Team Building What strategies do you use to prevent cliques and division in your community?

[InMyOpinion]

As a forum owner, one of my goals is to maintain a welcoming and inclusive space for all members. However, I’ve found that balancing this can be tricky, especially when different user groups naturally form around shared interests, professions, or experience levels. On my forum, I have different member groups for industry workers, which helps categorize expertise, but I don’t want it to lead to division or exclusivity.

Cliques can make new or less active members feel like outsiders, and divisions can lead to unnecessary conflict. Some strategies I’ve considered (as my forum isnt open to the public yet) include:

• Encouraging Cross-Group Interactions – Creating threads and discussions that bring different groups together.
• Fair Moderation & Rule Enforcement – Ensuring no group feels above the rules.
• Community Events & Challenges – Activities where all members collaborate rather than separate by group.
• Highlighting Diverse Contributions – Making sure recognition isn’t just focused on the most vocal or established members.

For those of you managing communities, have you faced similar challenges? What strategies have worked for you in preventing cliques and keeping your community unified? I'm really wanting to make sure that my members all feel special and I don't want to encourage divisions or cliques so I'm really interested in hearing what you all have to say =)