The Art of Gathering

Author: Priya Parker

Title: THe Art of Gathering

Quote:

“the first step in convening people meaningfully: committing to a bold, sharp purpose.” pg. 1

Why I Love it:

Working at technology companies for the past decade, I’ve done many iterations of Agile and the associated ceremonies. So, often teams just mindlessly have meetings without actually remembering the original purpose. Sometimes, half of the team is doing other work during a planning meeting because they’re just waiting for their turn to talk. It’s a pet peeve of mine to waste people’s time in meetings and to disrespect people by not paying attention when someone is speaking. Why do we sit through so many awkward meetings? We all have better things to do with our time!

After many iterations on Agile meetings, my interest expanded into creating interactive training sessions and All Hands meetings for my organizations. I wish I would have read this book when it first came out!

If you’ve ever been unsure why you’re in a meeting or wished you knew how to throw a great party, this is the book for you.

How I use it:

I love this book because it’s helping me identify my frustrations and disappointment around inefficient meetings and provides strategies to transform them into clear, purposeful, and engaging gatherings.

I have started to apply the ideas in this book by adjusting the format of my team’s biweekly (every 2 weeks) demo meeting. With just a few tweaks, what was once a meeting plagued by awkward silence is now a engaging, feedback session that generates suggestions and connections between my teams.

I’m planning on brining these skills into more gatherings this year, including another Open Space gathering and even my birthday party.

Have you read The Art of Gathering? What kinds of gatherings are you planning this year?