Are You Ready to Launch a Community?

Sep 18

Note: This article serves as a prologue to Launching your Community in 6 Steps.

We desperately need more focus on unity today, not less. Fractured groups with their own agendas competing for employee attention are not serving the organization efficiently. We need to find new and creative ways to bring different perspectives together and we can. We must.

Self-segregation based on only one dimension of an individual doesn’t seem to be working well enough and leaves employees standing on the sidelines. Perhaps it is time we look to build communities differently.

The legacy way

The well-documented benefits of community building include increased engagement, connection, professional development, and more.

The legacy way of doing things talks about the community in terms of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). ERGs can put good mojo into employees with a bent to give back. In larger organizations, these groups fall under diversity and inclusion initiatives that have become ever-popular in recent years. This model leans heavily on command and control leadership where only an ‘approved’ set of employee groups are allowed and run by those in authority. Typically an employee joins if they hold allegiance to one of the approved groups. These may be good opportunities, but if membership and allies focus on political or cultural agendas versus organizational values employees feel conflicted. If an ERG model is to be successful, perhaps there is a way to do it that unifies rather than divides.

Groups that unify bring better results

According to Forbes contributor Rebekah Bastian, the best communities are aligned to the firm's core values and current goals.

ERGs can be very beneficial for a company when they are aligned with business objectives. They can influence processes like recruiting and career development, as well as business decisions like product launches and marketing strategies.

In prior articles, I have explored the rationale for building a community from the employee perspective. Why Build a Community at Work shows the importance of community in the life of the employee and benefits to the firm. And How to Build a Sustainable Community gives you step-by-step what is required to launch a community at work.

The future of community

The organization of the future will empower employees to solve problems. Leadership will provide community-based, organizational leadership to make it possible. Unlike hierarchy, communities are alive and adaptable, and they grow stronger through increased connection. We need diversity of thought and practice working together. The community I propose does this.

In contrast, the legacy way gets output, but not the desired outcome. Lacking the trust needed to take risks and the inspiration to dream bigger dreams people will stay in their allotted spaces waiting to be told how to help. Or perhaps they do make some good progress in an area they care about, but the organization misses out because their effort was not maximized.

We can do better and we will.

Stronger communities form around unifying principles aligned with organizational objectives.

Positioning yourself and your team for success

Find out if you are ready to be an individual to help lead your organization in building a thriving community. Before launching a community, do this first:

Step 1: Evaluate your personal foundation.

Anytime we desire others to follow we must ensure we are worth following. Trust needs to have already been established with key stakeholders. You yourself may need to have gone through a personal transformation. Want a quick refresher on the dimensions of trust and a review of The Trust Edge by David Horsager. You will need them all working in your favor. The pillars include clarity, compassion, character, competency, commitment, connection, contribution, and consistency.

If your personal foundation is strong, move forward with the following:

Step 2: Perform a pre-launch evaluation.

Doing so will determine if you, your partners, and the environment are ready for what you are about to unleash. The evaluation should answer the question, “are we ready to launch?” You should have several employees and a couple of formal leaders in mind. Meet informally with each one to determine which organizational principle(s) they care most about to help inform your strategy for how the community might be positioned before launch. If there is little agreement around the problem(s) that should be solved, you have the wrong people or the organization is not ready for this approach. Here are some specific questions to address:

Who do you want to serve and what change do you seek to make? The people you choose to serve must be important to you. Having enough conviction to do the work even if it means little recognition and no financial reward must be worth the effort. Real sacrifice may be required and you must be willing to pay it.
What is your minimum viable audience (MVA) to make the effort worthwhile? The concept of MVP (minimum viable product) was introduced by Eric Ries in his groundbreaking work several years ago titled, The Lean Startup. It brought inspiration to many agilists and those wanting to bring their work into the world more quickly. He provided a framework showing how to introduce a new product without it being fully completed. Instead, the product is shipped when it contains enough value that users will engage with it. They provide feedback allowing new capabilities to be added based on priority. The product matures in partnership with the users. Similarly, Seth Godin wrote about MVA in his book, This is Marketing. The idea is similar to MVP as your community requires an MVA to make the efforts worth doing. That number will vary depending on how many people are in your target population. There are two numbers you will want to target most: participants and contributors. I will address both later in this article.
What interesting problem do you intend to solve? Identifying and solving interesting problems drives commitment. Do something too small and not many will take notice. Solve something big or in a uniquely better way and people will wonder how you ever did it. Bingo!

Step 3: Write down the change you seek to make

Document your vision in a format that is consistent with other company initiatives. Show how what you are proposing fits and aligns with the organization’s principles and current goals. Do the following . . .

Document your vision in a company-branded template
Share it with those that share your vision, listen and incorporate their feedback to strengthen their buy-in
When your draft has been refined, take it to a service-oriented leader and get their reaction and listen to their advice
Make deliverables tangible and achievable
Don’t worry about who gets the credit; in fact, look to give it away (you will have to decide how important making change is to you)

Step 4: Pay attention to your reputation and those of your volunteer team

Your reputation within the organization must speak for you. You need credibility. People always watch the leader. Imagine how much more you will be watched as an employee without a formal position, especially when you are looking to influence the direction of the organization.

Have no doubt, you will be closely watched. Your reputation for being collaborative, courageous, honest, and a person who gets results is just the start. Bringing diverse groups of people together who have different interests and ambitions is not a small job. This is why you need a strong foundation before embarking on this journey for you will be tested early and may even face some setbacks.

Community building requires caring, commitment, and a cause.

In recent years, there is a lot of talk about personal branding. Owning your own story and knowing how to tell it should not be marginalized. You should write yours and understand what moves you to action (and potentially others to action). If you are looking for help, Mike Kim has a book, You Are the Brand, that could help walk you through the process of developing your authentic personal brand.

Step 5: Know and understand your stakeholders

Your community has various stakeholders. Each is important and how to engage them is different. Let’s identify each group.

Formal leaders and sponsors: They may be able to help you. They can definitely block you. A good sponsor will support you financially and promote the community at the senior level. The best sponsor is one who models servant leadership practices in their work and dealings with others. Recognizing them is easy; there would be ample evidence supporting that they put people before the work.
Leaders: Individuals with a title. Whether you like it or not, you need their cooperation and at times want their help. Ideally, they would help you, but sadly ego, tradition, or self-interest gets in the way. Always respect them as you do everyone. I would recommend asking only for what you need in ways that require as little as possible from them. Ideally, finding ways to accomplish a goal without ongoing help makes the community more durable.
Influencers: Informal and formal leaders can help promote your efforts and bring needed credibility. Realize there will be employees that won’t follow you or your contributors. Instead, they are already following a different influencer. That is perfectly fine and desirable. Find ways to make endorsing your teams’ work easy for them and your organization grows stronger. If an influencer is not interested in helping, move on quickly; others will.
Partners: Individuals (or groups) outside your community bringing valuable expertise, influence, or credibility. A reciprocal relationship could be established. Resist compromising your group’s norms or go against your community vision in forming partnerships. Compromising what your team values most weakens your foundation.
Contributors: Gold. These individuals are the lifeblood of anything you might dream to accomplish. These people will become your tribe. Listen to them. Trust them. Inspire them. Love them.
Supporters: You will find that most individuals become supporters when your message is clear and they understand how you and the community are helping. Even if they don’t become a contributor, over 50% of those you are serving will become strong supporters if your community outcomes are consistent.

Step 6: Choose to live from a service orientation

According to Jacob Morgan, author of The Future Leader writes the service orientation shows up in 4 ways:

“…service to your leaders, service to your team, service to your customers, and service to yourself.” ~ The Future Leader

Self-serving ambition won’t work very long. When bringing people together in your organization, people are smart and sense a phony a mile away.

Permission to lead boils down to caring, commitment, and cause.

If you are to become a community founder it boils down to having credibility by leading by example. You also show superior job performance, empathy towards others, and a deep desire to make change happen. Do that on behalf of those you choose to serve and you will earn their respect and their permission to lead.

Step 7: Earn the permission to lead through caring, commitment, and a cause

Caring: If you want to build a community and people don’t believe you care about them, game over. You will have to work to demonstrate that you are willing to lay aside some personal ambitions in the service to them.
Commitment: What are you prepared to do when others don’t fulfill their responsibilities? Those worth following quit thinking, “I don’t have to do this.” While true, thinking this way destroys in a day what you may have worked towards for a year. Sacrifice is required when building something that endures.
Cause: Employees today don’t want another fun committee. Many enjoy having fun and socializing on the job, yet they also have friends outside of work where those types of activities occur. Instead, promote a cause worth investing in. Enjoyment and satisfaction come while doing the work that matters most. With so many competing interests, they will have to care about the cause enough to lay others aside. The employees will tell you what matters most. Ask them.

Step 8: Keep earning permission to lead

Earning permission to lead is not something we say, it is something to be done. It includes superior work performed consistently over time.

A clear vision unifies and motivates ~ David Horsager

Share your vision of what the future could look like with others. A clear vision unifies and motivates. If your organization doesn’t inspire you, find one that does or works to change it. Building a thriving community will require individual contributors and participants from every level.

To earn followership and/or respect from those above you requires listening and caring for their concerns as well as your own. If they see you helping them achieve goals they care about, they will likely help you achieve yours too.

Step 9: The importance of understanding your work environment and its people

Employees remain at record-high disengagement levels. Most work hard and perform well. At the same time, they are also suspicious of organizations and managers. Other factors include how work aligns with their personal values. Communities formed outside legacy thinking can help employees increase their impact towards furthering organizational purpose.

Never outshine the master ~ Robert Greene

Community building can be a rough business. Not everyone you think will help, does. Some people and groups may secretly plot against you. Taking a servant leadership approach draws the attention of many contributors. It also draws the attention of those who cling to power. Learn more about this from Joseph Grenny who wrote, Influencer. He dives deep into the 6 sources of influence and how to effectively lead change.

“…what qualifies people to be called ‘leaders’ is their capacity to influence others to change the behavior in order to achieve important results.” ~ from the book, Influencer

Learn where power resides. In his book, 48 Laws of Power, Robert Green correctly states, “Never outshine the master.” If you happen to do it by accident your community-building may never get off the ground. As the community leader, you must understand the environment which means those who will help you as well as those who can block you.
You can be a key contributor. In the words of, Seth Godin, “Pick Yourself!”Leading others doesn’t require a credential or title. As part of your personal foundation, to be accepted as a community leader the quality of your work must be high. Your actions must match your words. In fact, in forming a volunteer community, a high position may actually work against you. Any perception of coercion when it comes to volunteer work will likely be resisted.

Step 10: Give generously

Practice generosity. Think about how you can help and how new opportunities abound. Here are a few suggestions to get started

Cultivate genuine friendships. Lasting change begins one conversation at a time. Listening to understand with the desire to give your best self. When people see you are real they are more likely to trust you. Some individuals you connect with are easier than others. Typically there is something you can have in common with another; find it.

We give not because we want something, but because we have something valuable to give.

Respect different perspectives. Rarely will you find someone who sees the world the same as you. Each individual has their own unique perspective. Respect theirs first and they may want to know more about yours.
Learn and appreciate your organization more. Your organization is the culmination of the efforts of countless others who toiled to make it work. All who have come before we arrived deserve our admiration. The environment where you work was there before you unless you are the founder. That fact implies it will be around long after you feel called to your next assignment. Discover the wonders of what makes the organization function. Appreciate all that has been given to you. It will help you in your commitment to give back.

Implementing a purpose-driven community requires empathy, deep thought, listening, and foresight.

Enrollment is key

After you have laid a strong foundation and positioned yourself and your team properly, enrollment becomes the key. Enrollment shows more than interest but is a leading indicator of future ownership. People enroll in what they care about and are willing to pay with their time and talent.

Just like participants, contributors must enroll in the community too. The most effective contributors live the values of the organization. They do superior work and enthusiastically support the work of other contributors.

Spend time cultivating relationships with employees at every level. Sometimes when discovering ways to add value, you may find a gem. While we each have a gift, these individuals possess a unique talent that they are willing to share. They are just waiting to be invited. Pay special attention to these employees. These are the people who’ve self-selected and need help to position themselves to become part of the movement.

Last thoughts

We typically get one chance to launch which makes starting well incredibly important. Taking time to prepare yourself and your team places you in the best position to successfully launch your community.

Eric Peterson