Back in our August column, I talked about the community building that we have been doing at the Owatonna Area Business Development Center (OABDC) over the past year with our various new events and programs. This month, I wanted to share a little bit about what that process looks like, so that you can do some community building of your own – with a group or event that you’re looking to start, refocusing and growing an existing community, or changing directions inside your organization.
In November, I briefly walked the Steele County Non-Profit Consortium (SCNPC) through this exercise for ourselves (I’m lucky enough to be a member of the current leadership team). Even though we have already been in existence for about a year, the process is ongoing and constantly improving - as it should be!
There are six basic activities to starting out your community building efforts. These are all based on the process from the amazing little book Get Together by Bailey Richardson, Kevin Huynh, and Kai Elmer Sotto.
First, it is important to share with your community how it all started, where the idea came from, or its origin story. When we were putting together the monthly Innovators and Small Business Owners Connect-up (IBOC), things weren’t clicking until I shared my background and the origin story for the group, centering on helping others succeed. This discovery led us to refining our statement of purpose (which just happens to be the second step to building a community). Why does your community exist? Who does it bring together, and for what purpose? These basic questions are the foundation that will hold a community together.
Next, you need to come up with an activity that the community can do together. That activity must be repeatable, and it has to be something that can only be done as a group – it can’t be done individually. For IBOC, it’s sharing our high and low points from the previous month, and giving feedback to the members who are looking for input on what they’re working on. With the SCNPC, we asked the members what kept them coming back month after month in order to help refine what activities we focused on, continued, and kept repeating.
Finally, you need to put together a code of conduct to let people know what is okay, what’s not okay, and what to do about it. This ensures that everyone feels safe within the community. For both IBOC and SCNPC, confidentiality is key, so it is baked into our codes of conduct, as is constructive feedback, to keep the environment supportive and encouraging.
This exercise can also help any group or organization refocus its efforts internally to strengthen the community inside and with its stakeholders. Go back to the questions above: What was your origin? What do you do and why? What activities can you do as an organization to keep your employees and customers engaged? What is your code of conduct, both outside and in?
There is a lot more to community building than just these few steps, but this is where everyone needs to start in order to begin on strong footing. And if you want or need help with some community building of your own, never hesitate to ask - that’s what the OABDC is here for.
This article was originally published in the Owatonna People's Press.