Time and time again, scientists have consistently identified the root of happiness: having rich social bonds and meaningful relationships. When you have a strong community, it helps people to expedite the formation of meaningful relationships that make one happier. If you want to help make your community a stronger one, there are several key approaches the World Economic Forum recommends you take on.

For example, storytelling can serve as a great avenue for embedding culture within a group. Through celebrating examples of how other people embody the values, behaviors, and attributes that you are trying to cultivate, it helps convey a more concrete example of how lofty or abstract words manifest themselves through recognizable actions. Stories are also most powerful when community members tell stories about each other, as opposed to about themselves, in order to reinforce the collective nature of the group.

Facilitating the building of trust is another way to strengthen your community.  It’s not enough for community members to know each other. They also have to trust each other. Without trust, the awareness of opportunities for collaboration and mutual support will never be acted upon.

Community building can seem to be a soft and abstract concept, but at its core, leaders have a variety of practical tools and techniques open to them to build and strengthen the communities they manage. Looking for more approaches to unlocking the power of a community? Here you can find 8 ways to unlock the power of a community.