Team Building How Can Community Leaders Encourage Collaboration Instead of Competition?

[InMyOpinion]

In any online community, there’s always a balance between members sharing their expertise and feeling like they have to “one-up” each other. While a little friendly competition can be healthy, too much of it can create cliques, discourage engagement, and even push people away. So how do we, as community leaders, foster a space where members lift each other up instead of trying to outdo one another?

1.​

People take cues from leadership. If we, as admins and mods, celebrate collaboration—shouting out helpful posts, encouraging teamwork, and modeling a supportive attitude—members will follow suit.

2.​

Instead of focusing on individual achievements, highlight moments where the community as a whole benefits. For example, instead of saying, "Congrats to [User] for getting the most posts this month!" you could say, "This month, we had some amazing discussions! Shoutout to everyone who contributed to [specific topic]—you all made it a fantastic resource!"

3.​

Give members reasons to work together! Whether it’s a community resource thread, a mentorship program, or even a fun challenge that requires teamwork, shared goals naturally shift the focus away from competition and toward collaboration.

4.​

If you notice certain members turning discussions into a “who knows more” contest or trying to dominate conversations, step in with a gentle redirection. Encouraging responses like "That's a great point! I'd love to hear what others think too!" can subtly remind members that discussion is meant to be inclusive, not a battleground.

5.​

Collaboration thrives when people feel like they have something to contribute. Having dedicated threads or sections for sharing resources, giving feedback, or brainstorming ideas together can turn potential competitors into allies.

At the end of the day, the best communities are the ones where people feel like they’re growing together—not fighting for the top spot.

Have you seen examples of strong collaboration in your community? What’s worked (or not worked) for you as a leader?

 

[fdk]

Back 10-15 years ago when forums were somewhat more popular than they are now and I was starting out, I ran a few "posting competitions". Inevitably, I experienced some of the problems many admins will experience when running such competitions - spam & low quality posters. Especially as the prizes were significant. When experimenting with novel ideas to decrease "direct" competition and so hopefully result in fewer "rubbish" posts overall, I decided to change the competition format to be a goal-based community system, where users posting would earn "points" towards the community goal, which raised the overall prize fund to be distributed from the competition. Members could only earn "points" for their first 10 posts a day, and while I promised there was a "super secret" formula behind the scenes working out how many points to award, there wasn't, it was simply based on the section of the forum being posted in to determine the points - the more relevant to the main topic of the forum (and so generally (at least hopefully!) a better quality post), the more points awarded.

This approach, whilst taking a bit of setting up and refining, eliminated for the most part all of the problems I had with individuals trying to "game" or cheat the system, and overall, it resulted in what I perceived to be better community cohesion and a real sense of working together towards the goals, which massively increased the activity on the forums I ran these sorts of competitions on.

 

[InMyOpinion]

Back 10-15 years ago when forums were somewhat more popular than they are now and I was starting out, I ran a few "posting competitions". Inevitably, I experienced some of the problems many admins will experience when running such competitions - spam & low quality posters. Especially as the prizes were significant. When experimenting with novel ideas to decrease "direct" competition and so hopefully result in fewer "rubbish" posts overall, I decided to change the competition format to be a goal-based community system, where users posting would earn "points" towards the community goal, which raised the overall prize fund to be distributed from the competition. Members could only earn "points" for their first 10 posts a day, and while I promised there was a "super secret" formula behind the scenes working out how many points to award, there wasn't, it was simply based on the section of the forum being posted in to determine the points - the more relevant to the main topic of the forum (and so generally (at least hopefully!) a better quality post), the more points awarded.

This approach, whilst taking a bit of setting up and refining, eliminated for the most part all of the problems I had with individuals trying to "game" or cheat the system, and overall, it resulted in what I perceived to be better community cohesion and a real sense of working together towards the goals, which massively increased the activity on the forums I ran these sorts of competitions on.

Wow, I love the idea of turning competition into a community goal! It’s so smart how you shifted the focus from individual achievements to collective progress. I can totally see how that would help reduce the spam and low-quality posts that often come with traditional posting competitions.

And honestly, the "super secret" formula? Pure genius! The way you created a sense of mystery around the points system while keeping it simple behind the scenes really adds an element of intrigue and fun. It’s amazing how something like that can keep people engaged and prevent them from gaming the system, all while still encouraging meaningful participation. It’s not just about the reward—it’s about fostering a sense of fair play and a shared experience.

It’s also refreshing to hear how it led to better cohesion within the community. It’s easy to forget that community-building isn’t just about fostering activity but creating a space where people genuinely feel like they’re working toward something together. Thanks for sharing this approach—definitely something to keep in mind when thinking about balancing healthy competition and collaboration in any community!