authors of Gower’s The Employer Brand.
You may remember in February we gave you the link to Susan Walker’s blog where she is outlining the trials and tribulations of writing a book. Well if you have been following you will see that she has finished the first draft. Best Value from Measurement is currently due to be published October 2010.
