Patterns & Metaphors
Dynamic design methods
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The dynamic of designing methods for a conference is the dialogue between the organization of the participants into teams and time blocks. It involves determination what products will result, the steps to achieve the products with the group in the time design and according to the intent of the conference.
The conference designers work over the six months before the may event on several aspects. Any work done on the overall design, flow, intent, existential aim or rational objective could be done jointly, as well as regular reports on progress, breakthroughs and blocks to progress. This provides common images of the programme and coordinates efforts between the groups. Points at which a major decision is required by a subgroup would result in joint meetings. When the input or reflections of a larger group is required to move things along, this also could be done in joint meetings. Joint meetings might happen as often as daily for one hour, or weekly half or all day meetings, depending on the proximity of the event.
In addition, the process of creating an intellectual framework for the design group is important. This is in part creating a balance between clarifying ideas and maintaining openness to change. Quite often a partially completed model will be set aside for a time while work on an entirely different arena is continued. This allows a basic model to emerge with a minimum of intellectual and psychological commitment to it at the early, changeable stages. At the same time it enables further steps to be developed in other arenas. Finally, it provides time for the group's unconscious mind to work on solutions for the design.
The ongoing definition of the intent is in fact the process of refining and redefining what is expected by the event. Initially the intent is just an image of what could be done. By writing out a prose description of that image, the refinement begins. Dialogue with and presentations to others further refines it. Writing out the rational objective and the existential aims gives additional clarity. This initial clarification may then be set aside before it becomes too fixed in people's minds.
The next step is to look at where the participants will be when they arrive. A conversation or workshop about who is coming and what context they will be operating out of when they arrive begins this process. As this analysis begins to emerge it too is set aside before it becomes too fixed in the designers' minds. This sets the beginning and ending limits to the conference. How to get from the beginning to the end is the next question. This involves deciding what are the two, three or four major time blocks over the course of the conference. If the event is over a month, the weeks may be used. For shorter time periods, days may be used. During the course of these time blocks what needs to be accomplished ? What concrete products will be the result of each of these blocks ? What materials will be required to develop each of these products ? In the course of the discussions about products, materials and time blocks, insights may emerge about the intent and participants. It is helpful to keep note of these insights.
When the larger blocks have been worked on for an image, as well as for materials and products for each of them, then contextual statements can be be written about each time block. This context would include an operating image, the major steps of the process, the materials, rational objectives and existential aim for each block.
This overall description of the flow of the event would be set aside for the time being.
If there are conceptual frameworks to be developed this could be the time to intensify work on them. This development of conceptual screens would further clarify the intent. Other work on things like conference spirit, decor, etc. will benefit work on the intent. After a few weeks of work on these arenas the group can back to the intent and the detailed process of the conference itself.
Each of the major blocks may then be broken down into the next smaller blocks of time, for example, days. The products for each day would be described. Contextual statements would be written, and materials and so forth named. In the process of refinement a new existential aim and rational objective of the conference would be written. At the point where blocks of three or four hours each are defined and worked through, the overall intent of the conference should be clear if the conference is two or more weeks long. At this point a decision by the conference designers is required whether: (a) to do the more refined procedures, that is, the minute by minute directions for each workshop leader before the conference begins or (b) to write these procedures in the midst of the event itself. Partly this depends on how different the group's approach to the topics will be in the midst of the event. If the writing is done during the event, there are two approaches. One is for a procedure writing group that continues to write on a day-by-day basis the procedures on behalf of the whole. The second approach is for the facilitators for each group to do the writing on a day-to-day basis.
The advantage of the first is that the whole conference is kept somewhat in sync and somewhat in the same set of images as far as procedure goes. It allows the whole conference to be coordinated from a central perspective. This type of procedure development is necessary when a topic is dealt with that has not been approached in this way before. The procedures group is developing the methods, context, etc. on a day-by-day basis. Major shifts in the whole conference are easier. The disadvantages in this approach are that the procedures writing group has little or no direct contact with participants. The mechanics of writing, reproducing and distributing/training people during the procedures requires that they stay a day or two ahead of the group in terms of what is required next. When a set of procedures leads to a blind alley the whole conference may be stopped (methodologically, of course other things can be done) while the procedures group thinks through a new direction.
The advantages of the second approach is that there is a great deal of sensitivity toward the needs of the individual groups, and topics can develop at the speed at which the group can work. This approach also allows a greater sense of responsibility for the final products to be placed in the hands of the smaller groups. This approach is most effective when there are several topics requiring several different methods of treatment, when there is little or no need for feedback between groups and when one group's products are not dependent upon those of another group. The disadvantage of this approach is that the facilitation team of any given group could spend a great deal of non-session time designing procedures. The products and direction of any given group can end up as quite divergent from the rest of the conference.
If the procedure writing is done before the event, then a quite extensive set of procedures may be written. They could be a script type word by word description of what the facilitator says from the beginning of the day to the end. This is not to be slavishly followed but to give a detailed idea of how the workshop or session might be run. They could be simply a set of steps with an accompanying description of the operating context for the sessions, suggestions of what is needed for each part and a list of hints on how to do it.
The process of writing procedures begins with the intent of this session, the group's context from the previous sessions and the time frame in which the session is to operate. Basically a session would include creating a question in the participants minds, developing or focusing a context, and the model building, decision making or study session itself. Generally a conversation may be used to raise a question, a talk may be used to create a context and a seminar may be used for a study and a workshop may be used to crated a model or make a decision. It is possible in a highly structured and centrally controlled event that each 3 or 4 hour session would have all three. Usually during a more loosely structured conference that is developing new methods only the contextual and workshop part of the above would be used. It is then important for the conference spirit to be very well thought through so that the participants are in an open frame of mind.
