Open Space Technology
with Krista Babbitt
May 21, 8:15 - 10:30 am, SAS Campus
Light refreshments will be served.
Networking from 8:15-8:45 am.
Join Krista Babbitt as she leads us through a deeper understanding of Open Space Technology.
Open Space Technology describes a methodology for holding a meeting where the participants collaboratively work through the issues and opportunities they feel are most critical surrounding the chosen topic. The agenda is created by the group and solutions are developed in discussion with each other. The open agenda and commitment to allowing people to participate as they choose, based on what they care about, engenders a high investment in follow-through.
Krista will explain how her division customized the Open Space Technology process (first defined by Harrison Owen) in order to make it work for her 500 employee division.
By attending you will gain:
- Process definitions that describe how OST methods evolved over time to meet division staff needs.
- Experiential practice with the OST steps involved in conducting the first large scale meeting.
- Examples of the tangible and intangible results experienced by OST participants including survey response improvements.
- Lessons learned which provide a better starting point for the next iteration garnered from five years of supporting 19 OST teams.
- Resources to take away that will aid in conducting similar meetings in other organizations.
Open Space Team Case Study
Krista’s division adapted the process to fit a staff comprised of exempt and non-exempt employees, managers and non-managers, 24/7 shift coverage, and a rich diversity of skills and experiences. Even the name was adapted so that it is now called the Open Space Teams (OST) methodology. With the right kind of support, receptionists, housekeepers, analysts and programmers, were able to: learn team skills, pitch recommendations to upper management, implement their solutions across the division, and share results with their peers in division-wide town halls. Problems were fixed, employees gained skills & recognition, survey satisfaction scores rose, trust in managers improved and managers became aware of untapped potential in employees. In terminology popular today, employee engagement and self-efficacy increased. The experiment was judged effective by all layers in the organization so it is now offered as a tool for the OD practitioner’s toolkit.
Krista feels strongly that though the steps implemented are not complex or even new, the needed trust in the participants’ wisdom is an uncommon ingredient central to OST. There is much discussion today about how people have the ingredients to solve their own issues and create their own opportunities. The Open Space Team process gives participants a chance to prove it.
Krista Babbitt
Krista Babbitt is an Operations Manager in the Corporate Services Division at SAS. Since 2003 she has led programs designed to grow the division’s capabilities in the areas of: communications, performance management, process improvement, team building and project management. 
Her goal has been to provide opportunities for everyone across the division’s 22 departments to develop their skills and participate in program decision-making. From strategy to implementation, Krista has helped create engagement initiatives that have positively impacted employees’ self-reported work satisfaction and trust in their managers.
Krista is also a member of the Great Places to Work Application Team at SAS where she contributes reference stories about her division’s unique employee-centered programs. She is very proud her division has been represented each year SAS has been named in Fortune’s top first or second place in the US 100 Best Places to Work or the Top 25 World’s Best Multinational Workplaces from 2010-2014.
Before joining SAS in 2000, Krista held a variety of positions in Staff Development, Management Development, Strategy Development, Public Relations and Employee Relations. Organizations she has worked for include: WakeMed Hospital, Magnetti Marelli (automotive manufacturing), Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center, Weaver Street Market, and the USDA Forest Service.
Krista earned her BS in Forestry from Clemson University and her MA in Communication Studies from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her areas of focus in graduate school were the communication of quality, cooperative ownership and organizational culture.
