#08 Join A Community
Become A Social Animal
Learning doesn't have to be lonely and, as social interaction typically contributes to around 20% of our learning, it's a good idea to join with others along the way on your learning journey. Technical (and non-technical) communities can often offer an excellent opportunity to do just that.
Community Benefits
There are many benefits to joining a community. Here is a list of some of them:
- Go deeper into your topic of interest and grow your knowledge.
- Learn from the experience of others.
- Short-cut your learning curves.
- Learn about best practices.
- Discover valuable resources.
- Broaden your horizons by engaging with people from diverse organisations and backgrounds.
- Find out about new tools, technologies and techniques.
- Find out about emerging industry trends.
- Extend your social network.
- Gain valuable career advice.
- Be inspired, inspire others.
- Pose questions to experts and get answers to your questions.
- Share your interest in a topic with like-minded people.
- Gain respect from your peers for sharing your knowledge.
Community Vibe
There's nothing like the vibe of a thriving community. In such communities, arriving late means you won't get a seat and will have to stand for the duration of the meeting. There's also competition over time slots to present and a healthy respect amongst members.
When you leave a meeting, you'll feel you've learned something (several things no doubt) and that it was worth attending. You'll feel inspired to action and proud to be a member of the community and the buzz that goes with it.
Thriving communities often get good executive sponsorship meaning food may be provided (like the bacon, sausage and egg baps at our early-start Architecture Group meetings) or even merchandise may be on offer like geeky T-shirts, mugs or stickers!
Give And Take
It's good to contribute back to the community, even if it may take you out of your comfort zone or cost you some serious research time in rder to prepare. If you decide to do a live demo, then good look with that!
Good communities cater for people at all levels and recognise that not everyone is at the same point on the timeline or has the same level of experience. Make sure you take people with you on the journey and don't leave them sitting waiting for your presentation to finish or asking questions every five seconds. (Yes, I've seen that happen! 😊)
Community Gaps
If there isn't a community in place for the topic that you are passionate about then why not find some like-minded colleagues and start one yourself?
You could also look outside your own organisation - it could be a portal into a whole new world!
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Tim Simpson
#OldDogNewTrick