The Business of Community

Rachel Happe!

Principal & Co-Founder The Community Roundtable

A Perfect Storm of Change Is Rolling In

Technology Currents •  Social media •  Mobile •  Big data •  Pace of technology

Social Currents •  Economic insecurity •  Political polarization •  Demographic shifts •  Anxiety/Retrenchment

Source: http://www.time.com/time/interactive/0,31813,2048601,00.html

The Pace of Technology Keeps Getting Faster…

775,000 Apps

1.2 Zettabytes of Data

And Human Performance Is Not Improving

Source: http://pandasthumb.org/archives/2006/09/fun-with-homini-1.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zachdurland/445877994/

Cognitive Shock

Organizations Have to Change!

We’ve Done A Lot of Organizational Optimizing

http://www.flickr.com/photos/smaku/1400436298/

But It Has Focused on Infrastructure

People have been treated as liabilities to be managed vs. assets to be invested in

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kyra__m/4681259456/

People Are Now The Weakest Link

“It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you

want to get somewhere else, you

must run at least twice as fast as that!”

- Red Queen

We Need to Play A Different Game, One Focused on Enduring Relationships

Relationships Differentiate

Cost Savings •  Loyalty •  Forgiveness •  Time •  Peer support •  Issue reporting

Revenue •  Preference •  Patience •  Advocacy •  Competitive lockout •  Authentic insights

These qualities require a different level of relationship that traditional transactional relationships

Relationships & Culture Are A Sustainable Competitive Advantage

Commoditized: •  Technology •  Information •  Market access

Reduced Advantages via: •  Products •  Service •  Process

Opportunities: •  Relevance •  Meaning •  Shared Value •  Empathy

Relationships Require Time, Resources and Ceding of Control

Encoun

ter   Awareness  

Recogni1on

 

Awareness  Resonance    

Developm

ent   Understanding  of  

compa1bility/fit  Piqued  interest  Acknowledgement  of  rela1onship   Friend

ship  

Contextual  Trust  Contextual  Loyalty  Contextual  Advocacy    

Partne

rship   Forgiveness  

Advocacy  &  Defense  Universal  Trust  Universal  Loyalty  

Social  Media  (Content-­‐Based)  Engagement  

Community  (Rela1onship-­‐Based)  Engagement  

Direct  Engagement  

Community

A group of people with unique shared values, behaviors, and artifacts !

Why Are Communities So Powerful?

1.  Maximize investments –  Disintermediate the organization from every

conversation while maintaining context –  Speed information transfer & alignment –  Build buy-in and shared ownership –  Innovation

2.  Reduce costs –  Build and reinforce relationships –  Crowdsource expertise –  Reduce duplication –  Empower advocates –  Eliminate waste

Communities generate the best value that money can’t buy

5 Truths of Community!

1. Measurable But Not Immediate

Investment

Retu

rn

2. Communities Mature & Change

Time

Impa

ct

Phase 1 – Strong Hierarchy

Phase 2 – Emergent

Community

Phase 3 –Community

Phase 4 –Networked

Behavior  Change  

Pull  

Growth  

Transform  

3. Community Success Depends on Three Elements

Purpose  

Business  Needs  

Member  Needs  

4. Investment Required Depends on Member Profile

Member Characteristics •  Need to learn •  Availability/Schedule •  Degree of isolation •  Competing sources •  Technical literacy •  Online social comfort •  Aspirations •  Cultural context

Investment Levers •  Supportive & encouraging

environment (community management)

•  Easy to use tools •  Valuable information •  Peer involvement •  Unique access – to

content or people

5. Communities Have to Fit Into Workflows and Behaviors

Information & Data Inputs

Consolidation Analysis Report Stakeholder Review

Go/No Go Decision

Social  Listening  Data  from  Network  

Discussion  of  key  

points  in  Community  of  Prac1ce  

Discussion  of  key  

points  in  Func1onal  Community  

Decision  Posted  to  Community  

Facilitated  Discussion  in  Communi1es  

WriQen  together  with  work  group  

Community Maturity Model TM

Strategy

Leadership

Culture Community Management

Content & Programming

Policies & Governance

Tools Metrics & Measurement

Stage 1 Hierarchy

Stage 2 Emergent

Community

Stage 3 Community

Stage 4 Networked

Familiarize & Listen

Command & Control

Reactive

None

Formal & Structured

No Guidelines for UGC

Consumer tools used by individuals

Anecdotal

Participate

Consensus

Contributive

Informal

Some user generated content

Restrictive social media policies

Consumer & self-service tools

Basic Activities

Build

Collaborative

Emergent

Defined roles & processes

Community created content

Flexible social media policies

Mix of consumer & enterprise tools

Activities & Content

Integrate

Distributed

Activist

Integrated roles & processes

Integrated formal & user generated

Inclusive

‘Social’ functionality is integrated

Behaviors & Outcomes

TakeAways

1.  You will not win just by going faster -  People cannot keep up -  Quality will suffer

2.  Relationships and culture are the new competitive advantages

3.  Community building is strategic and urgent -  Large first mover advantage -  People have limited key relationships -  Community building takes time

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Thank you! "Questions? Rachel Happe The Community Roundtable rachel@community-roundtable.com @rhappe