This article is written by Cyrilla Eastwood, Communications Manager, Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.

The year 2020 will always be remembered as the year the world turned upside down. Covid-19 has changed the way we live, work and connect with each other.

But while most of the impact on our everyday lives has seemed negative, it has also given us a chance to pause and consider what is important to us. It seems that developing a sense of community has become the balm to our anxieties in the face of this crisis.

When seeking information and reassurance we have connected to our pre-existing and trusted online networks to help us feel like we aren’t in this alone. To inspire us with ways to fill long days in isolation we connect with those following creative pursuits in lockdown, reaping their knowledge in order to try new crafts and hobbies. And on those days when we feel disheartened, we have been inspired by people with energy and purpose to connect those that are isolated or struggling. It turns out that these connections are helping us not only survive through the crisis, but enabling us to thrive.

But we don’t need to experience a global pandemic crisis to reap the benefits of a like-minded community. And we certainly don’t need to restrict the sense of community to our personal lives. In fact, it was the need for support, knowledge and inspiration for my work team that saw me develop a community across our public sector last year.

A growing community

Communities of practice are starting to become popular across many areas of the public sector. Some of these are set up to inform stakeholders, while others are about driving a program of work through collaboration.

Being involved in a number of communities of practice, such as a departmental network of communication staff and a group aimed at increasing innovation, and having even established a community in order to encourage connectivity around a project, I understood the benefits of bringing people together with a common interest. Looking for a way to support isolated specialist staff and develop business continuity, I decided to trial a community of practice to connect my creative and audio-visual team with those in similar roles across government in Queensland, Australia.

After initially liaising with a few colleagues to gauge interest, I invited interested members from all agencies to join the community, connect with each other and create a network. The first meeting was a robust discussion of what everyone wanted to achieve from the group, resulting in a defined purpose “to connect staff across government, creating a network for sharing knowledge, ideas and seeking technical help”.

This first meeting saw almost 20 staff gathered in a room but I quickly had to find a larger one as we doubled membership by the second meeting. Six months later, amid the Covid-19 crisis, we now have 52 members from 17 different agencies actively involved. While some members are isolated staff within their agencies, the community has also attracted established larger teams. Despite differences in size, experience and resources, the need of every member to connect with like-minded people and share ideas to boost creativity and innovation is the same. The diversity of the membership has made this community even richer in what it offers, having created a broad pool of knowledge and expertise that members can link into whenever they need to.

Connected via Microsoft Teams, paired with face to face (though now held virtually due to Covid-19) quarterly meetings, the community of practice provides many opportunities for members to interact, learn and grow from each other. In a time where budgets are tighter than ever, communities of practice can be a great way to support the professional development of staff where they can continually network and absorb information, ideas and practical ‘how-tos’.

Easy peasy

When I explain how I established this community of practice, it sounds like it was an easy process. In truth, it was.

That doesn’t mean it’s without challenges. I had to ensure my department was happy for me to pursue this and then consult with our central agency to make sure I wasn’t stepping on any toes, before floating my idea to peers in other agencies. Like many new initiatives, this consultative process took the longest time.

And it does take a lot of time and determination, which is why it probably isn’t done more — people are so busy with their own work that they can’t find the space or energy to pursue something broader.

I think this community of practice was easy to set up because there was a genuine need. Building the purpose around the desire of the membership meant that the community had true engagement and was not just a passive forum. If I had tried to set up a group related to a different topic or role, I may have found myself fighting an uphill battle with no desire from others to get involved. Socialisation and understanding that there is an actual need to set up a community of practice is imperative to its success.

From 1-year birthday to the long haul

While this group has been running for less than a year, I have witnessed enthusiastic exchanges of ideas and offers of support across agencies. I regularly receive feedback from members who feel that this community has helped them connect their role into the wider purpose and feel more supported in their day-to-day work.

Having established the community with confirmation that it is a valuable network, my next action is to look at how it can be sustainable into the future. I have already flagged for our next meeting agenda that we need to look at a self-sustainable model going forward. With such passion for connecting with each other, I don’t think this group needs to rely on me any more to keep it together. — Cyrilla Eastwood

(Picture credit: Unsplash)