Furlough: Community Members Share Enriching Experiences of Growth and Development

Collective Strength can be defined as the “strength of a group collectively” over individualism which empowers us to make better decisions and reach more effective conclusions. Collective Strength provides us with a sense of security and confidence about the actions we are about to take. 

When working individually, we are more nervous about results, fearful of scrutiny, and hesitant to take risks, or rather “creative approaches” to perform tasks by unconventional means. Also, when we are met by a challenging obstacle that pushes our limits, working individually might cause us to break down or find it difficult to overcome that challenge.

However, in a group connected with like-minded individuals with different perspectives and thought processes, we can use our collective brains to develop creative solutions to handle rather tricky tasks. Perhaps, the greatest benefit of working in groups is that it “builds trust” and teaches us vital “conflict resolution” skills.

Benefits of Working in a Group

• Builds Trust – Working in a group is a shared responsibility when various tasks are delegated between group members. This mutual relationship which only benefits when all the members contribute to the success through their tasks increases our trust in people when they make meaningful contributions to the task.

• Improves Communication – For a group to mesh together, there needs to be communication between group members. This involves brainstorming, helping each other overcome a certain challenge, bringing new perspectives into the light. All of these help us improve our communication skills and be more up-front and confident with our ideas. 

• Teaches New Skills – When working in a group, especially a very diverse one, where you get to collaborate with individuals from different fields, the chances of learning a new skill improve significantly. What if you were horrible at designing but had a team-mate who had a day-job in designing? Wouldn’t collaborating with that individual improve your skills too? Or what if your job was to run Ads but for a certain task, you were joined together by a specialist in SEO? Wouldn’t that build up your knowledge of SEO, too? Again, it’s a two-way flow of communication so if you’re learning something new, so is your team-mate. 
• Creative Solutions to Unique Problems – Don’t you get all riled up when you face a particularly challenging assignment but have nobody to brainstorm ideas with? Working in Groups is the way to go! When team-mates share unique perspectives or ideas to a certain challenge, it presents a great opportunity for the group to use their creativity collectively in pursuit of that challenge. This helps us find solutions by different using shared knowledge and saves up a lot of time that would have otherwise been spent getting irritated over why you couldn’t solve a problem.

What is Furlough’s Role in All of This? 

You might ask, “Ok, but how is Furlough related to all of this?” Well, as a start, Furlough has connected Creative Individuals from all over the world in a single, centralized channel that has cut any barriers to communication & collaboration.

As defined by “Psychology Today”, “A Creative Individual is known for their remarkable ability to adapt to almost any situation and make do with whatever is at hand to meet their goals”.

Through the creation of a centralized platform, Furlough has created a wide network of creative individuals from multiple fields – Digital Marketers, Graphic Designers, Web Developers, Brand Strategists, and many more – to help overcome challenges in their respective fields, and through the use of open-ended sessions, like the “Furlough Mastermind” has allowed those individuals to fully express themselves and find unique solutions to real-world problems.

It’s the sheer diversity of these individuals coupled with their distinct cultural, socio-economic views that allow a community like Furlough to not only Survive but Thrive!

But how is Furlough Different from any other Marketing Community?

I feel most Marketing Communities have a very corporate and business-like feel to them. You join a community and next thing you know, you’re being bombarded with a bazillion discussions happening, and you, in the beginning, have absolutely no context to work with.

Furlough, however, works quite differently. You’ll find dedicated channels about different facets of marketing – be it Advertising, SEO, Remarketing – and the whole process of integrating you will be very smooth and structured. You’ll never feel overwhelmed during that whole process. Our community is entirely structured on “Discord” – a platform that started as a place to hang out for gamers. Figure!

At Furlough, Empathy is at the forefront of any discussions, projects, live sessions held. Our Community Members exhibit this trait in all of their communications to make sure you become an integral part of the community and confidently express any perspectives you might have about a given topic.

The best thing about this is you will be getting feedback in real-time about any project you are undertaking, whether that’s part of Furlough or a separate venture.

Don’t You Want to Hear What Our Community Members Have to Say?

The best thing about Furlough is that all the knowledge being shared is ABSO-FREAKIN-LUTELY FREE!

You don’t have to pay a cent to get involved in the various discussions, attend a mastermind, or even join one of our core teams. The feedback you’ll receive will be honest and constructive. The tasks you’ll do will empower you and build your skills, and the sense of belonging you’ll achieve after experiencing this collective strength will all help you achieve your goals in the most streamlined way possible.

Let’s hear what our Community Members have to say:

Roslyn:
“Furlough is an amazing community. From mentors like Joe to fellow teammates like Bogdan, Furlough has helped develop me as a professional in a way that I never imagined. It’s fantastic to have the opportunity to work on real businesses and get real-time feedback from professionals. Since joining Furlough I have not only learned so much, but I have been able to transition to paid work. It means so much. “

C. John:
“The experience I have gained so far has allowed me to enhance/fine-tune my Strategic DM Framework to allow my clients to greater appreciate the value of implementing a full-fledged organizational strategy instead of focusing on one particular area DM.”

Adrianna:
“Furlough has empowered me as a creative person, challenging me to think outside of the box! Let me explain. I am a researcher and I think that each one of us, in some way or the other is creative when we have to find solutions and expose problems, but on the contrary, you learn to follow the establish in a very rigorous career. After 15 years career, I diced to build my own business. I found Furlough as a way to learn about marketing and now, as an SEO Content writer, I’ve had to find a more engaging way to write. I’ve taken the moment to design (never before), and probably soon I will start to post – regularly- on social media.”

Sajad:
“This community has freed me of the burden of fake expectations and has let me be who I am and grow to whom I like to be at a natural pace. The support I got here was beyond anything you can imagine. You feel like you’re a part of an awesome and supportive family.”

Victor:
“Joining furlough is one one the best decisions I’ve ever made in my career in the sense that with each day passing, I get to learn a thing or two, revise what I’ve known before or share knowledge with a community of enthusiastic and supportive minds in various marketing areas. And it’s been a case of you get what you put in as the learnings are project-based. It’s been an awesome ride to be very honest.”

Ashar:
“The Furlough community is made up of amazing people and these people inspire me to be better every day.  I have learned so much from the community on Social Media strategy, SEO, and graphic design. We have a community and a brand that builds relationships that will last a lifetime. It is amazing to see what the community holds next, and you will not be disappointed. Through the experiences and learning, I have started my Social Media accounts and have lent my first digital marketing internship as of July 2021. This community will only grow to newer heights. Are you part of this amazing discord community?”

And last, but not least, I’ll add mine:

Zane: 
“I feel the whole vibe at Furlough with the mastermind sessions and the open-ended discussions has really been a breath of fresh air for me. Just sharing ideas with fellow community members has leveled up my strategic thinking skills. I’ve gone from having a novice understanding of Digital Marketing to now having high-level discussions with elite-level marketers in the span of just 4 months and that growth is what I cherish the most. I really feel that Furlough is building something special here, something that’s going to impact millions and billions around the world, and there’s absolutely no reason why certain individuals should avoid it. Furlough is for everyone, that’s the beauty of it!