Running an UnConference
In May, I went to Santa Barbara for the Domains’ yearly onsite.
Since last year’s sessions were so well received, I hosted another Open Space Workshop for 17 teams in product development at AppFolio, Inc.
Open Space is a participant-driven meeting style where the attendees collectively create the agenda around the given theme at the start of the meeting. At AppFolio, one of the core values is 'Great People make a Great Company.' This event really leans into that value by giving team member the space to discuss what matters most to them.
120 people
4 hours
28 topics
The theme: “Differentiated experiences: How can we create them for customers and ourselves?”
Topics included:
Best practices for product development
Benefits and challenges of remote work
How to stay organized
How I organized the event:
I announced the theme a month before the event and shared out links to initiatives in Appfolio that related to the theme.
Two weeks before, I shared facilitation techniques to help guide discussions.
I planned for four 30-minute sessions with room for 8 topics each session.
I opened with a presentation to center participants on the theme, discuss what it means to have differentiated experiences, and why they are important to innovation.
I took inspiration from the book Range: Why Generalist Triumph in a Specialized World
I created a central document for everyone to gather notes and action items from the discussions.
I guided an informal 30 minute closing circle where people discussed their takeaways.
My Takeaways:
It’s such an important part of leadership to empower your teams by giving them space to come together around topics of their choosing.
I and the rest of the leadership group collected important feedback in the form of the topics chosen and by listening in the discussions.
I want to create a remote version of this so we’re not limited to doing this just once a year.
References:
Interested in organizing your own unconference? Want facilitation tips to help in your next team meeting?
