Ep 04: How to Create a Thriving Community (Part 4 of 4)

Mar 15

How To Create A Thriving Community

This is the 4th article in a 4-part series diving into my Community Cultivated™ framework which is the foundation for creating a thriving online community. If you haven’t had a chance to read the previous 3 articles, I highly recommend you go back so you can get the full context.

All the pillars work together and are foundational to the success of your community and if implemented you will have a thriving community that keeps people around for longer. Whenever you are building your community's strategy or tactics, this comes first before all of the fancy and fun ideas around how you're going to create more fun posts in your community to get more engagement, or how you're going to get people connected more at your live event or on Zoom or whatever it might be.

You need to have these four essential elements in mind as you're building your strategy, and chances are you're already doing aspects of this, which is great, but I just want you to be more intentional about it, which is why I've developed this framework.

The 4th Pillar Of A Thriving Community - Connection

Connection is the fourth pillar of the Community Cultivated™ framework. This is important because this is the pillar people often want to start with. They think they need to create more connection. They think they have a connection problem in their community, and the truth is, they probably do, but there are other things we need to address before moving into tactical strategies. We need to focus on the foundational elements of creating connection. Creating connection might seem simple, as it's a common reason for joining and staying in a community. However, we must understand the psychology of human nature.

Safety In Your Community

Let's go back to your psychology days and recall Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. While many focus on the sense of belonging, we tend to forget the crucial element of psychological safety. Before establishing a strong connection, we must ensure a safe environment within the community.

Safety is the cornerstone of connection within your community. Many people come to me claiming they have a connection problem, but I tell them that it's actually a safety problem. Once you address safety, creating connections becomes much easier. So, I urge you to focus on creating a safe environment. There are various ways to achieve this, but keep in mind that the world often advocates for safety through kindness and acceptance.

These three elements—safety, space, and scale—are crucial for your connection plan. Safety must come first, as it lays the foundation for a sense of belonging. Then, create a conducive space for connection to happen, and think about scaling the connection over the long run.

You Don’t Have A Connection Problem

However, I've learned from my extensive research and experience in online and offline communities that impactful and cohesive communities do not solely rely on kindness and acceptance. They prioritize the greater good of the community over individual desires. This means they may not accept everyone into the community, nor always be kind.

Having boundaries means you can't always be accepting of everyone, and kindness won't resolve all issues when boundaries are crossed. Trust and clarity are pivotal in establishing safety in your community. These elements take precedence over kindness and acceptance, as they build a strong foundation of trust and integrity.

Ultimately, you want your community members to understand that they can trust you and the community's leadership, and that there is clear structure and guidance in place. This will foster safety and lay the groundwork for meaningful connections to flourish.

Creating Space

Creating space is essential for your community to flourish. In the past, communities used to gather in physical locations like churches or town centers, forming connections and bonds. Today, your community may be centered around digital spaces, such as Facebook groups, Circle communities, Mighty Networks, or even discussion boards. Whether it's through in-person events held periodically or virtual Zoom calls, finding the right space for your community is key to its growth and success. It's essential to determine the container in which your community will connect and thrive. This space is crucial for fostering strong connections among members.

Scaling Connection

Some individuals believe that scaling connection becomes impossible as their communities grow. They may panic, thinking that they can't maintain the intimacy they had with smaller groups of 50, 100, or 500 members. However, as the community expands to thousands, even three thousand or twelve thousand members, you'll need to be intentional about scaling connection. And the good news is that it is possible. When considering scale, it's essential to think about what aspects you can automate.

Automation can really help you be able to scale connection in your community, but I also want you to be thinking about the things that we're going to choose not to automate. Episode 12 of my Community Creators Podcast goes deeper into automation.

Taking Action- Crafting Your Connection Plan

As you're creating your connection plan in your community, keep in mind these three things:

How do I create a safe environment? Because that really comes before any sense of belonging can.
What is the space that I'm creating in which this connection is going to happen?
How am I gonna scale this connection over the long run?

If you find yourself overwhelmed when thinking about cultivating a thriving community, I have created my Cultivate course to help take the overwhelm out of creating a thriving community. You can also get access to all of my free resources and tools in the Community Creators Hub,