Gather Pilot Guide
Follow this five-step guide to launch Gather for your organization
How to run a Gather office pilot
Join over 10,000 remote organizations, from startups to Fortune 500s, building connected, productive teams on Gather.
Before launching the pilot, decide who will participate, when, and why you’re trying Gather (this will help with evaluation later).
Who to include:
Select teams that frequently collaborate, such as two engineering pods or an engineering team and a product team.
When to start:
Anytime! Just be sure to communicate expectations to your team so everyone can fully commit.
Know your ‘why’:
Review the benefits of a virtual office and determine what you hope to improve about your team’s culture. Consider these goals as you evaluate your pilot.
To find your invite link, open the Participants Panel (the people icon in the bottom navigation bar) and click Invite at the top. Use Invite by Link to copy a URL.
Send the invite during business hours, when you (as an Admin) can be in your Gather office to welcome people and help them settle in.
This is also a good time to share context about Gather and why you’re piloting it. Here’s an announcement template you can copy and paste.
After accepting the invite, everyone should onboard into the office.
Copy the quick overview below or use this customizable template to create a comprehensive onboarding guide for your team.
- Download the Gather Desktop App for easy access to your office and the best performance
- Connect a calendar to easily schedule and join meetings in Gather
- Move existing meetings into Gather so there’s no confusion about where to join a call
- Claim a desk to ‘sit’ by teammates just like in a physical office
It’s time to start using the office together. Swing by each others’ desks, hold meetings, and collaborate on projects.
Best practices to make the most of your office during the pilot:
- Hold all regularly scheduled meetings in Gather. That includes department meetings, standups, 1:1s, all-hands, etc.
- Keep Gather open even if you’re not talking to anyone. This helps others see who’s available for real-time collaboration.
- Start conversations by waving. This action is a nice way to let someone know you want to talk.
- Plan a Friday afternoon social event. Race each other in the Gather Grand Prix or pick a spot to socialize.
- Start an open coworking session. Pick a spot in the office and send a chat message to everyone inviting others to join you.
- Collaborate with cross-functional partners. These meetings are a great way to introduce Gather to other departments.
- Ask your team for feedback throughout the pilot. Are there enough meeting areas? Does the seating chart make sense? Implement feedback for the best experience.
Remember: Gather is a new way of working. As your team builds the habit of collaborating in the virtual office, it’ll feel increasingly easy and natural.
To evaluate Gather, take three actions: survey your team, review your Insights Dashboard, and compile the results.
1. Survey the Team
Ask these five questions to measure productivity, engagement, connectedness, and general sentiment about Gather. For the first four statements, use a Linear Scale of 1-5, with 1 meaning ‘Strongly Disagree’ and 5 meaning ‘Strongly Agree’.
- Gather has made it easier for me to engage with coworkers when I need to.
- Gather has helped me feel more engaged with [company name].
- Gather has helped me feel more connected to my teammates.
- Overall, how satisfied are you with your experience using Gather?
- Why did you provide that rating? Feel free to expand on what you liked, disliked, and hope to see regarding your experience with Gather. [optional]
2. Review Your Insights Dashboard
Explore Insights to see how your team used Gather during the pilot. Look at these four charts:
- Weekly Active Members: The average number of people who actively used Gather each week.
- Number of User Conversations: The total number of conversations in your office.
- Median Conversation Length: If you see a small number here, that’s good – it’s a sign of quick interactions. The average conversation in Gather is 10 minutes long, compared to 52 minutes in Zoom. (Source)
- Conversation Length: Look at the percentage of conversations shorter than 10 minutes. This metric is another sign of rapid collaboration.
3. Combine the Data & Share Pilot Results
Review the survey feedback and Insights metrics to build your case for Gather. Pair the data with employee quotes to capture the complete picture of your pilot experience.
Use this slide deck or the following template to share your results:
We piloted Gather for [amount of time] with [Insights Chart - Weekly Active Members] members.
Out of [Insights Chart - Number of User Conversations] conversations, our average meeting length was only [Insights Chart - Median Conversation Length], and [Insights Chart - Conversation Length] of conversations were shorter than 10 minutes – two productivity signals that people were able to collaborate quickly.
After surveying the team, [Survey Question 1] were able to schedule fewer meetings. [Survey Question 2] felt more engaged with [Company Name], and [Survey Question 3] felt more connected to their teammates.
Overall, [Survey Question 4] of the team are satisfied with Gather. Examples of feedback:
[Survey Question 5]
- Quote 1
- Quote 2
- Quote 3
Resources
See how teams use Gather
From productivity benefits like reducing meetings to cultural benefits like increasing engagement, learn how your team can benefit from a virtual office.
I’ve always loved the energy and focus of a war room during crunch time—it’s where the magic happens. Gather has given us the ability to recreate that intense, collaborative environment remotely, which is absolutely invaluable.
Gather shortened decision cycles, improved creative collaboration, and facilitates knowledge sharing between our Los Angeles and Detroit facilities. It has also improved cross-team training and sped up issue resolution, which all contributed to a stronger, more cohesive culture and improved retention.
Thanks to Gather, we communicate better. There are fewer meetings on the calendar. And we’re pushing forward faster. It’s been transformative to our remote culture.
Frequently asked questions
Teams with fewer than 50 people can get started immediately with a free 30-day pilot. For more than 50 people, we can support your team with a custom extended pilot plan. Depending on the size of your organization, this can include a custom office design, high-touch onboarding, and a dedicated Slack Connect channel.
Contact us to discuss the best onboarding path for your team!
Every organization is different, and you know your colleagues best. In our experience, however, teams that follow a structured pilot process typically see the fastest success. At a minimum, we recommend holding all internal meetings in Gather (replacing Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet), and keeping Gather open for the duration of the workday to encourage unscheduled interactions.
We understand mandating a new tool for your team can be an intimidating process. For messaging advice, use our Gather Pilot Announcement Template. For help putting together a custom pilot plan for large teams, contact us.
If you’re unsure about the best pilot path for your team, contact us. We’ve helped over 10,000 remote organizations, ranging from startups to Fortune 500s, build their virtual office on Gather, and we’d love to help yours next!
Gather replaces Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet as the primary meeting tool for most teams. Instead of only opening Gather for meetings, however, each person keeps the app open for the duration of the workday so it’s easy to talk to people at any time.
For chat, Gather will co-exist with your current tool. Gather chat is best suited for conversations during meetings or office announcements. Most teams continue to use a tool like Slack or Microsoft Teams for asynchronous chat and file-sharing.
The best way to make it easy to manage multiple tools is to set clear expectations for usage. For recommendations on communicating to the team, check out our Onboarding Guide Template.
Contact us to see if your team qualifies for a custom office map as part of your pilot. Our team can assist with floor design and building the space.
You can start your subscription by following these instructions. If you’re interested in expanding across your organization before starting your subscription, contact us. We’d love to help plan your official move-in!
Launch a Gather Pilot
We’ve helped thousands of organizations launch virtual offices on Gather, and we’d love to help you next.
