Ep 05: The Community Development Life Cycle

Mar 22

The Community Development Life Cycle

You Are Not Alone

Often, when I talk to business owners and community managers, they feel like they are the only ones going through this. They might think there's something wrong with them if this is happening within their community. But when I share with them about the Community Development Life Cycle, they feel a sense of relief, realizing they're not alone. This is normal, and it helps to alleviate feelings of overwhelm, panic, and failure that many community creators experience.

The Community Development LIfe Cycle

I didn't develop this concept, it was created by another community enthusiast. This person explored the lifecycle of in-person communities, such as those in neighborhoods or communal living settings. As a wannabe communal living lover myself, I was deeply intrigued by this research. Interestingly, this concept also applies to online communities, including those you grow as community creators within your courses, group programs, and memberships.

The Community Development Life Cycle consists of 4 phases, and you may find yourself in any of these phases at different points, sometimes even moving through them multiple times.

The 4 Phases

The 1st Stage Is Called Storming. This is the initial stage when your community is just getting started, and members are trying to get their bearings. It's like entering a party for the first time, and you're quietly feeling out the room. People usually don't barge in as if they're the life of the party; instead, they act more subdued and cautious as they learn the ropes. At this point, members are relatively independent and haven't formed any alliances yet.

In this forming stage, it's like the show "Survivor," where everyone is initially focused on gauging the room before determining their alliances. Extroverts may engage more, while introverts might be a bit quieter. Most people are just observing and trying to get a sense of what's happening within the community.

If you have a new community, it might be a little quieter at this stage, which is completely normal. Alternatively, if you have many new members joining, your community might revert to the forming stage as people try to figure out who these new members are and what's going on. Forming is a relatively calm stage with not much momentum or progress occurring.

The 2nd Stage Is Called Storming. Yes, that's right. It is entirely normal to experience storming within your community. I understand that you may want to avoid it. As an Enneagram 8, I actually appreciate conflict. I believe that conflict can be the gateway to intimacy, so I somewhat enjoy the storming phase of most communities. However, I know that many business owners and community managers are uncomfortable with it, and they may feel like they've failed or that something is wrong if their community enters the storming phase.

Now, I must say that things could indeed be out of control if you don't have the 4 pillars in mind, which I discussed in the first 4 episodes. The Community Cultivated™ framework is essential to have in place before encountering the storming phase. When the foundations are solid, the storming phase can actually be healthy.

If you don't have those foundations, I recommend revisiting episodes 1-4 to understand the 4 pillars of a thriving community. Ensure that you have a strong foundation before entering the storming phase.

During the storming phase, people move beyond just feeling out the room. They begin to work together, build trust, form opinions, and share those opinions, which can sometimes lead to conflicts. However, conflict is not necessarily a negative thing. As I mentioned earlier, I see it as an opportunity for realignment. When conflicts arise and challenge the culture set by the 4 pillars, it's a chance to realign the entire community around the beliefs, behaviors, and boundaries that you want to uphold.

This is a moment to show your leadership and values. People need a leader, especially during storming periods, when they are seeking guidance in the chaos. You want to be that leader for your community, rather than someone else within the community shaping the culture without your input.

Don't ignore storming; address it early and often. If left unaddressed, it will grow bigger, just like a tornado that continues to expand until something stands in its way. Be prepared to step into the conflict, even if it's imperfect, and realign your community. I recall a situation from my in-person workshops, where someone had a free Facebook community with around 30,000 members. In that community, one individual seemed to be causing trouble.

Although this person started as a great member, over time, they developed a sense of ego and entitlement, steering the community in their own direction, conflicting with the community's intended purpose. The community director brought up the issue several times, but it was disregarded because the business owner was hesitant to address the individual, fearing it would create more problems. As a result, the individual's influence over the community grew, and they were seen as the de facto leader, overshadowing the actual visionary.

To avoid such scenarios, address storming promptly. It allows for connection and realignment, and it's a sign of strong leadership. Storming may present itself in various ways within different communities. It can be subtle, such as bad advice being given, opposing views, or conflicts arising in direct messages, emails, or social media platforms. Be vigilant and ready to address these situations as they arise.

The 3rd Stage Is The Norming Phase. This is when people really start to grasp how things work within the community. If you've been a strong leader, you've effectively communicated how things are going to operate, and you've realigned the community under these norms. Members now understand what is considered normal in the community, and they begin to feel safe.

As I emphasized in the first few episodes, safety is crucial for fostering connections. Trust and clarity are key components of creating this sense of safety. By establishing structure and leadership during the storming phase, you've laid the foundation for this feeling of security within the community.

In the norming phase, you'll notice increased intimacy, cooperation, engagement, and collaboration among members. They work together towards the common goals or causes that you've set for the community. You'll witness a "better together" mentality, where members genuinely want to serve and support one another.

They'll be more active in offering assistance than constantly seeking help for themselves. They'll be more inclined to participate in discussions, provide feedback, and contribute positively to the community. This collaboration fosters an environment where everyone is striving to improve the community as a whole, rather than solely focusing on their individual needs.

In summary, during the norming phase, the community starts to function cohesively, and members actively work towards achieving shared objectives and building a supportive atmosphere. This phase is a testament to your effective leadership and the solid foundation you've established during the storming phase.

The 4th Stage Is The Performing Stage. Finally, we reach the performing phase, and this is where the real excitement begins. Now that members are well-acquainted with the community's boundaries and norms, having navigated through some conflict and established clear leadership, it's time for the community to soar to its highest level of function. In this phase, we witness collective progress towards the shared goals.

Members are highly motivated, well-informed, and achieving remarkable levels of success. It's like group projects where, in the forming stage, everyone is getting to know each other and figuring things out. Then, during the storming stage, there might be some disagreements about the project's big picture or individual roles.

However, once the norms and structure are defined, the community begins to work cohesively and efficiently towards a common objective. This performing phase is where members truly shine, collaborating harmoniously and leveraging their individual strengths to achieve remarkable outcomes together. It's an exhilarating phase where the community is firing on all cylinders and making substantial strides towards its mission.

It Doesn’t Stop There

It would be really nice if it stopped here, if we just got through the storming phase, figured out the norming phase, and then ugh, we're off to the races with the performing phase.

But it doesn't work that way. If you remember when we started, I called this the Community Development Cycle, not path, which means that we don't just reach an end of the path and hit the performing phase and stay there forever. It's gonna keep going around and round. There are things that can kick you back into the storming phase.

Storms Will Come

A bad apple may just show up and create conflict in your community. Maybe you add a whole bunch of new people into your community at once and it sends you right back to the forming phase and then into the storming phase.

This happens when you have a launch model and you may add hundreds or thousands of members at a time. It can also happen whenever there are changes happening inside your community. It can still send you back into the storming phase.

Whenever you have change happening inside your community. Maybe you have a team member leave, like a community manager who's really ingrained into your community and they end up leaving. That could potentially cause you to go back to that forming and storming phase. So you just want to make sure that you are aware and that you're prepared and you're thinking about the fact that this goes around and around and that you are thinking about what phase you are currently in,

because that may shift how you're focusing the energy of your community. You may need to slow down from trying to push people to progress, to pause and have a realignment moment to make sure that you restore leadership and safety in your community so that you can get back to that performing phase.

So I want you to take a moment and think about what phase is your community in?

Are you in the forming phase where people are still quietly trying to feel it out and figure out what this community is all about?
Are you in the storming phase where people are starting to be opinionated and maybe there's some conflict happening, whether it's rising up to the surface or happening really underground?
Are you in the norming phase where now we're really figuring out the structure, the leadership, the boundaries?
Or are you in the performing phase where you have a really strong cause, a really strong culture and structure, and everybody is moving forward towards that common goal?

I hope as you're working towards cultivating your communities and you have this in mind, it helps you realize that you are normal. Yes, your community is normal, and in fact, you may have communities that are in different phases at different times. Now that you know the community development lifecycle, you have an awareness of it. So you can get out of panic mode and you can be prepared for it and know that there is a next phase on the other side that you can move through,especially when you're in the storming phase.

If you feel like you need a little more guidance getting through the stages… I am here to help! My Cultivate program is the perfect place to help you build a thriving community that will navigate you through all stages of the community development cycle.