A community atmosphere can be your biggest tool in achieving resident retention, but it’s something that needs to be born organically and in a way that feels natural rather than forced. For management teams, this can be quite the challenge to build the community atmosphere you want, while eliminating the feeling that it is being intentionally built at all. Essentially, you want this atmosphere to appear as if it has grown on its own, while you’re actually watering and tending to it like a real growing organism. 5 ideas to inspire you to better build your community atmosphere are:

 

  1. Create a physical meeting space – A physical meeting or community space within your community is a great way to encourage residents to get out, have fun, and get to know one another. A courtyard with picnic tables and a playground, or a community center with activities can really help to build that true and organic community feeling.
  2. Monthly or bi-monthly events – Events really get people out and encourage engagement, and they can plant those true community seeds in the process. Hosting a trip, a workshop, a yoga class, or any sort of event once a month or once every two months will get your residents interacting with each other, and building the friendships that create a real true community feel.
  3. Take to social media – Social media is just that – social. Taking your community to social media via groups on Facebook or even community specific social networking platforms can get people engaged in a way that is safe, effective, and on their own terms. Not everyone will be so extroverted as to come out for a gathering or event, and this can be the place that allows those residents to ease in to the community in a more inclusive way.
  4. Involve the community – If you host a community newsletter, a neighborhood watch, or any sort of community program, involving your residents can help to build the foundation of a true community in an organic way. When people get involved in their community, their passion grows, and this passion is contagious.
  5. Open up communication – Building a community feeling is a lot more difficult when residents feel as though they’re being locked out from management. Providing and encouraging open lines of communication from residents to the management team sets the standard for transparency and the community being a team effort.

 

For more information on building that community feeling organically, check us out at OccupancySolutions.com today.