Meeting the sponsor

Checking on the following preconditions helps to clarify whether Open Space is the appropriate approach:

1. There is a real (business) issue of common concern
2. The level of complexity is high & solutions/answers are unknown
3. There is potential or actual conflict
4. The group is diverse in terms of people & perspectives
5. Matters are urgent, time to act was yesterday

The more the preconditions are met, the better Open Space will work.

Checking the preconditions helps to find out what it is that the sponsor wants to (be) accomplish(ed). Some other things also need to be considered:
• Length of Open Space
• Size of the group

Under the given conditions (the above):
• Size of team needed, (date for) Planning Meeting, date & place/venue, Next Meeting (follow up)…

Sleep once before taking the decision.

Once the decision for the Open Space event is taken, the pre-event planning starts.