We long for a place where everybody knows our name. We seek community. While there continue to be discussions over what actually defines a community, for many, it is a sense of cohesiveness among a group of people.

Let's go with that.

Sometimes communities are organized like Women of HR or Tribewriters. Sometimes communities are organic. Bottom line - people join a community because the community offers something they want or need. Victorio Milian recently posted that community, "may simply come down to supporting and interacting positively with other individuals who share a vested interest. Your community helps you succeed, even when success isn't evident."

He nailed it.

In a 2012 Forbes article, The 4 Pillars of Community Management, the author wrote that community managers are pivotal in getting people not only to your community, but actively involved in it; connecting with people; listening to feedback and evolving the community based on member needs. Good community managers build communities that last.

She nailed it.

Communities are in constant motion. It's not a question of if members will leave a community, it's a question of when. If you are establishing a community or currently managing one, here are a few points to remember:

You don't own the people in your community.
People have a choice. If they chose you, treat them well.
Know your niche. You can't be everything to everybody.
Members are looking for a reason to stay. Give them 10.

Don't take your community or its members for granted. Life happens and things change. When a member chooses to leave your community don't be dismissive. Or an ass.

Taking Community for Granted by Lisa Rosendahl first appeared on lisarosendahl.com.

As a leader, I tend towards necessities over niceties: hire smart, be respectful, offer unwavering support, and get out of the way. Let your team do what it does best and it will thrive.

This is all well and good except that a team is not an "it."

There is a lot we can talk about when it comes to teams. For today, let's take a small bite and talk about connection.

Teams will not perform at their best if the team members are disconnected from each other. Connection doesn't just happen so leaders must create opportunities for team members to interact positively with each other.

Think communication.

Create opportunities for relaxed and natural communication for your team:

Have a 10 minute morning huddle that is short on business and high on interaction.
Incorporate peer-to-peer recognition into daily huddles, team meetings or activities.
Involve every member of the team in weekly updates and keep your agendas loose.

Think fun.

Create non-cheesy opportunities for your team to let their guard down and laugh.

Have a weekly riddle with a small prize for the first to guess the right answer.
Revise the break schedule so the team can take a break at the same time.
Break the routine. Get out of the office, the building or prescribed roles.

Do the ideas above seem simplistic? Think again. Actually, don't think again. This is not difficult, don't try to make it so. You don't have to do this on your own. Actually, you can't do this on your own - you need people to make this work.

Take your all employee survey scores seriously, ask questions, listen to the responses and take action. Let your team do what it does best and it will thrive.

You can do this.

Building Team Connection by Lisa Rosendahl first appeared on lisarosendahl.com

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Lisa Rosendahl