How to get people engaged in your community! Put together for a webinar in partnership with Feverbee.

1. Developing engaging
learning communities
Dave Briggs

2. Bringing creativity and
technology together for social and
economic benefit.
creativecommunities.co

3. Katie Smith
katie@creativecommunities.co
@k8iesmith
Dave Briggs
dave@creativecommunities.co
@davebriggs

6. Some ideas on engaging people
with
learning/knowledge/collaborative/
social business/whatever
communities

7. Put the user first
The organisation has its needs, the users their
own - and they might well clash.
Don't make the mistake of putting the
organisation's needs front and centre. That
won't inspire anyone to use it.
Instead, design tools and process around the
users’ needs and figure out a way for the
organisation to achieve its goals.

8. Make it work on any device
If people want to be able to use some software
to engage in the community on their own
iPad, at home, at the weekend, then make
sure they can do it.
Make sure your system works on all the
popular devices and don't restrict access.

9. Engage Smarter, Not Harder
People are unlikely to respond cheerfully when
you tell them they need to start sharing
knowledge or collaborating. Not another
chore!
Instead, present the community as a better way
of getting stuff done, that will relieve the
burden, not add to it.

10. It takes time
There are no quick fixes when it comes to
organisational culture. If you want to see your
new technology having a major impact within
six months, prepare to be disappointed.
Instead, relax a bit. Let people find their feet.
Let them discover what they can do and how
it will help them. Measure progress, sure, but
don't panic when short term results don't
materialise.

11. Let people engage differently
Different people will use different tools in
different ways. It might depend on their role,
or on their personality.
You can't expect uniformity in usage. Keep
things flexible, and don't demand people fit a
universal process.

12. Let users own their tools
If people in an organisation see a new platform
as being imposed on them from above, it will
fail.
Instead, the community must own the
community. Get the enthusiasts to help make
decisions and manage the processes.
It will make your decisions better and your
system more popular.

13. Fewer rules are better rules
If you create rules, people look for ways to get
around them. They see bad behaviour as
getting one over the rule-makers.
In many ways rules legitimise the activity they
seek to prevent.
So don't have rules. Assume competence and
politeness as a standard. If people don't meet
the standard, then deal with it.

14. Start small and grow organically
Big launches rarely work. "Quick, everyone!
Look at our new website!"
As it's new, there's not much there. Everyone is
disappointed and many never return.
Instead, don't try to get too many users too
quickly. Allow the amount of activity to be
relative to the membership size.

15. New tools need new skills
Does your organisation have the skills in-house
to make your community a success?
Do you have a community manager? A social
reporter? An online curator? An analytics
expert?
None of these things are rocket science, but
you can't assume anyone can do them
without support.

16. This is not a technology thing
Please don't make rolling out a community
within your organisation an IT project.
It's not an IT project. It's about people, and
culture, and working methods. It belongs with
people used to working with learning,
organisational development and that sort of
thing.

17. Combine this with the other great
Feverbee advice and you’re away!

18. Thanks for listening!
Any questions?
creativecommunities.co