What is ‘community’ when everyone is isolated?

by Googlers Carter Gibson (Internal Community Programs Lead) and Max Saltonstall (Cloud Developer Storyteller)

What does community mean in the middle of a crisis that’s isolated us all so profoundly from each other? What happens to company culture when a physical community isn’t around to support it?

That’s what Google — already well-known for its rich, open culture, and creative office spaces that enable thousands of connections — has had to ask itself during the pandemic. We don’t have to be the ones to tell you that online interaction has become many people’s primary form of professional communication in the era of COVID-19. Employees of companies around the world have endured an unprecedented period of isolation from their peers, with whom they used to chat in hallways, eat lunch in office kitchens, or brainstorm on real-life whiteboards.

Before work-from-home (WFH), Google set out to build safer, more inclusive and more user-centered online community spaces on our internal message boards, forums and platforms. Shortly into our WFH experience, we witnessed how the vision that built better online community spaces was key to preserving — and advancing — Google’s culture.

Online Communities

Over the past two years, Google prioritized investment in its internal message boards, discussion groups, and community-focused email aliases. With so many…