Approach

Image credit: Genuine Contact Community

“The quality of everything we do depends on the quality of the thinking we do about it first….So what does it take for people to help each other to think well for themselves?”

― Nancy Kline, Time to Think

All our gatherings in work, education and lives are designed for people who speak FIRST, speak FAST, speak LOUD. I was one of those quieter, slower and late contributors. It took me a while to claim my space in a group, feel comfortable to share my thoughts and engage meaningfully in the collective. While covid has pushed us to be better at how we gather, gatherings still in many cases lack the thoughtfulness, the care, the structures and the trust that can create magic. With one invitation after another, people also walk in expecting nothing new, expecting to be one of many and expecting nothing much to happen afterwards. This diminishes their presence in the gathering itself and fulfills the promise of “yet another conference”. Gatherings need both a rational aim (what do we want to achieve) and an experiential aim (what human experience do we want to create). 

Gatherings can do many things - but we judge them often by how they make us feel - starting from when we receive the invitation - when we see how our needs are reflected in the agenda - when we walk in a welcoming & beautiful room - how genuinely we are greeted - when we feel seen and heard - when we are given the time to connect with others in the room - when we are engaged in different ways that suit our diverse learning preferences - when the design mirrors our own energy levels through the day - when it is closed with clarity, commitment and appreciation - when the whole experience feels thoughtfully crafted and complete.

I work with groups who believe in the power of collective wisdom - that people in the room know more than we actually think they do and that are capable of working together towards a shared goal. I believe no matter how complex the topic, we can always connect it with people’s own life experiences and make it relatable. I believe gatherings need as much focus on the quality of relationships as with the quality of outputs. I prefer a circle without tables, flipcharts over powerpoints, movement over sitting, working over listening, pausing over rush - the chaos of co-creation over the order of control. (I explain my approach more in this piece through an example of an online gathering I co-facilitated).

My experience in “co-creation” gatherings like this stems from working with collectives and facilitating participatory visioning and strategy exercises. Both of these have been a series of gatherings with the stakeholder groups over a period of time. Key design aspects that anchor this kind of engagement are

Intentional work with the client before and after each gathering

• Internal alignment on the fundamentals that will inform the design
• Steps to support readiness of all key stakeholders including the participants, leadership, others who are a part of the project
• Clarity of the follow up that is expected and the processes that need to be place for this to happen

Intentional gathering design 

• that creates a head, heart & hand experience specific to the purpose
• crafted in a way that feels easeful and balances the task focus with relational focus
• influences - Appreciative Inquiry, Thinking Environment, Whole Person Process Facilitation, World Cafe, Open Space Technology, Liberating Structures, Game Storming, Design Thinking
• keeping time for participant led conversations (open space/ unconference)
• time and space for intentional networking
• making most of the different spaces in the venue as is possible
• minimal waste of materials/ resources (limited or no plastic bottles, flex banners, one time use items etc) 

Intentional hosting

• Consistent reading the room and reflection with sponsors to adapt the design as needed
• Regular presencing as a critical part of the whole experience