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Just Because You Invite Me, Doesn't Mean I'll Come

By Marjorie Anderson posted 04-15-2016 09:11

  

One of the many wonderful things about an association having a member-facing online community is that there’s something in it for everyone. Maybe one of the most challenging things about an association that has a member-facing online community is getting staff and internal stakeholders to see that there’s something in it for everyone.

 You’ve probably heard it all:

  • I don’t need to be a part of the community
  • I don’t want to be inundated with connection requests and e-mails
  • I don’t have time!
  • I don’t see how it can help my department

It’s the old “if it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it” way of thinking. Of course, you have ammunition in your back pocket that’s going to settle these concerns, but have you educated yourself with information about staff and other internal stakeholders to find out why they would want to or need to engage?

“Marjorie, what are you talking about? We’ve already demonstrated the value of the community to executive level staff, so people should just be ready to jump on board!”

Not so much.

Let’s just say you want to engage your marketing department. To you, it makes perfect sense for them to create a profile and get a pulse on what’s going on in the community and what your members are saying. After all, this is information they may not be able to gather through normal market research avenues. But does it make sense to them to be there? Do you know what their business goals are and how their involvement will ultimately help them succeed? If your answer to this is “no,” you may want to rethink who you’re trying to engage and why.

Familiarize yourself with your organization’s business goals and departmental goals. If you don’t have access to this information, have conversations. Talk to your peers about what they are working on and then offer solutions. Community is an essential place that can help your organization meeting its goals. But you can’t stop once you have executive buy-in. If you’re not helping your organization see the value in what the community has to offer, you can’t expect much support for future growth.

What are some ways that you’ve helped your organization realize the value in your community?
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Comments

Marjorie Anderson
04-21-2016 06:59

That's a great idea, Rachel! I'll definitely give that a try.

Rachel Happe
04-20-2016 12:26

Great post - I will add one thing I ask about and why. I always want a list of 3-5 people and topics that people care most about. i.e who do you listen or look to for information? What topics currently have your attention.
I then have a list of people and topics to watch for in the community. When I see them, I do a quick screen shot and email it to the person... sometimes you need to do this for awhile but eventually, they will send a note back saying something to the effect of 'why wasn't I involved in this conversation?' or 'where did you see this?' which you should take as your invitation to do a quick demo of where it came up in the community.

Marjorie Anderson
04-19-2016 07:30

Thanks everyone!
It's something that's been on my mind for quite some time. Part of my responsibility is to get our employees to see that community is an essential part of how we do business, not this separate "thing" that they don't need to be a part of. I'm very passionate about employee engagement and helping to reach organizational goals through community. When I first started this journey, I was looking through rose colored community glasses and thinking that it would be easy to get people on board because we have this fresh, new community model - SO EXCITING! But in conversations that I had with some of my co-workers, I quickly realized that my "why you should get involved" was very different than their "why." There is no one size fits all motivator.
For context, our previous community model was centered completely around our organization's standards with a clear volunteer governance structure and was exclusive of other standards that people might be using to successfully do their jobs (project management). Since we have transitioned our community model to a more open and inclusive community that fosters conversation and knowledge sharing regardless of what standard you subscribe to, my perception is that some may want a hands off approach to getting involved because the conversations happening in the community don't necessarily reflect the voice of the organization, along with some of the concerns I mentioned in my post..
There's some work to be done to change hearts and minds, but I'm certainly up to the challenge.

Jeff Merrell
04-18-2016 15:41

I don't have a specific strategy to share, but kudos for highlighting the importance of asking questions, listening and helping others' make connections. Part of my role is to teach - and you really learn how important it is to be sharp at asking good questions (good means "not leading to the answer I want to hear") so that new light bulbs go on.

Hillary Boucher
04-17-2016 21:46

Great post, Marjorie. Your point reminds me of the "profiling member segments" lesson in the Community Fundamentals Training. It's really helpful to break out specific segments and figure out what the win-win is for them and the community.

Joseph Porcelli
04-15-2016 16:50

Yep! - "Do you know what their business goals are and how their involvement will ultimately help them succeed?"