Since the beginning of time, humans have been gathering together to share stories, solve problems, and connect but are our busy diaries diluting what can be achieved when people meaningfully come together?
While it is important to bring people together, endless meetings suck time, resources, and creativity out of teams and can lead to frustration and burnout. Rather than the usual death by PowerPoint where only one person speaks, a meaningful gathering is goal-oriented, and solutionfocused. It gives everyone around the table a chance to input and be heard. If we think about the most effective gatherings throughout history, they have been peopleled and purpose-driven.
Take the assemblies of Ancient Greece. These gatherings invited citizens from a cross-section of society, regardless of social class, to participate and contribute to conversations that covered everything from military strategies to election processes. Everyone was allowed to voice their opinion without repercussion. In place of rigid agendas, people could collaborate and share information, while forming connections with other members in attendance.
Gatherings like this not only give a platform for problem-solving, creativity, and innovation, but they also foster a culture of trust and connection that is crucial for teams to thrive. Trust is the bedrock of how we interact with others – whether that is at work or in our personal lives. Building trust in a team translates into more energy, less stress, fewer sick days, and less burnout – all crucial elements when it comes to forming a healthy, efficient, and stable team.
Here are five things to build in when you are planning your next gathering:
1. Purpose – Why are you coming together? This is rarely the title of the meeting and should be well thought through, clear, and shared with the attendees in advance of the meeting. I would recommend around 2 days in advance as a good rule of thumb.
2. Attendees – Who needs to attend to help achieve that purpose? Often too many people, or the wrong people, are invited to a meeting due to a lack of clarity and purpose.
3. Environment – What is the best environment to hold this meeting? If your purpose requires innovative thought, problem-solving or creativity then you need to be in person. If it is to provide support, then it may be a ‘walk and talk’, a phone call and yes, sometimes even a virtual meeting might be the best option.
4. Goldilocks Ask – What are we asking attendees to think about in advance? Too much and the likelihood they won’t do it, too little would suggest either the meeting doesn’t need to happen, or they shouldn’t be attending; we need to ask just the right amount of attendees to drive engagement and accountability.
5. Evaluation – Every meaningful gathering should be followed by a process of evaluation. This might be as little as 5 minutes in the car or a more thorough process; essentially, you should be reviewing all of the above, enabling you and your team to learn and grow.
If you’re looking to learn more about why we should be gathering over a meeting I would recommend:
The Art of Gathering – How We Meet and Why It Matters by Priya Parker
At a time when coming together is more crucial than ever, Priya Parker sets forth a human-centered approach to gathering that can help everyone create meaningful, memorable experiences in their lives, large and small, for work and play.
Ivan Hollingsworth is the founder and director of Centric Consultants – a business founded in a bid to tackle ‘culture-washing’ and support business leaders to build strong, sustainable, high-performing teams based on trust and psychological safety.
For more insights on what company culture truly means, and how to implement change across your business follow Centric Consultants on LinkedIn or email Ivan directly at ivan@centric-consultants.com
