Why do communities matter?
Communities create connections, trust, and long-term value that go beyond hierarchical relationships. In an increasingly networked and purpose-driven world, communities offer a way for companies to create resilience, relevance, and relationships that matter. There are many ways to describe “community” across cultures, contexts, and languages. We can generalize “community” as any group of people with shared goals, values or interests.Many organisations are taking bold steps in changing how they organise, yet the area of money often goes untouched. Financial decision-making and management remain slow, centralised and intransparent, despite intentions to increase participation and agility. Why is it so hard to align values with actions when money is involved?
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Vibrant communities humanise a brand and signal credibility, making the company more attractive to customers, partners and potential talent.
Communities foster employee engagement through collaboration, knowledge sharing and peer to peer learning. They also serve as informal support networks, reducing pressure on formal systems and leading to stronger culture and talent retention.
Communities of practice or interest groups drive bottom up innovation. Externally they provide valuable, real-time feedback and insight, helping companies stay relevant and responsive to evolving needs.
Communities support the adoption of new strategies, values, and ways of working, such as employee ambassadors and storytelling.
They also enable organisations to align with broader missions—social, environmental, or sector-specific—allowing people to feel part of something meaningful.
A Deloitte study noted that "knowledge sharing through communities can reduce learning curves by 30–50%" in large organizations.
McKinsey’s 2023 report showed that employees who feel a strong sense of belonging are 50% less likely to leave and 56% more likely to have better job performance.
Communities of Practice (CoPs) at IBM were estimated to deliver $100 million in annual savings through improved problem-solving and knowledge reuse.
For us, the essence of community is relationships of care, held together by a sense of kinship and mutual support. We use the language of community weaving to remind us that we can’t “build” a web of relationships. Community is a living practice that needs continuous tending.
“Community is a group of people who care about each other more than they have to” - Cheryl Heller
This three session training will introduce you to key concepts for growing thriving communities, and how to apply these in practice based on the Community Weaving Framework.
Each session will include:
Presentations on key concepts for community weaving such as purpose, relationships, rhythms, roles, and on- and offboarding.
Case Studies that highlight why these concepts are important and give relevant examples for how they are being applied.
Putting into practice through hands-on, participatory exercises and applying insights to the community projects from participants.
Format: A series of 3 x 90 min online workshops
Group size: up to 10 participants (larger groups upon request)
This training is for anyone who is leading, driving or acting as a connector/catalyst of community initiatives in your organization.
These initiatives might be:
- Leveraging communities to spread, translate and integrate corporate strategy into various business units
- Communities of practice that foster innovation and leverage internal experts instead of expensive external trainings
- Employee community weaving to improve employee experience, social cohesion, wellbeing, and brand
- Opening up cultural transformation efforts and involving communities in how company values are applied and lived
If you are interested in this training and would like to discuss how this could best address your strategic priorities, please contact Francesca with ‘Community Weaving Training’ in the subject line.
“This team models such a rejuvenating spirit of co-creation and collaboration. Working closely with them has had a lasting impact in the way we think, work and lead."
After 2 years of working together, we turned to Greaterthan to facilitate our first in-person company retreat in nearly 4 years. Nearly half of our team had never met in-person and the rest were longing to reconnect. Leveraging her knowledge and experience with our team, Lyssa created a space where everyone felt welcome to participate. The level of conversation and engagement exceeded our wildest expectations.
”We host three full-company retreats each year, which are vital for our alignment and to discuss certain topics that are better discussed in person. Greaterthan has helped us understand and realize the potential of these gatherings, and they have our complete trust in delivering these essential company events.”
For three years in a row, we have decided to work with David to hold our annual staff gathering with more than 200 participants online. Together we plan the design of the gathering and take his input to cover the contents in a methodical, alternating way. During the event, it is important for us to have technical support in the background so that we can focus on the content of the gathering. For the design and participative approach of our virtual members' meeting, we recommend David as a partner throughout the entire process.
