A sense of belonging...

At the beginning of this year I had the honour of being elected to hold the prestigious position of Chair of the Network Group, the UK’s leading community for Technology Service Providers. I had been a member of this group and others such as CompTIA (led by the fantastic Estelle Johannes) for several years, and previously spent some time on the Executive committee within CompTIA, holding the Vice-Chair role for a short period. I had always understood the amazing value this type of community would offer my own business, Urban Network, and was an active contributor to our industry.

Part of the Network Group election process was to present to our membership on my vision for the future, outlining what our industry would look like and the role our community will play in it. For those that know me know that I like to plan ahead and hold value in the saying “Fail to prepare, prepare to fail” I was all set and ready to start delivering on the plans that myself and the talented team of people that make up the Network Group Exec had planned for the next 12 months.

On 23rd March everything changed, at the time of writing this, we have been living and working within some form of restrictions for over 6 months and we are still unsure what the future may look like. Life is certainly very different now to how we started the year, many have seen significant impact on their personal lives with families sadly losing loved ones too soon because of COVID-19. if this is you, then my thoughts are with you.

The business-world has seen tremendous change throughout this period, with many sectors still adversely affected, either operating with limited trading or closed entirely with no revenue coming in. Like many organisations, we had to adapt our approach, and fast.

A community or peer group offers members a sense of belonging, a group of like-minded people in an environment that can share information relative to their industry. It also offers a place where people can just talk and knowing that you are not alone, in times of adversity this can be very powerful. Our community responded very quickly and started putting on weekly catch-up calls for all members several weeks before the initial lockdown was announced, with no real formal agenda, they were just there for members to talk. The response was phenomenal and with such positive feedback received each week, these calls are still active today with substantial attendance. 

Change within businesses is more often-than-not a difficult process, but the difficulty is exponentially magnified when forced upon you with no choice but to adapt to the circumstances. If you or your business is not a member of a group or community to help you though this period of change, then I urge you seek out such an organisation and make contact. I can promise you that if we ever to get back to physical events and you see me there, that you will thank me. For my own industry, I have put some links below of some such groups in the comments. I apologise if I have missed any of you out!