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A community is a group of people who share common interests and goals. Communities have been around forever but have evolved significantly over the last ~100 years. Primary drivers include industrialization, technology, (specifically digital communication), and globalization. Now, we affiliate with a diverse patchwork of personal and professional communities. These communities are not monolithic. Some occur in our offices and schools. Others exist in Facebook Groups and private Slack Workspaces. A few are hybrids, linking personal and professional interests and existing in person and online. So, what’s the common thread across these community threads; what’s the continuity? Communities form a culture, maintain a climate, and maximize communication among members. This post explores these three key aspects of a community and provides thoughts you can use to positively impact your communities this week.
Culture is elusive, especially when the term is applied professionally. Leaders have spent the better part of a century pursuing professional culture, adapting collective human nature to function within the confines of office buildings and cubicle farms around the world. Today, the impact of a global pandemic has accelerated the necessity to expand professional culture beyond physical boundaries, often connecting hybrid teams functioning in person and distributed. Organizational culture is the derivative of member values , beliefs , and behaviors . Culture impacts how an organization is perceived, externally, and how members interact, internally. This article dives into the key aspects of culture, provides examples of leaders who have successfully impacted the culture of their organization, and provides actionable steps to positively impact culture today.
Humans have huddled together since pre-historic times, pooling resources against a world full of threats. The threats evolved, over time, as did the structure of the communities people occupied. Simply put, a community is a group of people who share common interests and goals, like not getting eaten. In the early 20th century, industrialization and urbanization led to sprawling cities where professional communities developed. Later in the century, suburbanization and advances in communication moved people and businesses out of city centers and impacted established professional communities. In 2020, a global pandemic further accelerated distribution of professional communities. So where are we today, and where are we going? This article looks at the modern evolution of community and suggests key principles of community to employ today.
