Gather Experiment: Opening Rituals

At the start of a gathering, there can be a tendency to dive into logistics (“bathrooms are over there”) or right into a meeting agenda.

Your gathering experiment of the month is to leave logistics for later and instead incorporate an opening ritual that brings more intentionality to the beginning of your gathering (be it virtual or in-person).

My favorite opening rituals include:

• Round robin two-word check-in to get a pulse check on how folks are entering the space (works equally well at a weekly team meeting as at the start of a dinner party)

• Brief meditation or even just having everyone take 5 breaths together to pause and land before diving in (perhaps marginally less “appropriate” for a dinner party, but could be kinda fun— adding this to my list to try out!).

A few other ideas that surfaced in a recent Gather ‘Round brainstorm session (PS: learn more about Gather ‘Round further below):

• Shaky shaky 1234567 (if you know, you know; and if you don’t (yet!), check out this 2 min video). 10/10 recommend post-lunch during an all-day conference.

• Round robin share of each person's internal ‘weather report’ (sunny with some clouds, rainy, etc)

• Fist to 5— show how you’re feeling on a scale of 1 to 5 using one hand

YOUR TURN:

What’s an upcoming gathering in your world that could benefit from an opening ritual? 

I’m happy to brainstorm ideas if you share gathering deets.