Tim Falls
Vice President Of Community, Keen IO
Tim Falls shared a framework to build “CommunitYay!” within our organizations. Community is not just about your work. Community is about building excitement for your work across the organization.
First, orient yourself within your organization. Ask: how do the founders feel about community? Is community an important part of your organization’s strategy? What percentage of your company is on the community team? How much budget do you have? With the answers, you’ll start to see how much buy-in you have. This buy-in exists along a spectrum, and many of us find ourselves on the low end. So we’ve got work to do.
Second, set your course. There are really only three options to choose from once you’ve oriented yourself: abort mission if you don’t have buy-in (find a new job), deal with it, or make it better.
Third, move forward. Tim gave us some “power-ups” to set the forward course. The three community power-ups are: inclusion, communication, and trust. Include others in what you are doing in community land. Get involved in what they are doing too.
Practice nonviolent communication, empathy, and use tools like StrengthsFinder and Myers-Briggs to communicate. Cultivate reliability, intimacy, and credibility as a team member.
Watch Tim’s full talk to go further in-depth on each of these tips and become a crusader for community in your organization.
