Virtual speaker series, lunch and learns, training classes, workshops, conferences, and more fill our calendars and our budgets. Gatherings are happening all of the time in our organizations. 

Why? One reason is abundance. There is so much great content and so many fantastic speakers who want to share their message with others. 

Someone inside the organization finds it helpful and looks to share that message with lots of people in the hopes they’ll do something differently because of it.

A gathering becomes the solution. A chance to match a message with a moment. 

But, we can be so focused on the moment without thinking through how or if the message will stick. The truth is, few of them do. Why?  It’s not the ‘what’ of the gathering to pay attention to. It’s the ‘how’.

Employees don’t know what’s at stake

Let’s get nerdy for a moment. Employee performance (what we do or achieve) is a function of not just ability but also motivation. Sharing information is one thing. Knowing why it matters is another. 

Be able to ask and answer, “what’s at stake if we don’t do X well?”. Equate the success of the gathering to business success, how it helps the company succeed, or perhaps your vision, mission, or values. 

We don’t want to manufacture pretenses, but rather tie the message being shared to something relevant and important to the employees. 

“What kind of company do we want to be?” is a powerful question - and if the content of that gathering helps bring people closer to that answer, even better.

We want to achieve something when we gather others. But if the stakes are too low there will likely be less motivation to succeed or retain the information.

We need proof and data

Nebulous concepts, models, and frameworks are useful and helpful, no doubt. Our job when we gather is to bring these concepts to life in a way that helps employees see them and want to use them in their context. They need to feel real.

Say you’re sharing a feedback framework from a famous author. Ask for and highlight examples of employees who have used the framework and what they’re doing well. Or, share examples of how the leadership team has received feedback (using the framework) and what has happened since. Showing people who are ‘just like them’ gives employees social proof, a piece of real data, and a vision of what it will be like if they succeed too. It also makes it safe to try. This is one reason why it’s a best practice to scale change using a group of well-trusted and influential employee change ambassadors. 

Lack of ownership or involvement

Typical gatherings highlight the power and status differences between leadership and its employees. It’s then no wonder commitment falls away. But, it doesn’t need to be this way. 

“My ask of you”. 4 short words pull others in instead of push. In addition to asking (instead of telling) employees to engage in new behavior, try discussing your own leadership team’s commitment first. By then showing the company how much leadership needs their help, employees can better understand their essential role in this process, thus elevating their status and desire to participate. 

People Managers especially want to be involved. Surprises are not the manager’s best friend. They’re the ones modeling the behavior and reinforcing it so be sure to at least give them a sneak peek of the message you’re sharing.

Another way to encourage involvement is to leave space in the gathering to invite people to digest what they heard and share it back in their own words. This can be done with a simple question or prompt - especially after a content-heavy section. This small change relinquishes control to those being gathered and shifts them from passive consumers to active co-creators. 

While it’s easy to assume ‘what’ we share matters most, this blindspot keeps us focused on information only. Care and commitment need to be cultivated and mined to become a gathering for everyone, not just for those with a message to share. 

While there isn't one piece of content that will please everyone or work across all gatherings there is some consistency in what will -- it’s the conditions. We can spend time honing content, or we can spend our time honing our conditions so that no matter what we introduce - it will stick. 

When we understand the conditions that create or get in the way of the change we seek, we can release ourselves from the idea that content is what’s king. It’s the conditions that count.

Lindsey Caplan is a screenwriter turned organizational psychologist who helps HR & business leaders create experiences that boost motivation, engagement, and performance

Say hello@gatheringeffect.com