The people are there. The common interest is there. But how do you connect them?
We have different teams, different businesses. But we also share common roles, goals, challenges—we should learn from each other.
Structurally, there’s little to connect us (one conference a year). We have Slack, but most people spend most of their time in private channels and DMs. We don’t naturally bump into each other. Gravity is within teams.
We used to have a newsletter. We used to have workshops and meetups. We used to have L&D. That’s all gone now. The responsibility for networking and personal growth falls on individuals (or, at best, enlightened managers).
Culturally, we have great people. We have inspiring values. We have a recurring cast of community heroes who try to bridge the gaps.
But this is the tension: our structure naturally separates what our culture tries to connect. Call it “communal entropy.”
Several people have tried grassroots cross-team meetups, but none of them last more than a few months. Some people post internal blogs, but no one reads them.
Things that seem to work: team Slacks, team meetups, anything team-specific. Hyper-localized efforts. Small groups.
I guess I don’t know how (or don’t have the energy anymore) to build anything bigger than a small group.