TLB #32🧠 Weaving stronger ties: The framework for thriving communities
A bi-weekly inside scoop on all the hottest events, juicy discussions, and oh-so-many other exciting things happening in our dynamic L&D community. 🧡
Hello Shakers,
Even if I proofread the newsletter twice or thrice, there is still some tiny mistake here or there. And I think that’s the part of being human. Even if we give our best, there is always room for improvement. 😅 One such mistake was brought to my attention by Brendan Rice. Can you guess what it could be? It’s there in the past issues. Put your glasses on and give it a try to find it. I’ll reveal it in the next issue. 👀
Okay, let’s start today’s issue:
💡Learning Bites: Community Weaving Framework
🗓️ Community Calendar: Be a part of events like The Trusted Learning Advisor with Dr. Keith Keating and many more.
🔖 Resource Reel: A collection of resources on Psychological Safety, Collective Impact and many more.
🎤 Shaker's Stage: This week’s stage is taken by Shaheen.
Learning Bites 💡
This week, I delved into the Community Weaving Framework, which provides a holistic approach to fostering and sustaining communities. This framework emphasizes that community is more than just a group of people; it is a dynamic, living practice of relationships centered around mutual care and shared possibilities. The framework outlines five key elements—The Fire, The Web, The Rhythm, The Circles, and The Spiral—that collectively strengthen the health and vitality of a community.
Top Takeaways:
The Fire: The Core of Community Identity: The fire represents the core values, collective identity, and shared purpose that draw people together and keep them engaged. Initial welcoming behaviours are crucial, setting a precedent for future interactions and establishing a sense of co-ownership.
The Web: The Foundation of Relationships: A community is held together by a web of relationships built on trust, respect, and mutual care. Intentional opportunities for connection and addressing underlying tensions are vital for maintaining the strength and integrity of these relationships.
The Rhythm: Regular Connection Practices: Healthy communities have a consistent rhythm of practices, rituals, and gatherings that keep members engaged and connected. These recurring activities help sustain the community’s energy and purpose.
The Circles: Roles and Levels of Participation: Communities have different layers of participation, from core members to peripheral participants. Defining and honouring these roles helps manage expectations and prevents burnout, ensuring everyone can contribute meaningfully.
The Spiral: Individual and Collective Journeys: Communities are dynamic and constantly evolving. Supporting transitions through rituals and clear pathways helps individuals and the community as a whole to navigate changes and continue flourishing.
What This Means for Practice:
Cultivating the Fire: Clearly articulate the community’s vision, values, and purpose. Use storytelling to nurture the initial spark and continuously engage members through meaningful conversations about their connection to the community. For example, a new learning community can start by sharing personal stories that align with its core values, fostering a strong initial bond.
Use The Story Canvas to build your story and spark conversations in your community.
Strengthening the Web: Design intentional opportunities for members to build trust and deepen relationships. Address conflicts and tensions openly to heal fractures and maintain a supportive environment. For instance, regular small group sessions where members share their experiences can help build stronger connections. You can use Troika Consulting, a self-facilitated small group format to strengthen the web.
Establishing a Rhythm: Create regular, meaningful practices and rituals that resonate with the community’s values and natural cycles. Encourage participation in various roles to foster a sense of ownership and contribution. For example, starting meetings with a short meditation or deep listening exercise can ground participants and enhance their engagement.
Defining the Circles: Clearly define roles and levels of participation within the community. Recognize and honour different levels of engagement to prevent burnout and ensure everyone feels valued. An example would be having core members who organize events and peripheral members who participate occasionally but are still considered important parts of the community.
Navigating the Spiral: Support transitions with rituals and clear pathways to help members navigate changes. For example, new members could be welcomed with an initiation ritual, while those leaving could be honoured with a gratitude ceremony. This helps maintain continuity and a sense of progression within the community.
That’s all Shakers! This week, reflect on what intentional steps you can take to strengthen trust and mutual care within your community.
Coming Up Next
Community Calendar 🗓️
Our next events lineup is here! Join us for super practical, fun and interesting sessions and meet other L&D buddies. Register for events using the link below!
Cool Stuff You Don’t Wanna Miss Out
Resource Reel 🔖
This week’s hottest resources are:
Resource Guides on Psychological Safety by LeaderFactor will help you model how to build psychological safety in your organisations and teams through four levels: Inclusion Safety, Learner Safety, Contributor Safety, Challenger Safety.
Talks at Google by Google provide a platform for influential thinkers, creators, makers and doers to tell us about their work, their lives and what drives them to shape our world. This one makes a good to include in one of your lunch and learn sessions.
Visual Knowledge Map by Bülent Duagi of the Coaching Summit 2024 with top sessions from Week 1, 2 and 3. There’s a lot to digest there. Enjoy exploring it.
The 2024 State of Online Learning Report by 360Learning that talks about the likes and dislikes of online learning for employees, how L&D has transformed the perception of online learning and what we need to do next to make it even more impactful.
Collective Impact Toolkit by Tamarack Institute talks about the various aspects of solving complex issues on a large scale like an assessment of pre-conditions of Collective Impact: Influential Champions; Urgency of Issue; and Adequate Resources.
Retrospective formats to choose by ScatterSpoke that have 24 actionable retrospective frameworks that you can launch today.
Why writing by hand beats typing for thinking and learning by Jonathan Lambert on NPR shows various benefits of writing by hand which most of us have forgotten in this age of rapid digitalisation. It results in better understanding and retention, engages more coordination in the brain, etc. Give it a read.
Community Corner:
Shaker's Stage 🎤
Let’s welcome Shaheen, Founder and Learning Designer, Ta'alim Consulting to take the Stage.
What was a pivotal moment in your career?
-One of my first roles in my 20s was at Google. I spent the first year or so learning the ropes of the business and soon found myself in the training room of a specialist team. Week 1, induction into Account strategy. Account Strategy is one of the most senior teams in the office with Google stalwarts in there. My new manager pulls me out of training and offers me a proposition. I am to go to Australia, learn how the Australian market works and come back and teach the team in India, and lead it. My jaw is on the floor. I blurt out "Why me??" Remember this team has people 6 years senior to me. She says, I looked at your performance chart since joining Google. The only times your performance dipped was when you were in the role for more than 6 months or you didnt have even projects on hand. It tells me you have a startup mindset and thats what I need. That one discovery about myself I didnt know, set me on a path I didnt even know I would tread on. It's not been pivotal, it has been transformational. - Knowing my hustle mindset has helped me retrospectively connect dots for my entire life. - I know what a good leader looks like. I got an up in life. I pay it forward now.
What’s one lesson your job/profession has taught you that you think everyone should learn at some point in their life?
-Learning science shows us that learning happens in moments of reflection. Reflection leads to self awareness. It leads to connecting dots. It leads to ideas and insights that are hard to reach when you are constantly on the hamster wheel. And so as I design moments of reflection for my learning participants, I do the same for my life. This is a skill that we all need to have - personally and professionally. Reflection means we ask ourselves difficult questions. It means we consider what's working, what's not. It means sit in uncomfortable silence with ourselves. We carve out time to slow down and ponder
What is one piece of advice you’d give to someone starting out in your career?
-L&D is a profession like nothing else. As humans we have all learnt a new thing - even if we haven't all coded or done finances or presented arguments in a court of law. We have all learnt And therefore, you are uniquely placed to reflect on your learning experiences and bring that to L&D practice. A YouTube video on packing light for a multi day hike, an insightful comment in a newsletter, embodying anger as you acted in a play, having a conversation with someone from a different lived experience .. these are all learning moments. Design them in your jobs. As you become more experienced in learning design, don't let others tell you that learning only happens in workshops and online modules. The best learning professionals pull their personal passions and adopt it to learning - from improv to research, from mindfulness to graphic design. It's all your for the taking !!
What does being an L&D Shaker look and feel like for you?
-Being a shaker feels like finding my people. Like I can nerd out with pride. Like I have an extended support system who I can ask for help, spar with, and give back in return Like I know I always have a home to return to ❣️❣️
〜See you soon
Till then, keep spicing up your learning! 🧠🧂
Sejaal