The secret art of building online communities through connections (pun intended!)

The Secret Art of Building Online
Communities Through Connections
(Pun intended!)
Luis Suarez - CommunityBuilder, KMer and Social Computing Evangelist
@elsua || http://elsua.net

#soccnx (- #cmgr) © 2012 IBM Corporation

Thursday, November 29, 12 1

Acknowledgements -

With credit to:

•Mike Martin (@mmartin1) & Chris Cooper
•BlueIQ team (IBM Software Group)
•Bill Chamberlin (@horizonwatching)’s Community 101 series
•GBS’s CommunityCentral
•CommunityBuilders Community
•Darrel Rader (@darrel_rader) and the Rational CoPs

2
2 © 2012 IBM Corporation


The Secret Art of Building Online Communities Through Connections
(Pun intended!)

Agenda
1. What is a Community?

2. What Value are Communities?

3. What does it take to set up a Community?

4. What does the Community Facilitator do?

5. Where would we start?

3


What is a community?
 “Groups of people who share a passion for something” (Wenger, 2004)
 “Groups of people who come together to share and learn from one another” (Vestal, 2003)
 “Communities are powerful tools, as long as you put members’ needs first” (Forrester, 2008)

Topic of
Interest

An interactive group of people joined together by a common
topic of interest.
4


There are many different types of enterprise community

• They can form within a department, across Some Examples
departments, and can reach out to external • Collaborative workgroups
stakeholders (customers, analysts, and partners). • Customer Support
• Social spaces
• Illness support groups
• They can be small or big, short-term or long-term, • Ethnic groups
centralized or distributed, spontaneous or • Professional groups
intentional, grass-roots or top down & formally • Association Members
endorsed, and virtual or physical • Industry ecosystems
• Geographical user groups
• Developers
• They can be internal to an organization or they • Discussion groups
can cut across multiple companies and industries • Special interest groups
• Creative groups

Communities can overcome barriers of time, geography,
affiliation, and culture.
5


Community Definition...and some examples
Definition: A group of people with similar
professions, job functions or shared interests,
who come together to share (knowledge,
information, best practices, Q&A) and to spark
new collaborations and ideas.

Community of Practice
Community of people specializing in deployment of
a specific group of products. Used to gather
knowledge about this technology, in service of
customer needs.

Community of Interest
Community of people with an interest in learning
and keeping up to date with a subject area that
may or may not be a part of their current role

6


(Pun intended!)

Agenda





7


Communities lead to increased Enterprise Knowledge, which leads to
improved Organizational Capabilities, which results in positive Value
for Enterprises Value
Better
Profitability
Services
• Customers Higher Better
• Employees Quality Products
• Partners Enterprise
Knowledge Customer Operational
• Other Stakeholders Best
Knowledge Sat. Efficiency
Database Practices

Collective Knowledge
Intelligence Retention Organizational
Communities Capabilities
Cross Locate Insights
Open Pollination Specialists Understanding
Content
Sharing Collaboration Worker Customers
Forums Efficiency
Social Innovation
Networking Wisdom of
Problem Decision
Crowds
Solving Making
Business
Processes

8


What is the Value of Communities?
It depends on the business problem you are trying to solve…
Reduce costs of
Increase Customer Market Business
Reduce customer support
market
customer service research Transformation
research loyalty
Building a
Virtual Focus
costs Generate ideas Build New brand Groups
Improve PR effectiveness New Product Relationships
Development Marketing
Brainstorm Increase Amplify Word of
speed of Improved Mouth Improve Brand Value
innovation
Generate developer Test new
relations Improve Public PROJECT
word of relations
products
COLLABORATION
LONG Decrease
mouth TAIL customer Better Decision Making
acquisition cost Customer Increase brand
SALES Listen
Capture Support awareness
“Wisdom of Bring outside ideas
Crowds” into the Increase new Member
Skill-Building
Sense & organization faster product success networking
Respond ratios Employee
Co-innovation communications
9


Community members join because they see value in doing so

• Need support
• Want to listen / learn from others • People want to connect
with other people
• Want to express themselves • People want to help and
• Want to share what they know be helped
• Want recognition
• Want power & increased responsibility
• It’s part of the culture of the organization

Because communities are voluntary, what makes them
successful over time is their ability to generate enough
excitement, relevance, and value to attract and engage
members.
Wenger, 2002
10


(Pun intended!)

Agenda





11


Four critical elements in developing a successful community
It’s not all about the social networking technology platform

Relationships
People -Easy for members to form new relationships
-Community Facilitator is passionate -Linkages with other communities
-Exec Sponsor is committed and
models collaborative behavior
-Members share a common interest People Capabilities
- Create a content repository
- Connect members to content
Management - Identify most valued content
System Knowledge
-Secure resources (&
funding?)
-Form a Core Team & Process Technology Technology
establish a Community - Rich Member profiles
Charter - Simple to use social
-Establish cadence of collaboration platform
meetings - Community Facilitator Tools
-Manage to a balanced - Platform measures value,
scorecard Methodologies participation, and reputation
-Create sense & respond -Community templates of membership
capability -Community education offerings
-Daily/weekly community leadership activities

12


Community Launch Plan

Start-Up / Assessment Design Launch Sustain
Discovery

Executive Business Value Community Business
Core Team in
Sponsorship in Approach Infrastructure in Performance
place
place designed place Reviews

Community Current State Community Community Health & Maturity
Manager in place Assessed designed Launched Checks

Iteration 1 Iteration 2 Iteration 3 Iteration 4
Community Satisfied
Community Community Community
Charter Members
Charter Charter Charter

Shape and rate of incline curve depends on
Business
successful execution of combination of People,
Value Process, Technology and Knowledge

Time to Value

13


Before you start, make sure you are launching the community that
has a chance to be successful
Should You Even Launch A Community? Best Good Practices
 Is there a sense of energy and passion around the •Leader Is Passionate and Very Active
community topic or domain? •Establish Clear Goals and Purpose
 Is there a recognized need that the community can •Needs of Members Comes First
meet, thus providing value to the members and their •SME Talent Assigned to Core Team
•Management Has Committed Time, Resources, (and
organizations?
Funding?)
 Is management aware of the potential value, utility, •Make it Social & Communal
and benefits to members? To the organization?
 Is there top-level sponsorship?
 Can potential members be identified?
 Is there an existing sense of community among
potential members? Worst Practices
 Is there a significant or critical issue facing the •Starting With Technology
potential community membership that knowledge •“Build it and they will come”
sharing can positively impact? •Focus on Value to Organization Only
 Are there resources (e.g., people, technology, •Wrong Focus: Metrics vs. Business Measures
funding) to support the community?

Developing a launch plan for a community is similar to developing a launch
plan for a new product or service ….or even a new company
14


Most successful Communities are dependent on a small minority of
active contributors
1% Heavy Contributors

The 90 – 9 – 1 Rule
9% Intermittent Contributors

“In most online communities,
90% of users are lurkers who
never contribute, 9% of users
contribute a little, and 1% of
users account for almost all the
action.”
-Jakob Nielsen
90%

But the community needs to Lurkers
provide value to the lurkers as
well as to the contributing
members.

15


Mistakes some organisations make...

Avoid:
1. Taking a “set up the community and they will come” approach – with no community
manager or launch plan

2. Pre-selecting a group of members who have no reason to collaborate

3. Establishing Communities as restricted access with no good reason (if some Community
content must be restricted then use a restricted access sub-community)

4. Imposing a managed request and approvals process on the set-up of all Communities

5. Announcing an online Community before any content has been added to it

• Expecting that the majority of members will start accessing and contributing to an online
Community from the start

6. Assuming that online activity equates to benefits

16


(Pun intended!)

Agenda





17


Community Roles and Responsibilities

• Sponsor
• Nurtures the relationship between the community and the organization (“the business”)
• The sponsor is not the day-to-day Community Facilitator

• Community Leader / Facilitator
• Provides overall guidance and leadership to the Community to maintain social, cultural
and organizational relevance

• Core Team
• Supports the Community Facilitator in the activities needed for the ongoing health of the
community

18


The Community Leader / Facilitator is a Member Champion

• Interacts with members
• Leads community: Key Activities
★Member advocate  Promotes community
★Community evangelist  Encourages participation &
★Creates editorial content discussion
★Harvests market insights  Connects members with each
★Balances the needs of the community with other
organizational objectives  Produces deliverables
★Leader of the Core Team  Reports community metrics
• Skills required:  Monitors & responds
★Strong online communication skills  Communicates news
★Approachable and conversational
 Organizes events
★Has the ability to relate to members online and
offline
 Surveys for needs
★Comfortable with Social Technologies

19


Forrester has identified four tenets of the Community Facilitator

Description of Core Activities

Community The community facilitator’s primary role is to represent the members of the
Advocate community. They must listen, monitor, and respond to requests and
conversations, both within the community platform and in email.

Community facilitator promotes events, products, and upgrades using traditional
Brand Evangelist marketing tactics as well as being part of conversations within the community.
The community manager must first earn and maintain trust.

Defines, plans, and executes content strategy. Uses forums, blogs, podcasts, and
Facilitator other tools to create content. Mediates disputes: Encourages advocates and
deals with — or when necessary removes — detractors. Works with corporate
stakeholders to identify content, plan updates, publish, and follow-up.

Research and Gathers the requirements of the community and presents to product teams. Plans
Development and analyzes results of surveys or focus groups. Facilitates relationships between
Contributor product teams and customers.

Forrester: “Online Community Best Practices” by Jeremiah Owyang, Feb, 2008

20


The Core Team supports the Community Facilitator in the activities
needed to sustain and grow the Community
These are key people to
• Core Team Members support the ongoing vitality of
• Sample Roles: the community
★Knowledge broker / curator
★Learning coordinator
★Various process owners (e.g., welcome process, metrics, monthly newsletter)
• Sample Responsibilities:
★ Support the Community Facilitator in all the activities needed for the ongoing health of the
community
★ Provide expert review of assets and intellectual capital
★ Provide thought leadership
★ Inspire member participation and promote the community
★ Keep the stakeholders informed and supportive
★ Help to obtain support/funding for community activities
★ Attend and participate in community events, activities, and discussions
★ Support and advise the community leader
★ Serve as the initial body of decision makers for the community
★ Provide the momentum needed to sustain the community’s evolution and vitality

21


(Pun intended!)

Agenda





22


Community Charter

Name: (The name of the Community, i.e., Developer Community, Customer User Group)

Target Member Demographics: (List the characteristics of the members that the community is hoping to attract)

Purpose/Intent: (What is the purpose/intent of the community?, i.e., Skill Building, Listening.)

Domain: (What is/are the topic(s) of interest that best supports the community’s purpose)

Assigned Roles: (Identify by name the individuals who are filling roles.)
• Community Sponsor(s):
• Community Facilitator(s):
• Core Team Members:

Critical Business Issues: (Identify the critical business issues faced by the community.)
Collaboration Tools: (List the primary collaboration tools that will be used.)

Resources Required: (Identify the resources required to support the community, i.e., existing resources that are
available, required contractor support, and content that needs to be developed.)

Measures of Success: (List measures of success.)

23


Implementation Checklist - Example

• Document why the community is needed
• Create a business case
• Identify an initial community leader
• Define the scope of the community
• Recruit a core team of core team members
• Assign roles
• Document community main activities and processes
• Develop a Knowledge Management Plan
• Develop a Technology Platform plan
• Finalize the Community Charter
• Inventory and post existing content
• Document a 90 day Launch Plan
• Hold Pre-Launch Review Meeting
• Launch the Community

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Wrap-up






25


Thank you!



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