275 Participants in Temenos at JAX

Posted by on May 19, 2014 in Conference, Temenos | No Comments

One week ago, in Mainz, Christine and I hosted our largest Temenos so far… This is what happened. Translation of this German post.

13:20. A large ballroom with 80 tables, five chairs each. Some already take a seat. 20 hosts are excited.

80 Tische im Aufbau

Setting up 80 Tables

13:25. The hosts begin to guide people to free tables. The room is filling up. We ask for five people taking a seat at each table and welcome participants. Some begin to read our cheat sheet.

Temenos Spickzettel

Temenos Cheat Sheet

(Storytelling: Use the drawing. It does not limit you. Tell what’s important to you.
Listening: Respect the storyteller’s space. Empathise.
Influence Maps: How have I become who I am? What’s shaped me? Where could I be exceptionally honest?)

13:30. Almost everyone’s there. More than 50 tables filled with five people. To some the questions on the cheat sheet were too personal, they decided not to participate. Just five out of 275—we’re relieved.

13:35. All seated. Everyone’s aware. We start our introduction: Temenos is a space where we don’t judge or compare. A room for everyone to have a choice, to make free decisions.

13:50. Concentrated silence fills the room. All are busy drawing Influence Maps, thinking about events that influenced and shaped their perception of work life.

13:55. Storytelling. Focus. A buzz fills the room, collective awareness at so many tables—impressive. For two hours we see almost nobody looking at their mobile.

(and it works!)

13:30. We introduce Clean Slate, focused on our current work situation. What don’t I bring into my team, what doesn’t my team bring for me? Again, focused drawing and storytelling.

13:50. We focus on the future: What are my goals? Who and how do I want to be? What’s really important for me?

13:10. We ask for feedback. Participants share their experience in their groups. Some stay for quite a while after the coffee break has officially started…

(JAXcon’s Temenos session is almost over, and the released energy is still almost palpable.)

Holger Koschek summarised the event and the day wonderfully (in German). Thank you!

Lots of thanks to the helping hosts, especially from Softwerkskammer, who jumped in quite spontaneously:

  • Anna Lorenz
  • Benjamin Reitzammer
  • Christian Dähn
  • Christoph Pater
  • Grazyna Scherer
  • Gerd Aschemann
  • Holger Koschek
  • Ilja Preuss
  • Jan Hartung
  • Joachim Seibert
  • Johannes Seitz
  • Josef Scherer
  • Martin Klose
  • Maxim Ravnovesov
  • Michael Tarnowski
  • Norbert Hölsken
  • Stefan Boos
  • Sven Müller

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