How to Сreate an Effective Community. “Best Practices for Community Development” Seminar Highlights

On November 7, Lviv IT Cluster within the international technical assistance program “EU4Business: SME Competitiveness and Internationalisation” hosted a seminar on “Best Practices for Community Development” for organizations, associations, and communities striving to improve their activities with the most effective tools to build a reliable, sustainable and successful community. The event was attended by representatives of healthcare, tourism, business, fashion, printing and other industries.

The event’s purpose was to share experiences of working during the war and the ability to build strong communities and unite for joint projects aimed at industry growth. Lviv IT Cluster has been implementing projects transforming tech education, providing industry analysis, promoting local startups and professionals, and supporting the country in times of unique challenges. All of this has allowed Lviv IT Cluster to bring together more than 250 companies, become the largest tech community in Ukraine and acquire expertise useful today for oganizations, companies or associations that aim for long-term sustainable development.

“It is very important that in such difficult times, clusters and business representatives are active and strive to develop. Currently, our organization is actively working to support industry communities, help to grow their ideas and evolve. We are planning a lot of different initiatives for clusters of different industries that will be able to submit ideas. And we will help in their implementation,” says Nadiya Pshenychna, project coordinator of component for internationalization and cluster support, the international technical assistance program “EU4Business: SME Competitiveness and Industrialisation,” GIZ.

During the seminar, Lviv IT Cluster team shared their own experience of community development. Yuriy Ohonovskyi talked about the foundation of the association’s activities, projects and secrets of their success. Much attention was paid to discussing community values as the key to successful development.

“Values are the basis, the foundation from which everything begins. It is important to understand the needs of the industry and be guided by them when building or developing a community. Values make your community closer to potential members, partners and funds. They also help you create services and projects based on the industry’s needs,” says Yuriy Ohonovskyi, Deputy CEO at Lviv IT Cluster.

Natalia Heras, director of IT Club Loyalty – a loyalty program for Ukrainian IT specialists, shared the intricacies of creating an effective HR solution for community’s member companies. “The loyalty program is helping HR from the member companies to motivate their employees and enhance their brand,” says Natalia Heras.

The cooperation between the government and business is especially important in times of crisis. Therefore, the direction of GR is becoming increasingly needed as an important tool for the development and sustainability of the industry. Sviatoslav Kavetskyi, GR Director at N-iX, spoke on how to interact with the authorities so that the voice of the industry is heard:

“Not every company can afford to have an in-house GR specialist. But having such a specialist within a community is a huge benefit of joining this community. This way, the government will hear your position, the industry’s position. The direct interaction with the government is also an important manifestation of the community’s social responsibility,” stresses Sviatoslav Kavetskyi.

In addition, during the seminar, the speakers shared their experience of working with your customers and members with the help of PR, marketing and digital tools and how communities can build relations with the authorities.