How can you build a sense of community around your work?

Above all, we need to remember that knowledge is universal. To me, that means that we should share knowledge rather than hoard it. This is important with all knowledge but especially with knowledge that is not widely dispersed or has up to this point a limited audience. We can build a sense of community around our work by sharing our work and any knowledge we have produced or accumulated. In the long term the more cheerleaders we have supporting our work will only help with the wider adoption or support of the concepts that we are working on.

One thing I've found helpful in my experience is by embracing collaborative initiatives. Through shared goals, diverse representation, and a focus on empathy, we create a space where professionals can unite for meaningful change. By recognizing achievements and fostering cross-cultural competence, we strengthen our collective impact in addressing the diverse public health challenges at the community level.

The sense of community is an attribute of great value in the construction of partnerships to promote the social, political, economic and cultural development of the territories. I believe that the establishment of cooperation networks is one of the main strategies to achieve results and impacts in the medium and long term.

With every social impact project I’ve worked on, or organization I’ve worked with, taking the time to co-create the why behind the work has been imperative. Yes, someone needs to come to the table with an idea. From there, however, it is about having many conversations, listening to a lot of perspectives, and using the discussion to develop a shared understanding of the work’s purpose and it’s meaning. I use an organizational or project identity framework to guide the conversation. For example, we start with the question, what is the remarkable difference we aim to make? Next we ask, in a decade (or less) what change will we be proud to say we accomplished? Then we draft an organizational or project identity statement for input.

I've made an effort to delve into the social issues surrounding my industry. Taking the initiative, I engage with mining communities by personally visiting remote mining areas. By directly interacting with miners, I gain firsthand insight into their challenges. Subsequently, I share these experiences with those interested but unable to visit these distant locations. Utilizing social media platforms, I ensure clear communication about these issues, fostering a sense of community among people who want to help but cannot physically be present in these remote areas

I think a big problem in social impact work are echo chambers. Yes - it's easier to rally the folks who already agree with you on an idea. What's more I pactful is bringing new voices to the table - even if they're skeptical. Making the impact-feedback table accessible, welcoming, and open to feedback is the most important part of growing a community in my opinion.

In my experience identifying the audience and defining the purpose are inextricably linked. As the why behind an effort is revealed in partnership with the people who will benefit, and the partners who are needed to help, the audiences come into sharper focus. I align with Peter Drucker’s idea that every social impact effort has two types of customers of equal importance. The primary customer is the group or entity that is the direct beneficiary of the work. It could be people, animals, the environment, a neighborhood, etc. The supporting customers are all the resources that come together to serve the primary customer. These deceptively simple concepts are worth sorting carefully because they are critical to understand.

Establish a clear purpose or mission for your work. When everyone understands and connects with the bigger picture, it fosters a sense of belonging and shared goals.

Everything we do has an audience. We don't need to 'pander' to our audiences, but we need to be aware of them, and how they might react to what we say and how we say it. And, if we want our audience to react in a particular way - we need a deeper understanding of who our audience is, what their interests are, and how what we're saying might best resonate with them.

My advice on this is that you can get lost in all the myriad of options out there. To start keep it super simple, a FB or WhatsApp group. It’s about the quality of content not where you’re hosting the community. As you grow you can all your community where they would like to hang out. But deciding the best platform and having everything perfect can get in the way of you just starting.

Over the years I have become increasingly convinced of the role stories have in the transfer of meaning. Once you have clarified your purpose for yourself, it needs to be contextualized in order for others to fully understand it. Packaging it up in a story is the most certain way to ensure that your purpose is understood in the same way by the largest number. Any other means of communication - charts, lists, graphs, data, tag lines, or general descriptions - rely on the listener to convert that information into their own stories. These 2nd generation stories will yield contexts and understanding you neither expected nor desired. If you do the work for them, and share a compelling story of your vision, you can keep everyone aligned.

Content is really about effective communication no matter how you do it. And effective communication is foundational to community building. When team members are well-informed about a project's progress, challenges, and successes, they feel more connected and engaged. Transparency builds trust and a shared understanding of the collective goals. Regular updates, clear expectations, and an open-door policy for feedback contribute to a positive communication environment.

Building and maintaining communities cannot be done without education. The more we know the more we grow, and anytime we can create and share all we’ve learned and add that visual component, we create trust, engagement, become leaders, and people/companies can grow organically. For companies higher on the sustainability spectrum/companies investing in sustainability initiatives, environmental literacy/education fueled-marketing communications can be the most important part of a company’s growth maintenance internally and externally. Study how your B2B and B2C audiences are learning and create different formats and styles to appeal to the many preferences and learning styles.

The clues to meaningful content follow from the community's purpose and shared understanding of what it aims to accomplish. The sense of community deepens when members work together to define the content they would find most valuable. Adapted from The Leading Questions Community with Bob Tiede and the Positive Intelligence Community with Shirzad Chamine, here is one co-created approach I like for developing content ideas. Community members idea storm questions to explore. The aim is to generate at least 100 questions. When the group gets to 20, keep going; 50, keep going! Then, a few volunteers categorize the questions and invite all members to weigh in on their top 5-7 categories and questions, becoming the content framework.

Consciously creating opportunities to contribute to a community's well-being will be foundational to its thriving. Community facilitators or convenors are responsible for nurturing engagement and support and guiding it to happen. Members will bring all types of experiences to honor. Some may need to feel more comfortable stepping up and are looking for mentoring and support. Others may be more comfortable and need more opportunities to build their experience. Learn member's needs. In a small community I guide, I put maximum effort into planning discussions, inviting volunteers, and asking what support they need to step up and speak up. We also celebrate productive discussions and debrief where to keep improving. We also experiment a lot.

More than anything else, be authentic. The more you're trying to construct some kind of false identity, including through 'encouraging interaction', the more emotional labour you need to put in, and the more you'll start to resent the interactions. The purpose is 'community', not a large network or e-list.

I have found that ensuring that you not only invites others to the conversation, that you are also doing a good amount of listening. Too often, people feel unheard and become intimated to contribute. We do a lot of employee pulse surveys and we report back on the results for transparency.

I’ve run a number of communities and networks and I’ve always had a lot more fun when I’ve find it alongside others. Yes you share the profit, but you also share the work. Running communities takes a lot of time and energy, and it’s great to be part of a team so if you’re flagging their there keeping the excitement going. Working with others is not for everyone and you need to find the right someone, but it can be a lot of fun! ??

By being honest, open & authentic you can attract members that can contribute and gain value from the group interaction. Society is craving ‘real’ interaction and an environment where one can feel safe emotionally.