Best Of

My job at Higher Logic is 100% remote. My co-workers are far away, with only one other colleague in the entire state of California.  For a long time, my home office faced the backyard. It was quiet and peaceful, with fountain sounds and a view of trees and a bird feeder. On paper, it was an ideal work environment. 

Recently, I moved my office to the front of the house. Now my desk faces the street, where I see people walking by on their way to the park, dog-walkers, commuters heading to CalTrain, neighbors, chitchat. 

Immediately, the time at my desk and my job felt different. Wowsa! Seeing other people infuses my work with the energy of human connection. When I work in total isolation for too long, the vibe feels off. The words I’m typing lose weight. It's output instead of communication. But seeing other people—even briefly, even without interaction—reminds me that what I’m working on is meant to land with someone. It reconnects my work to real people living real lives.

What surprised me most is that this shift didn’t require interaction. There are no conversations, no collaboration, no interruptions.  Human energy doesn’t require interaction. Just knowing other people are nearby adds a quiet grounding energy for me. It subtly changes how I think, how I write, and how much care I bring. This kind of presence is an ambient community.

Ambient community shapes how we think. It doesn’t demand attention or participation. It exists in the background, reminding us that our work lives in a shared world. After all, people connections are our mission.

Call to action:

Be curious about your ambient community.  If your work depends on understanding people, take a fresh look at where you work. Maybe move your desk to face a window.  Once a week, work from a coffeeshop or from your car with a view.  Choose a space that puts you closer to everyday human activity. You don’t need a dramatic change to create new energy—sometimes, changing the view is enough.

Every community has a handful of members who consistently step up by answering questions, sharing knowledge, welcoming newcomers, and modeling the behaviors you want others to follow. A powerful way to strengthen your community is to formally recognize these standout contributors as leaders.

❓️Why this matters

Elevating helpful members isn’t just a nice gesture, it’s a strategic move that improves the community for everyone. Bringing your most active, excited, and knowledgeable members into a community leadership program will:

• Recognize, reward, and encourage their contributions: Active members often put in significant time engaging with others, researching answers, or identifying resources to share. Recognition shows you notice and value their effort, and will encourage them to continue to engage, help, and support others.
  
• Create consistent peer-to-peer support: The majority of the peer answers and user-generated content will come from a small number of members in your community. Recognizing them and engaging with them directly will help to keep the answers in your community coming consistently.
  
• Reinforce positive norms and behaviors: Recognized leaders naturally influence culture by demonstrating how to participate effectively. These members can also remind others of the rules of engagement or your code of conduct when needed.
  
• Inspire others: Public recognition signals that leadership is accessible, motivating more members to contribute. You want to make these leaders highly visible, as something other members can aspire to. Note: It’s also important to rotate or add a few new members on a regular basis (quarterly, semi-annually, or yearly) to both have fresh voices in leadership and to help other members feel like it’s something they will have an opportunity to be part of if they want to.
  
• Augment your team: Most community teams are small; empowering end-users who can help to keep an eye on things in the community, remind users of the rules of engagement, or alert community managers to spam attacks or bad actors can be critical in effectively managing your community as it grows.

➡️ How to do it

• Create a lightweight “Community Leaders” or “Champions” program with clear criteria: helpfulness, accuracy, friendliness, consistency.
  
• Use visible markers, such as badges, titles, or profile highlights, so other members know who these leaders are.
  
• Connect with this group on a regular basis via consistent meetings, a private discussion group, or whatever works best for them. Find out what they think is working well in the community – and what isn’t – so that you can improve things with their insight.
  
• Invite leaders into occasional feedback loops or early-access discussions. Offer “Town Hall” type meetings and share what’s coming for the community or anything going on at your organization or with their product that they are interested in. These activities become the benefits of participating, give them helpful context and information to bring into their responses to other users, and create a sense of ownership and loyalty.
  
• Celebrate them publicly in posts or newsletters. Spotlight a leader, share why they were chosen, and offer a genuine thank-you. Take these recognitions beyond the community – feature them in social media, at events, or wherever makes sense for your organization.

💥 The takeaway

Recognizing your most active and helpful members as leaders transforms them from participants into partners. It builds trust, distributes expertise, and fosters a culture where members support each other, strengthening your community from the inside out.