4 steps to determine if you need a gathering
“This event should have been a recording." If you’ve recently left a gathering with this lament, you’re not alone.
What is the value of gathering? The last several years brought this question front and center. It’s also the question many organizations are (re)examining, now needing to juggle remote or hybrid workforces, travel, plus the time and effort it takes to pull people together.
When we attend Town Halls, training, off-sites, conferences, webinars, or workshops live, together with others at the same time - otherwise known as synchronously - we often come expecting participation and engagement. “There’s a reason why I’m here!”, we believe.
If that reason doesn’t reveal itself, we can leave disappointed, or feel invisible. It's like being invited to a potluck when what you get is a cafeteria line. We are pushed content, versus being pulled to participate or play a role.
We can watch the recording or read the slide on our own, asynchronously, on our own time - as we do when we watch on-demand Netflix or cable searching for what’s applicable or relevant to us.
This new world of working has brought with it new choices about how we gather - but only if we know we have a choice, and have some guidance on how to make one.
Here’s how to determine if your next gathering needs to be synchronous:
Determine your desired effect
Like a hammer, a gathering is a tool to achieve a specific effect. Don’t start with the message - start with the effect
Ask yourself, what do you need from the people you’re trying to affect? What do you want or need to be different by the end? The answer usually falls into one of four categories.
If you don't know what you want others to do with the information you’ve shared, your participants or employees won’t know either.
Gather to engage, not just inform
The pandemic revealed a convenient truth - we don’t gather for information; we gather for connection.
We no longer need to gather if our goal is to inform people. We can do that on our own.
Follow the motto: Pull together, push apart.
“Can you just send me the slides?”. If people are only present to be pushed information, the value of being together synchronously declines.
Inform vs Engaged: Inform: education without implementation.
Informing is a worthy effect, but engagement takes it one step further to implement what was shared.
You’ll find much more bang for your gathering buck if you reserve synchronous gatherings for those that need that engagement (buy-in, behavior change, or ownership from others). Here we’re doing more than transmitting information - we’re pulling people together to spark a change in thinking or behavior.
But, beware: not every gathering requires engagement.
I want others to contribute, not just consume
Passive consumption of material (and too much of it) can keep people from having ownership over the change you’re seeking. Give participants the opportunity (and choice) to take part in the gathering via prompts, a question on the screen, or the chance to challenge what they’ve heard. Adult learners come with experience, so use it!
I need people there and I will give them a clear role
Comedians and musicians need an audience and they show them why.
Would you try this?”, musician Glen Hansard gently asked his audience at a recent concert. A few songs into his set, he gave his audience a role to play. His small invitation pulled people in and made them active participants. “Ah, perfect!”, he says as if the song would not be complete without them.
We gather for the uniqueness of the moment, not just a message. Too often though we focus on the message only. When that happens there’s less of a reason for a synchronous gathering. If you don’t need your attendees there, or you view them as replaceable, they’ll be able to tell.
Gathering is meant to be with others, not at others.
In an age where content is at our fingertips and on demand, a gatherer’s role becomes more than sharing information. It’s about creating a connection.
The question we should be asking isn’t in-person or on video, but should we be doing this at all?
The value of a synchronous gathering (whether a training, town hall, workshop, conference, etc) is that we're doing something together.
Both gathering conceivers and participants want their time to be valued - so it’s up to us to pull people together - when it’s worth that valuable time. Or at the very least, offer people a choice. Instead of simply pushing out content, we can learn how to pull people together for movement, change, or for good.
Lindsey Caplan is a screenwriter turned organizational psychologist who helps HR & business leaders create experiences that boost motivation, engagement, and performance