P50: Building Community at Work: Strategies for Cultivating Connection and Sustaining Engagement

Community and connection are the glue that holds us together. Rapidly changing workplaces, especially those adopting hybrid models, require a community as the essential bonding force that maintains workplace connections between home and office environments. The uncertain and evolving work environment demands community building as an absolute necessity rather than a desirable feature. A workplace community can help employees feel more recognized and appreciated while receiving support from their colleagues. The environment fosters collaboration and creativity while nurturing a sense of belonging. 

One of the foundational concepts of the Transformation by Design (TBD) practice is that the path to progress starts with your presence for each other, regardless of whether you lead a team or develop an entire organizational culture. Leaders who actively develop workplace connections establish a cultural framework to manage organizational changes and difficult times. This post explores cultivating and sustaining these connections through intentionally actionable strategies for leading community-building initiatives in any organizational context.

Photo: Erie Bricks via Monarch Butterflies

From Concept to Design: Structuring Community Initiatives

Developing meaningful connections between community members requires strategic planning and deliberate design. To build an effective community, you should ask yourself three fundamental questions. What experiences will keep participants engaged? Your efforts need a system to measure their effectiveness.

Several core elements are essential to building a thriving community:

• Establish a clear definition of membership to determine who belongs to your community. The community exists to serve either a particular team, a cross-functional group, or the entire organization. The defined boundaries ensure all members understand their inclusion status and the community's purpose.

• Empower members with opportunities to shape the community's direction, norms, and activities. People who design their community experience tend to develop ownership feelings, strengthening their commitment.

• The community should implement initiatives that directly address the genuine needs of its members, including professional development opportunities, social support, and recognition programs. The community becomes more meaningful when it reflects and responds to its members’ needs.

• Create shared experiences that help members develop emotional connections by establishing rituals. Combining storytelling events and regular appreciation practices helps members develop a stronger bond, fostering a sense of community.

Your approach will evolve into a dynamic, interconnected community that supports its members through the purposeful integration of these elements. A systematic approach turns separate events into a thriving community environment that makes people feel important and actively involved.

The Five Pillars of a Thriving Workplace Community

A thriving workplace community develops through five essential elements that build connection and engagement among employees who share common goals. Each pillar must be implemented practically to become a reality.

• Connection: Creating real connections between colleagues is fundamental for building a strong community. The development of employee connections requires organizations to establish opportunities that extend beyond their standard work duties and immediate workgroups. Virtual meetups, cross-departmental projects, and lunch-and-learns provide opportunities to overcome workplace barriers, leading to new relationship development. The formation of these interactions fosters collaboration among colleagues, promoting a sense of integration throughout the entire organization. 

• Care: A supportive community exists when members watch out for each other, particularly when times become difficult. The organization implements mentorship programs and peer-support circles to guarantee each member has someone who provides guidance and encouragement. Employees develop trust and organizational resilience through genuine care because they know their well-being matters to their colleagues and the organization. 

• Consistency: The maintenance of community bonds throughout time depends heavily on consistency. Recurring rituals, including monthly check-ins, weekly recognition channels, and regular team-building activities, provide dependable contact points that keep workers linked. Community-building routines should be integrated into the standard workflow, as this practice ensures that community development becomes a consistent part of organizational operations. 

• Empowerment: Community engagement and ownership rise when individuals obtain the power to actively participate in shaping their workplace community. Leaders invite employees to lead initiatives, and employees are given resources and modest budgets to organize gatherings. At the same time, they are free to contribute their special interests and creative ideas to the group. The community becomes more dynamic and inclusive when leadership distribution allows every member to express their voice.

• Celebration: Both significant organizational achievements and everyday accomplishments require recognition to build appreciation within the organization. Organizations can celebrate their achievements through various methods, including project recognition and appreciation for personal contributions. Recognition ceremonies combined with casual appreciation moments enable organizations to demonstrate the value of each employee's work, creating an environment where everyone feels seen and valued. 

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The purposeful development of these pillars enables the community to become an integral part of work execution. When people work together in this environment, they develop strong connections while receiving support, which drives them to perform their best, leading to organizational strength and resilience.

Practical Strategies and Real-World Examples

Let’s ground these concepts with tactics inspired by Indeed, WebMD, and The Key to Building a Strong Workplace Community:

Launch a Peer Recognition Experience: Recognition strengthens the community. Implement a peer-to-peer appreciation system, such as a digital “kudos wall” or internal recognition feed, where team members regularly highlight each other’s contributions. Go beyond generic praise by introducing values-based virtual badges that reflect what matters most in your organization, such as collaboration, creativity, empathy, or community impact.

• Example: One nonprofit organization embedded a weekly “Community Spotlight” into their staff meetings, where colleagues nominate team members who demonstrated the organization’s core values. Over time, this ritual boosted morale, built cross-departmental relationships, and reinforced a sense of shared purpose.

Facilitate Connection Circles to Support Well-Being and Collaboration: Structured small-group spaces help deepen relationships across roles. Form Community Connection Circles of 5–8 people who meet every two weeks for intentional dialogue, reflection, or collective learning. Leaders can offer prompts for promoting well-being, managing stress, enhancing team dynamics, or aligning with the mission. These circles can serve as safe spaces for storytelling, creative brainstorming, or simply pausing together.

• Example: A public university launched “Friday Flourish Circles,” where cross-functional groups met for 30-minute conversations about topics like navigating overwhelm, sharing professional wins, and exchanging peer support. These consistent gatherings helped staff members feel more connected, supported, and valued, even during periods of rapid organizational change.

Weave Community into Onboarding from Day One: A strong sense of belonging starts early. Embed relationship-building into your onboarding process by pairing new hires with “culture companions”—trusted peers who help them navigate the organization’s people, values, and rhythms. Include intentional opportunities for cross-functional connection through virtual coffee chats, shared storytelling, and informal team rituals. Early integration into the community shortens the learning curve and builds trust from the start.

• Example: A global consulting firm redesigned its onboarding into a 30-day “Onboarding Odyssey,” where each new team member was matched with peers from different countries. Employees built cross-cultural awareness through structured virtual meetups, office tours, and cultural story exchanges, and formed early bonds that carried into project work.

Create Volunteer & Impact Programs: Design volunteer and social impact programs that reflect your values. The community inside the organization thrives when it connects to the community outside. Launch volunteer and social impact programs that align with your organization’s mission and values. Offering space for shared purpose—through hands-on service, advocacy, or community partnerships—fosters deeper connection, pride, and meaning across teams.

• Example: A regional manufacturing company created quarterly “Impact Days” where employees choose from local service opportunities, such as school supply drives, neighborhood clean-ups, or nonprofit skill-sharing events. Participation grew over time, turning these days into cherished community rituals that strengthened team morale and the company’s local reputation.

Measuring and Sustaining Community Momentum

You can’t manage what you don’t measure. Yet community metrics go beyond survey scores. Consider tracking:

• Engagement indicators such as meeting attendance and participation in recognition platforms.

• The number of cross-department connections formed and measured via collaboration tools.

• Well-being signals through pulse survey questions on belonging, stress, and support.

• Business outcomes that correlate community activity with retention, productivity, and innovation metrics.

• Build a public community dashboard to spot dipping trends early and pivot accordingly. 

• Regularly share insights with your ambassadors and leadership team to sustain accountability and celebrate wins.

Personal Reflection: Community Begins with Us

Community development requires us to model the behavior rather than delegate the responsibility. The essence of building a community extends beyond hosting team lunches and sending social event invitations. It’s about how we show up: consistently, genuinely, and humanely.

I founded an Employee Resource Group at a non-profit research institute during my leadership journey, which became a defining moment. At the initial meetings, people maintained formal behavior while feeling uninvolved. The attendees showed up,  but they didn't feel fully present. The tension in the space became palpable as individuals decided whether they could reveal their authentic selves. However, it changed the room's atmosphere when I shared my story about moving to a new city as an immigrant child who felt lost in her new environment. My sharing was not an intentional strategy but rather a genuine moment. And something happened. Heads nodded. Eyes softened. People gradually opened up to share their thoughts. The real community building occurred in that instant, rather than through an organized structure or a planned agenda.

Leaders frequently face demands to achieve perfection through measurement, along with planning and fixing approaches. Community-building requires leaders to demonstrate genuine presence and humility while making themselves available for observation. When we reveal our vulnerabilities, we invite others to reveal themselves more deeply. Our narratives enable people to express their life experiences. Any strategy falls short compared to the transformative power of genuinely focused attention.

I regularly assess whether and how my actions create opportunities. My presence extends to every significant moment, regardless of the situation, whether it involves conflict or change or the unobtrusive cultural moments that emerge between challenges. I have learned that our existing commitments do not need additional items. The approach we use matters more than the content we already possess.

Community transcends titles or initiative-driven approaches. People who lead with heart create the foundations of community. Today, I urge and invite you to begin with simple steps. Join a peer circle. Share a personal leadership story. Include an expression of appreciation in an upcoming meeting. Your genuine presence has the potential to make someone else feel a sense of belonging. 

Embedding Community Into Everyday Work

Community thrives when it’s part of “how we do things” rather than an add-on. Consider these embedding strategies:

1. Meeting Check-Ins: Start every group discussion with a brief personal share, an emotional weather check, or a moment of gratitude.

2. Learning Moments: Integrate peer coaching into project retrospectives, turning challenges into collective learning.

3. Shared Rituals: Institute “Friday Five” each person shares one win and one challenge at week’s end.

4. Leadership Forums: Include ERG and community representatives in strategy meetings to ensure voice and influence.

5. Digital Spaces: Curate channels for informal conversations, interest-based groups, and recognition, so connections aren’t confined to the calendar.

These small shifts accumulate. Over time, the community becomes the lens through which every action, decision, and interaction unfolds.

Conclusion: From Strategy to Shared Practice

Community is a leadership practice. The development of a genuine workplace community requires sustained efforts beyond occasional initiatives or events. The process of building a real community at work requires an active presence and attentive listening, while creating deliberate spaces for people to experience connection and feel valued and seen. The practice of belonging requires leaders to integrate it into their daily leadership activities and communication methods, as well as collaborative approaches. Teams transform into authentic communities when leaders consistently practice care, connection, and presence.

A strong workplace culture does not develop through random events. The way we treat others, what we choose to prioritize, and the stories we tell form the foundation of this culture. At TBD, we understand that community represents the essential foundation for creating enduring transformation.

Call to Action

Select a tiny action this week to establish connections by conducting five-minute gratitude sessions or sharing personal experiences during meetings, or inviting underrepresented voices to lunch.

Then, reflect: What shifted? What felt different?

The process of fundamental change starts with our presence in the moment. Our leadership should create environments that unite people while establishing organizations that welcome all members.

urney alone. Every choice you make becomes part of your organization’s collective path toward resilience and impact. Let’s walk it together