Published: 01 February 2024
Text: Anne-Marie Korseberg Stokke
Photo: Angelique Culvin-Riccot
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Why is a workplace community important?
Being a part of a community makes people come together, thrive and feel a sense of belonging. At Oslo Science Park, we believe that our open and collaborative community is one of the keys to our members’ success. That’s why we ask that all members actively contribute to the community by opening their doors, sharing stories, or helping others. By launching the concept of “Micro Communities” we encourage people to meet, both digitally and in person, outside the office and regardless of company affiliation.
What is a Micro-Community?
Micro-communities focus on gathering and connecting smaller groups of people around things they’re passionate about. It can be either social or professional, from knitting or ping pong to accounting or product testing. In a community as big as ours, it’s better to start by thinking small, and then scale. It enables people to talk to others outside their immediate circle, establish valuable connections and make friends. For us, this is a tool for driving both engagement and activity in the Park.
If I want to start a group, say … a knitting group, where we can share recipes, and tips and meet up for a drink and some knitting action. What do I do?
Starting an activity is easy and we can help you too! The first thing you should do is join our Slack “Forskningsparken”. See if there is already a channel for #knitters you can join. If not – create one! Invite your fellow knitters and start chatting. Parken Bakeri is always a good place to meet up, but contact me if you need another space.
Slack is a communication platform launched in 2013. Slack is primarily used for chatting and supports channels for groups or individuals, as well as the creation of chat channels organized by topic. It’s free to create a user and join a Slack group. https://slack.com/
Do you have any money to give us? Maybe we want to invite an expert to teach us special knitting tricks, or have a yarn-lottery?
Yes! We support our micro-communities by providing funds. For example, for the Ping Pong tournament, we provided rackets, balls, and prizes.
Read more about the Forskningsparken Community Fund here.
What if I want to start a group, but I don’t have time to run it? Can I just be a member and ask someone else to run it?
Absolutely! The key here is to build a base where members can all help each other to run the community. This goes back to that culture of collaboration and sharing.
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Two-thirds of all Norwegian companies lack important expertise, according to NHO (Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise). To assert ourselves in the competition for the sharpest minds, it is time to sharpen our efforts, says Mari Strømsvåg from the Oslo Region Alliance.
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