It is essential that communities be built
For individuals to connect in a meaningful way, they first must find a shared space, virtual or otherwise, in which to interact. There are no preconditions for achieving this vital interaction save for the presence of two individuals and a reason for one to be in the same space as the other. Community building might be thought of as the art of intimacy in public spaces. It is about the ways in which individuals figure out how to make their association with each other—and hence with the world just outside their community—more tolerable and even enjoyable.
What is Community Building and Why Does It Matter?
The essence of community building is bringing people together around shared goals, values, or interests. It is about creating a profound sense of belonging and an extremely durable and productive form of mutual support. It brings to life in wonderful ways the deep and primal human need for connection and collaboration. Communities can take all forms, from very local to very global. They can be in person, as in the traditional neighborhood, or virtual.
The Core Definition of Community Building
The term “community building” describes what certain practices endeavor to do. And what might that be? Well, community building holds space for the building or rebuilding necessary to have a community in the first place—a group of individuals who see and understand one another, for whom a collective identity might exist, even if that identity is aspirational. Business might create what I used to term “brass tacks communities,” where employees and customers engaged with one another in offering support and sharing ideas.
Why Community Building is Crucial in Today’s World
Increasing social isolation and digital fragmentation have magnified the significance of community building in recent years. For businesses, it offers a competitive edge because it provides a not-so-virtual virtual space where customers and even employees can come together and do the sorts of things that humans like to do: give and receive feedback; share their problems and the solutions they have found; advocate for the brand. For individuals, communities can fulfill a number of almost primal human impulses. Being part of one can improve your mental health; it can let you share and develop skills that you would be hard-pressed to cultivate alone; and it can allow you to make use of several not-so-hidden paths to the feeling of connection and belonging that we all seem to crave.
Building Blocks of a Thriving Community
Constructing a vibrant community necessitates thoughtful planning and steady tending. A community’s foundation is the understanding of its members. You can’t serve them unless you know them. While no two communities are alike, there are principles that undergird all spaces where members feel at home and are engaged.
Defining the Purpose and Vision
A clear sense of purpose is the foundation of every thriving community. When communities lack direction, they can feel not just aimless but also potential opportunities for disengagement. So, communities need a purpose—that’s case number one. But even if they have a purpose, that does not—it should not—guarantee long-term success. Why not? Because having a purpose is not the same as realizing it; in fact, many communities have a purpose that sounds good but doesn’t do much in the way of realizing or serving the end.
Examples of a Defined Purpose
- Users may form brand communities to educate themselves about a brand’s products; such communities may also offer support and foster connections among their members, thereby deepening brand loyalty.
- Neighborhood associations may serve as the means through which residents collaborate with one another and with public officials to create safe and welcoming neighborhoods.
Crafting a Vision Statement
After establishing the community’s reason for being, you can delineate its vision more clearly in a statement that is easy to understand and remember. Such a vision, when stated well, serves as a compass to guide the community’s initiatives and decisions. For instance, a vision statement for “Neighborhood Gardening Club” could be “Cultivating a greener community while fostering relationships among neighbors.”
Creating an Inclusive Environment
One of the foundations of a thriving community is inclusivity. To thrive, a community must be seen as a safe space where every member feels valued and accepted. A truly inclusive community welcomes and embraces all kinds of differences—those that are visible and those that are not, those that are recently new and those that have been around for a while—among its members.
Ensuring Psychological Safety
In a space where there is psychological safety, individuals can freely contribute and share without having to worry about being judged or even rejected. In such a place, where trust is paramount, leaders and team members alike value and savor the differences in their opinions, give and receive well-meaning and constructive feedback, and, most importantly, underpin the whole endeavor with open and honest communication.
Welcoming Diversity
Creating a diverse community brings various perspectives to the table—something many startups are now actively trying to do. Once these differing backgrounds are represented, the next crucial step for these organizations is to ensure that all community members feel comfortable sharing their unique perspectives.
Strategies for Building and Sustaining Communities
After setting the intent and ensuring inclusivity, the next obstacle is doing the hard work of taking real steps toward an actual community. That means engaging in a not-so-simple equation of being present, providing value, and maintaining the wind in your community’s sails.
Leveraging Technology and Social Media
In the current landscape, technology is playing a crucial role in bringing people together. Digital tools are capable of connecting audiences all around the world when it really counts; and these same tools are doing an admirable job of providing a virtual substitute for real-world, face-to-face interactions during a time when society is really craving such experiences.
Choosing the Right Platform
Think about which platforms best fit your community’s objectives. While social media channels, such as Facebook groups or LinkedIn, provide light-touch connectivity, dedicated software platforms afford you more meaningful opportunities to create events, host discussions, and publish content. If your platform has to be efficient for your community to thrive, remember that some platforms include scheduling and automation as part of their core value proposition.
Encouraging Member-Led Initiatives
Communities are often energized by engaged members. When we allow members to suggest activities, moderate discussions, or even contribute content, we not only reduce the burden on the leadership team but also increase member-to-member social connections.
Organizing Activities and Events
When you work to create a community, it is vital to foster interaction between members. The best way to do that is to schedule frequent events—activities or even workshops—that are aligned with your members’ interests. Make sure they have goals, and then help them achieve those goals.
Examples of Valuable Activities
Workshops are great and all, but we can’t just have workshops all the time. That would be preposterous. You would become workshop fatigue Stratosphere if you did that. And we can’t do that to anyone. So, we have to rely on other means to share knowledge and grow skill in the ways that we do together as a distributed team. Once more, reading and writing are our primary tools in this endeavor.
Measuring Engagement
It’s not enough to just put on community events; you also have to pay close attention to how many people are participating in them and what your members think about them. Keep an eye on the community events that really seem to connect with your members, and let their interests shape the next round of programming.
Benefits of Investing in Community Building
A tightly-knit community yields far more than just emotional satisfaction or support. Individuals, groups, and the larger society derive many real and satisfying benefits from being part of a strong community.
Individual and Social Benefits
At a basic level, it is just good for our mental health to live in a community that has its act together. Communities are the fabric of our society. They validate us. They give us a group of people with whom to share our lives and our ups and downs. It’s a pretty simple equation. Mental health is improved by the absence of loneliness and the presence of strong relationships. By living in communities that have a pretty high mental health quotient, we are assured of some degree of mental health ourselves.
Enhancing Member Wellbeing
Recent research indicates that individuals who possess a profound sense of belonging within their communities are less likely to suffer from conditions such as depression, anxiety, or loneliness.
Strengthening Social Capital
Creating “social capital” in groups allows the members to connect with important networks, secure resources, and pursue profitable collaborations.
Business and Organizational Benefits
Nurturing communities is good for business. It’s an art and a science that leads to customer loyalty and meaningful relationships. It results in distinctive user experiences and serves as a playground for innovation. Most importantly, it’s part of the future of business, particularly for technology businesses. “Cultivating communities,” says Trisha Grant, director of global community at LinkedIn, “allows us to see around the corners, understand our customers better, and makes us smarter.”
The Role of Customer Advocacy
Not just customers who stay, but also customers who fly the flag help keep a company high in the air and flying well. Hearing customer advocates talk about your company and its offerings is like getting a complimentary commercial.
Opportunities for Co-Creation
Engaging your community in the generation or development of forthcoming offerings cultivates a deeper sense of ownership and leads to a better alignment of products with the user’s needs.
Tools for Efficiency in Community Building
Building a strong community takes effort, but with the right tools, the job becomes a lot easier. WoopSocial keeps your community well-informed and engaged with content shared across its various channels. The platform itself is simple and straightforward, so your community can easily understand that it serves the purpose of automating posts. WoopSocial does two main things: It keeps your content.
Final Takeaways
Building communities is a rewarding and gratifying pursuit. It benefits everyone involved, whether the aim is personal, professional, or altruistic. When I think of what makes community building a fulfilled endeavor, the first two words that come to mind are purpose and inclusivity. To have a community with those two attributes is a really nice thing. And when I’m in a room where those two attributes are present, I feel like it’s a community I can be part of. But community-building isn’t just about feeling good. For those who do it, the ultimate aim is engagement. And for organizations, at least, the next stop after engagement is growth.
