CoP Trumps 2013

CoP Trumps

CoP Trumps Introduction CoP Trumps is a card game that can be used as a prompt when building, facilitating and measuring your Community of Practice. The main premise behind the CoP Trumps is to give you some suggestions of action to undertake that will assist with the collaboration within your online group or community. The Trumps can be used throughout the 4 stages of a communities life cycle based on the work of Richard Millington but also include elements from Denham Grey who looked at the getting and retaining of members within online communities. Community Maturity

Start up begins when individuals begin interacting with their target audience and

ends with the community achieving activity. Growth begins when activity has been achieved and ends when close to 90% of

growth and activity is being consistently generated by members, and when there is a limited sense of community amongst members.

Mature begins when a high number of activity/growth is being generated by members of the community and ends when activity/growth is self-sustaining and there is a very highly developed sense of community.

Review begins when the community is almost entirely self-sustaining and ends when it has broken into smaller more focused communities or has met its purpose and closes. Not all communities progress to this phase. Many are fine in the mature phase.

http://www.feverbee.com/

http://denham.typepad.com/

Facilitator time break down As a facilitator you will break your time down facilitating the community into seven key elements Strategy – 5% to 10 % (planning, collecting/analysing data) Growth – 10% to 40% (direct invites, promotion, referral tactics etc...) Moderation - 20% to 25% (initiating discussions, resolving disputes, soliciting responses, weeding, steering the community). Content - 10% to 15% (writing content and encouraging others to contribute) Relationships – 10% to 15% (personal participation, cultivating volunteers, befriending key members) Events & Activities – 5% to 10% (planning online/offline events regular/irregular events) Technology – 5% to 10% (maintenance, introducing new ways of working) Playing CoP Trumps There are a range of Game Cards available in the pack for you to use. Each Trump Card will cover an Action, Tool or Techniques that you can use with an estimate of between 1 to 100 on:

Cost Learning Curve Knowledge Sharing Geek Factor Encourages Participation

I would also like to thank Chris Collison who was the inspiration behind the trumps concept.

http://www.chriscollison.com/pib.html

Top Trumps Game

All cards are dealt among the players.

There must be at least two players and at least one

card for each player.

The starting player (normally the player sitting on the

dealer’s left) selects an attribute from his or her

topmost card and reads out its value.

Each player then reads out the value of the same

attribute from their cards.

The largest value wins the “trick”, and the winner takes

all the cards and places them at the bottom of his or

her pile.

That player then looks at their new topmost card, and

chooses the attribute for the next round.

In the event of a draw, the cards are placed in the

centre and a new attribute is chosen from the next

card by the same person as in the previous round.

The winner of that round obtains all of the cards in the

centre as well as the top card from each player.

Players are eliminated when they lose their last card,

and the winner is the player who obtains the whole

pack.

Online Facilitators Community

Planning the Game

Your community plan (not strategy) should be detailed

but flexible. It should be a step-by-step set of actions

you can use to develop your online community.

The plan will evolve and change depending on which

stage your community is within its maturity

(see the Community Maturity Card).

Identify the Trump Cards that align with your

community’s maturity (Start up, Growth, Mature or

Review), and use these as prompts to design a

Community Plan for the next 3 to 6 months looking

at key tasks such as events, communications and

day-to-day activities.

You can always look through the remaining cards for

other ideas and suggestions.

Month

1

Month

2

Month

3

Events

Communications

Day-to-day activities


Alternative Top Trumps All cards are dealt among the players.

There must be at least two players and at least one

card for each player.

The starting player (normally the player sitting on the

dealer’s left) selects his or her topmost card and reads

out the description. The person to the left will then

select an attribute from their card to pit against this.

Each player then reads out the value of the same

attribute from their cards.

The largest value wins the “trick”, and the winner takes

all the cards and places them at the bottom of his or

her pile.

That player then looks at their new topmost card, and

chooses the attribute for the next round.

In the event of a draw, the cards are placed in the

centre and a new attribute is chosen from the next

card by the same person as in the previous round.

The winner of that round obtains all of the cards in the

centre as well as the top card from each player.

Players are eliminated when they lose their last card,

and the winner is the player who obtains the whole

pack.


Community Maturity

Eve

nts

an

d A

ctiv

itie

s

Cost 60

Learning Curve 35

Knowledge Sharing 40

Geek Factor 10

Encourages Participation 65

Competitions can be used to recruit new members and

competitions or games can be used in very effective

ways to build a community. But be careful and make

sure competitions encourage connections.

So people will only join for the prizes

Start up Growth Mature Review


Virtual Flu Jab Sometimes communities become ill. Identify the

symptoms to give you a diagnosis.

Select the relevant Trump Cards to remedy the illness.

Symptoms Diagnosis Remedies

Lack of participation or activity. Spattergroit

Minimal activity. Proxyglossariasis

Sudden drop activity. I-Pollen Degenerative

Disorder

Another community is focused on the

same topic.

Hemoglophagia

Lack of sponsor or lack of support from

the sponsor.

The Sudds

Members do not understand why they

should join and what the community is

all about

Head-go-boom-boom-it is

Stagnation of activity (no new

members).

Cutie Pox

Lack of relationships between community members

Malignalitaloptereosis

Lack of relationships between

facilitators and key community

members.

Groat's Disease

Members are not receiving updates Electric Flu

Lack of community facilitation skills Synaptic Seepage

Experts are shy and find it hard to share their knowledge

Say the Opposite of

What You Mean Disease


Based on the work of Patti Anklam http://www.pattianklam.com

Life’s a beach There is a lot of detail and work involved into setting the foundations of

a community. We are going to use the idea of creating one by

comparing it to a beach.

Before you begin, close your eyes and think of all the things you might

see when you visit your favourite beach. Do you see people,

multi-coloured umbrellas and hardworking lifeguards? Kids digging

in the sand, a few games of Frisbee and the warm ocean?

Do you notice all the different people? They all share the same goals

of coming to your beach to relax and enjoy the sun and the amenities of

the beach.

Pick a name for your beach (Choose something that everyone will be able to

share, build an identify and flow off the tongue).

Is your beach going to be open or restricted? This means you will have to

offer a good reason for your visitors to gain access to the private beach.

Do you have a list of rules that govern the beach? These rules define what is

acceptable and lets the public know how to conduct themselves.

Every visitor on your beach brings unique items such as beach towels, chairs,

buckets and spades, umbrellas etc. Every member of your community has

their own name, profile picture and biography that makes them unique.

Is the beach clean, kept in good shape and has activities that appeal to your

audience that will make them come back?

Beaches sometimes have bad weather, bugs and whales that become

beached. Have you planned for spammers, trolls and unruly members and

outlined how to deal with such offences and moderate accordingly?

Do you have lifeguards? They watch over the community and keep things

going smoothly. They are relied upon to be invisible but step in when

necessary. Do you have adequate coverage of lifeguards to monitor the

beach during the peak times?

Do you have a few donors, that help pay for some of the services because

they believe in the overall vision? These donors are advocates and are

heavily interested in your community. You will need to identify who your

advocates are and work with them to continue to grow your community.


Based on the work of Michael Hahn http://www.mbhahn.com

Blank Card


Blank Card


http://www.pattianklam.com/

http://www.mbhahn.com/

http://www.mbhahn.com/

Competitions

Eve

nts

an

d A

ctiv

itie

s

Cost 60

Learning Curve 35


Geek Factor 10


Competitions and games can be used in very effective

way to recruit new members and build a community.

But be careful and make sure they encourage

connections otherwise people will only join for the

prizes and not return.


Community Maturity


Community Plan

Stra

tegy

Cost 30

Learning Curve 35


Geek Factor 20


Your Community Plan should consist of events,

communications and day-to-day activities, that will

spark community activity, attract members and

increase participation.


Community Maturity


Community Charter

Stra

tegy

Cost 60

Learning Curve 35


Geek Factor 10


A written expression of the community's purpose,

boundaries, membership criteria, sponsors, key roles,

ways of working, special focus areas and measures

of success.


Community Maturity


Community Purpose

Stra

tegy

Cost 20

Learning Curve 25


Geek Factor 25


Describes why the community exists. It is a short

statement designed to capture both hearts and minds

and encourage ownership within the community.


Community Maturity


Welcome Message

Stra

tegy

Cost 10

Learning Curve 15


Geek Factor 25


A good welcome message will point new members in the

direction of key activities and people in the community.

The intention is make them fell part of something bigger.

Don’t forget you can always reference parts of your

community purpose in your welcome message.


Community Maturity


Water Cooler

Re

lati

on

ship

s

Cost 10

Learning Curve 30


Geek Factor 45


Is a thread in the forum where members can introduce

themselves and find out a little bit more about who is

in the community? Think of it as an online ice breaker .


Community Maturity


Profiles

Re

lati

on

ship

s

Cost 30

Learning Curve 35


Geek Factor 35


A good profile will have a picture and a biography.

Your biography will include your interests and

experience that will help people know more about you.

Combine this with a photo, this helps put a face to a

name.


Community Maturity


Invitations

Gro

wth

Cost 20

Learning Curve 25


Geek Factor 25


When kicking off the community or asking a new group

of people to join, use an email invite or the ‘Invite to join’

function. Don’t forget to mention the community’s

purpose and the expectations of being a member.


Community Maturity


Newsletter

Co

nte

nt

Cost 40

Learning Curve 45


Geek Factor 45


A newsletter is a round-up or summary of the latest

activity from the community, and upcoming activities that

are of interest to its member. It is sent directly to

members to provide them with these updates on a

weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis


Community Maturity


Polls

Co

nte

nt

Cost 20

Learning Curve 30


Geek Factor 35


Snapshot questions, usually with a choice of short

answers, used to gauge general consensus, check

temperature, or get a rough idea of how a group of

people feel about an issue or idea.


Community Maturity


Photos

Gro

wth

Cost 30

Learning Curve 55


Geek Factor 50


Everyone likes photos and they make a great

conversation point. Taking photos at events and

conferences can bring the community together by

showing that members are real people and not just an

image on the screen.


Community Maturity


Events

Eve

nts

an

d A

ctiv

itie

s

Cost 90

Learning Curve 65


Geek Factor 25


Events are a gathering of members (face-to-face or

online) designed to accomplish many goals including:

information exchange, collaboration, networking,

interaction and more .


Community Maturity


Online Conference

Eve

nts

an

d A

ctiv

itie

s

Cost 80

Learning Curve 95


Geek Factor 65


An online conference uses the community as a

conference venue. This means that participants can

access the conference from anywhere in the world and

they can do this at any time.


Community Maturity


Interviews

Eve

nts

an

d A

ctiv

itie

s

Cost 90

Learning Curve 65


Geek Factor 25


Are semi-structured and have a general theme that will

be explored to elicit the knowledge and experience of

the individual (s) to be shared with a wider audience.

Be it in Audio, Video or Written forms.


Community Maturity


Alerts

Co

nte

nt

Cost 20

Learning Curve 45


Geek Factor 35


Alerts or notifications are email updates of the latest

activity from your community. These can be set up as

immediate, daily or weekly and will summarise updates

across all the functions that the community uses;

including forums, events, library, wikis and blogs.


Community Maturity


Notice Board

Co

nte

nt

Cost 30

Learning Curve 30


Geek Factor 25


A notice board is a forum thread where thoughts,

ideas and questions are posted and shared.

On their own, these posts are not in-depth and do not

require discussion as they are normally general

statements or signposts to information.

.


Community Maturity


Backchanneling

Re

lati

on

ship

s

Cost 70

Learning Curve 60


Geek Factor 25


It is the ability to contact members when appropriate,

to encouraging them to answer questions or share

their insights to a discussion or piece of content .


Community Maturity


Hotseats

Eve

nts

an

d A

ctiv

itie

s

Cost 70

Learning Curve 55


Geek Factor 55


Enables members to ask the person in the hot seat

(usually an expert in their field) questions about a

particular project or experience, to which they can

respond to over a set period of time.


Community Maturity


Hot Topics

Co

nte

nt

Cost 20

Learning Curve 20


Geek Factor 35


Discussions around a topic that is hot (or relevant) at

the moment in time. It may involve a series of

techniques such as a hotseat or a face-to-face event

which are all linked together around a discussion for a

time period.


Community Maturity


Peer Assist

Co

nte

nt

Cost 70

Learning Curve 40


Geek Factor 50


A workshop or meeting designed to gain knowledge

and insight from members of the community around a

particular issue. With members sharing their related

experience and insights on the issue and assisting

the Peer in the resolution of the issue.


Community Maturity


Seeding

Mo

de

rati

on

Cost 70

Learning Curve 30


Geek Factor 30


The first step in seeding a community is to pick a short

list of the most interesting and important topics

identified through your conversations with potential

members. Look for high quality, relevant content. So

when you launch, it will give new members a sense

of what your community is all about..


Community Maturity


Feeding

Mo

de

rati

on

Cost 70

Learning Curve 40


Geek Factor 20


If you do not feed the community with content,

connections and a little bit of fun, its members will

stray and go else where.


Community Maturity


Marketplace

Co

nte

nt

Cost 50

Learning Curve 50


Geek Factor 50


Could be seen as a 'dating service' for knowledge.

It identifies what people know and what they need to

know on a particular subject, and then connects

them appropriately.


Community Maturity


Google Alerts

Tech

no

logy

Cost 10

Learning Curve 40


Geek Factor 50


These are email updates of the latest relevant Google

search results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice

of query or topic.


Community Maturity


Google Reader

Tech

no

logy

Cost 10

Learning Curve 50


Geek Factor 50


Known as RSS ('Really Simple Syndication'), allows

you to see when websites have added new content

as soon as it’s published, in one place, without having

to visit the websites you have taken the RSS feed from.


Community Maturity


Useful Resources

Co

nte

nt

Cost 55

Learning Curve 50


Geek Factor 45


Everyone needs to know where you get your

information from. By gathering a list of websites,

books and articles that you regularly use and asking

others to add to this list by sharing theirs, an

extensive resource can be built for the community.


Community Maturity


FAQs

Co

nte

nt

Cost 50

Learning Curve 50


Geek Factor 50


Many new community members will gravitate

towards a FAQ page to seek help or familiarise

themselves with the community. A good FAQ page

should provide answers to the common questions

concerning the community.


Community Maturity


Identifying Needs

Stra

tegy

Cost 50

Learning Curve 50


Geek Factor 35


Communities will go through different stages of

maturity and focus. Identifying whether your

community’s focus is on helping, best practice,

innovation or knowledge stewarding can help you in

planning the activities needed.


Community Maturity


Blogging

Co

nte

nt

Cost 50

Learning Curve 50


Geek Factor 55


Is an online journal reflecting the thoughts and activities

of a community member. This form of web publishing

has become an established communications tool, and

is simple to create and use.


Community Maturity


Weeding

Mo

de

rati

on

Cost 50

Learning Curve 40


Geek Factor 40


Communities occasionally need weeding by

removing dead posts, old documents etc. But

sometimes you will have the chance to recycle the

material and make something new from it.


Community Maturity


Welcome Pack

Co

nte

nt

Cost 40

Learning Curve 30


Geek Factor 30


A welcome pack brings newcomers up to speed with

the latest happenings in the community and its history.

It will also include links to all the key content in the

community and provide prompts to encourage them to

start participating right away.


Community Maturity


Case Study

Co

nte

nt

Cost 70

Learning Curve 60


Geek Factor 55


A tool used to present an in-depth write up which

examines and captures a real-life situation from

beginning to end. It’s a chance to highlight to others

what happened, why and how it happened and what

was instrumental in shaping the outcome.


Community Maturity


Anecdotes

Co

nte

nt

Cost 70

Learning Curve 80


Geek Factor 50


An anecdote is a short tale narrating an interesting or

amusing incident. It is always based on a real-life

situation or experience involving actual people,

whether famous or not and in actual places.


Community Maturity


Health Check Survey

Stra

tegy

Cost 55

Learning Curve 55


Geek Factor 55


Also known as a satisfaction survey, allows members

to feedback on the value, purpose, participation,

interaction, content and facilitation of the community to

identify areas for improvement and assist in planning

for the future.


Community Maturity


Benchmarking

Stra

tegy

Cost 80

Learning Curve 55


Geek Factor 55


Performance Improvement Benchmarking is a tool that

allows you to create a matrix around any topic to identify

areas of strong and weak practice. Once the matrix is

complete and benchmarking has began it will enable

you to visualise the knowledge gaps and connect

sharers with learners.


Community Maturity


Close Down

Stra

tegy

Cost 50

Learning Curve 80


Geek Factor 40


Is the close down of the community due to it meeting

its objectives or reaching the end of its life cycle? It

may also be time to hand over to members who wish to

continue building this community and carry on with the

theme area.


Community Maturity


Forum

Mo

de

rati

on

Cost 50

Learning Curve 55


Geek Factor 20


Forums are great for holding discussions and posting

user-generated content. Each forum holds the threads

where the conversations take place and includes a

starting post at the top and responses listed below.


Community Maturity


Metrics

Stra

tegy

Cost 40

Learning Curve 50


Geek Factor 60


Is a type of measurement used to gauge some

quantifiable components of a community’s

performance, such as number of members, document

downloads etc. They can be used to monitor the

community’s performance in terms of achieving its

goals.


Community Maturity


Launch

Eve

nts

an

d A

ctiv

itie

s

Cost 80

Learning Curve 50


Geek Factor 60


You’ve set up your community and the launch date has

been decided. But don’t open the doors to the

world just yet. Make that one last check that you have

content ready before the countdown for launch starts

as there’s no turning back.


Community Maturity


Community Orientations

Stra

tegy

Cost 40

Learning Curve 60


Geek Factor 80


Community orientation is a tool that can be used to help

plan activities for your community. By asking members

which preference they have regarding, Meetings,

Projects, Access to expertise, Relationship, Context,

Cultivation , Individual participation , Content and

Conversation enables you to plan future activities.


Community Maturity


Sense of Community

Stra

tegy

Cost 50

Learning Curve 50


Geek Factor 65


Sense of Community Index is a measure based on the

perception of four key elements within your community:

membership, influence, meeting needs, and a shared

emotional connection.


Community Maturity


Membership Acceptance

Gro

wth

Cost 20

Learning Curve 30


Geek Factor 10


A good membership acceptance message can help you

hit two birds with one stone in converting visitors to

members and getting the members to contribute to the

Community.


Community Maturity


Membership Rejection

Gro

wth

Cost 10

Learning Curve 30


Geek Factor 10


Sometimes you have to say no to a membership

request. They may not fit your membership criteria or

they may not have provided enough information. So

say no but with encouragement for them to return if

the community is relevant to their needs.


Community Maturity


Google Analytics

Tech

no

logy

Cost 10

Learning Curve 70


Geek Factor 95


Google Analytics shows a snapshot of what’s going on

in your community, in terms of how your visitors found

you, what your most popular content is, and how you

can keep your members coming back.


Community Maturity


What’s my role?

Re

lati

on

ship

s

Cost 20

Learning Curve 30


Geek Factor 20


Understanding the role you should play is essential to

your community. Some facilitators are forced into the

role even though they are better placed being a sponsor,

champion or member. What role should you play?


Community Maturity


Membership Benefits

Gro

wth

Cost 50

Learning Curve 50


Geek Factor 40


Explaining the community’s benefits is key is assisting

members in making time to participate but also in

allowing them to explain to their managers the reasons

why they should participate.


Community Maturity


Recruit a Sponsor

Stra

tegy

Cost 50

Learning Curve 30


Geek Factor 30


A sponsor nurtures and provides top-level recognition

for the community, thereby encouraging growth and

commitment of resources. A sponsor can pave the

way for the community’s success.


Community Maturity


Recruit a Leader

Stra

tegy

Cost 50

Learning Curve 30


Geek Factor 40


A leader provides the overall guidance and

management, and has the personal qualities needed to

build and maintain the community.


Community Maturity


Recruit Members

Stra

tegy

Cost 20

Learning Curve 30


Geek Factor 340


Members must possess a strong desire to collaborate

and share knowledge. They take active ownership in

the community by participating in its events and

activities.


Community Maturity


Recruit Subject Experts

Stra

tegy

Cost 60

Learning Curve 35


Geek Factor 20


Subject matter experts who are approachable,

collaborative, and cooperative can serve as the

keepers of the community’s knowledge and practice.

They can play a key role in sharing tacit knowledge

with the members.


Community Maturity


Recruit Core Team

Stra

tegy

Cost 40

Learning Curve 30


Geek Factor 40


The core team is instrumental in establishing the

community. They are knowledgeable and experienced

in the area of work, and can advise the community of

good practices in the work area.


Community Maturity


Start Up Checklist

Stra

tegy

Cost 30

Learning Curve 30


Geek Factor 30


The start up checklist runs you though a range of

questions looking at purpose, content, technology,

plan, profiles, metrics etc. This helps you to know

what’s involved and the work that is needed to make

the community vibrant and active?


Community Maturity


Lurkers

Mo

de

rati

on

Cost 20

Learning Curve 30


Geek Factor 20


Lurkers are a combination of people new and not yet

comfortable in posting and sharing. They are normally

members who only read and never post anything

themselves, and tend to come in and then drift away

without ever engaging.


Community Maturity


Choosing Technology

Tech

no

logy

Cost 30

Learning Curve 30


Geek Factor 60


Knowing the type of community you are, who your

members are, and asking what the issues you are

trying to solve are, will lead you to choosing the right

technology to support your community. Rather than

picking the technology first


Community Maturity


Co-Facilitation

Mo

de

rati

on

Cost 40

Learning Curve 40


Geek Factor 30


One person cannot always cover all the territory of an

online community. Co-facilitating allows the work to be

spread out and can provide training opportunities by

pairing an experienced facilitator with a new facilitator.


Community Maturity


Participation Levels

Mo

de

rati

on

Cost 30

Learning Curve 40


Geek Factor 25


User participation in communities more or less follows

90% read or observe, but don't contribute. 9% edit or

rate content but don’t create and 1% of users create

new content. This rule gives both hope and

discouragement , but does set more of a realistic

expectation.

.


Community Maturity


Knowledge Café

Co

nte

nt

Cost 40

Learning Curve 30


Geek Factor 35


A knowledge café brings people together to have an

open, creative conversation to explore issues, share

ideas and learn from each other.


Community Maturity


Webinar

Eve

nts

an

d A

ctiv

itie

s

Cost 50

Learning Curve 55


Geek Factor 35


Short for web-based seminar, a webinar is a

presentation, lecture, workshop or seminar that is

transmitted over the web and can be provided to a

large number of geographical dispersed people.


Community Maturity


Advertise

Gro

wth

Cost 40

Learning Curve 40


Geek Factor 30


Advertise, Advertise, and Advertise. Getting the word

out is a good idea, but don’t drop a link everywhere you

go. Some places might not attract the right audience

you are after. Tread carefully, and think before you link.


Community Maturity


24 Hour Rule

Mo

de

rati

on

Cost 30

Learning Curve 50


Geek Factor 35


One of the most widespread challenges of a facilitator

revolves around getting members to use the

community. When they do participate try and get a

response or acknowledgement to their post within

24 hours.


Community Maturity


Facilitator Phrases

Mo

de

rati

on

Cost 20

Learning Curve 30


Geek Factor 30


Language is facilitator’s most powerful tool. And you

will use the same phrases over and over again such as

“Thank you”, “I’m sorry you’re having a problem”,

“Your input is appreciated”, “I took the liberty of moving

your post”.


Community Maturity


Task Prioritisation

Mo

de

rati

on

Cost 30

Learning Curve 50


Geek Factor 35


As a facilitator you need to plan your day and week in

advance. You priorities will include drafting upcoming

pieces of content, contacting top members,

participating, collecting and analysing data and

many more…


Community Maturity


Glossary of Terms

Co

nte

nt

Cost 45

Learning Curve 30


Geek Factor 40


Content is one of the keys to a community’s success.

Why not leverage it to its full potential by creating a

solid, well-formatted glossary of terms in your niche

and add it to your community.


Community Maturity


Wiki

Co

nte

nt

Cost 50

Learning Curve 50


Geek Factor 55


Wikis are web pages which anyone can edit. Wikis can

be surprisingly robust, open-ended and collaborative

and are great for recording meetings, planning event

co-ordination, project development and much more.


Community Maturity


After Action Review

Co

nte

nt

Cost 20

Learning Curve 30


Geek Factor 35


An after-action review (AAR) is a tool to evaluate and

capture lessons learned at the end of a project or

Activity. It asks four main questions: What was

supposed to happen? What actually happened? Why

were there differences? And what did we learn?


Community Maturity


Net Promoter Score

Stra

tegy

Cost 50

Learning Curve 70


Geek Factor 75


Net Promoter is a survey to your community looking at

promoters and detractors. This will give you a metric

to give you a sense of how well your community is

doing.


Community Maturity


Online Discussions

Mo

de

rati

on

Cost 20

Learning Curve 30


Geek Factor 25


Normally held within forums, they are types of

interactive discussions allowing the posting of user-

generated content to create conversations.


Community Maturity


New Member Qs

Re

lati

on

ship

s

Cost 50

Learning Curve 70


Geek Factor 55


Taking that first step as a new member is difficult.

What questions can you ask to help them take that

step and benefit from being part of the community?


Community Maturity


Facilitator Planning

Stra

tegy

Cost 40

Learning Curve 30


Geek Factor 35


Plan your week in advance. Your plans are based upon

data collected and knowledge of what the community

needs to further develop. It can range from spending

ten minutes a day, an hour a day, or all the way up to a

full time role.


Community Maturity


Invigorate

Gro

wth

Cost 50

Learning Curve 70


Geek Factor 60


Invigorating the community involves restoring the

“social capital” in a way that motivates people

to re-engage. It can range from face-to-face meetings,

changing the purpose, inviting new members to

recruiting a new sponsor


Community Maturity


Launch Event

Gro

wth

Cost 50

Learning Curve 70


Geek Factor 55


The goal of the launch event should be to engage

member interests and stimulate continued involvement.

Careful planning can help ensure the success of the

initial launch event.


Community Maturity


Sticky Threads

Mo

de

rati

on

Cost 20

Learning Curve 20


Geek Factor 55


Sticky threads let you set the agenda for your

community. You get to determine what discussions

everyone should see first and start participating in.

But choose them wisely as you don’t want to neglect

other discussions which members have started.


Community Maturity


Inclusion / Exclusion

Mo

de

rati

on

Cost 20

Learning Curve 30


Geek Factor 30


Who you accept and decline as members of your

group can affect the trust and interactions within it.

Be clear from the start who is in and who is out and

write it down so everyone knows.


Community Maturity


Social Network Analysis

Stra

tegy

Cost 80

Learning Curve 80


Geek Factor 70


Social network analysis is the mapping and measuring

of relationships and flows between people, groups,

organisations, computers or other

information/knowledge processing entities.


Community Maturity


Telephone Conference

Eve

nts

an

d A

ctiv

itie

s

Cost 40

Learning Curve 30


Geek Factor 35


An effective conference call starts in the preparation.

Start early, choose a quiet place to conduct the call,

invite the appropriate people, set expectations of the

call upfront, follow the agenda, and do a recap at the

end of the call.


Community Maturity


21 Day Rule

Mo

de

rati

on

Cost 50

Learning Curve 70


Geek Factor 70


It takes 21 days for something to become a habit.

So if that’s the case, keep your new community

members engaged by buddying them, suggest content

and introducing new members to the community.


Community Maturity


7 Quick Cheats

Co

nte

nt

Cost 40

Learning Curve 30


Geek Factor 30


Sometimes you have to kick start a community very

quickly; using paid bloggers, forum exchanges, auto

registration, competitions, advertising,

online conferences and newsletters. These will help

you achieve this.


Community Maturity


Community Progress

Stra

tegy

Cost 40

Learning Curve 60


Geek Factor 70


Communities need to evaluate how they are doing and

what progress they are making. The checklist asks

you to evaluate the performance of the key roles in the

community, the content being produced and the

resources needed.


Community Maturity


Member Satisfaction

Stra

tegy

Cost 40

Learning Curve 30


Geek Factor 30


Understanding the satisfaction that members have can

help you identify areas for improvement. Ask members

if they feel part of the community, if they would

recommend it and if they are benefiting from being

part of it?


Community Maturity


Contribution Evaluation

Stra

tegy

Cost 65

Learning Curve 70


Geek Factor 75


Evaluating contributions is a great way to show the

benefits but showcasing how the community helped

saved time in areas of working together, finding

solutions, getting advice, sharing ideas and sharing

problems is worthwhile.


Community Maturity


Community Benefits

Stra

tegy

Cost 40

Learning Curve 35


Geek Factor 35


A survey to identify benefits by directly asking the

community members about the individual, community

and organisational benefits that occur as a result of

their participation in a community.


Community Maturity


Community Performance

Stra

tegy

Cost 35

Learning Curve 50


Geek Factor 45


A survey for facilitators to use to help them identify the

key characteristics of a facilitator and how they are

performing the key task such as encouraging

connections and meeting the community’s objectives


Community Maturity


Full Health Check

Stra

tegy

Cost 50

Learning Curve 50


Geek Factor 35


The purpose of this health check is to gain an

understanding of the activity level of the community

and to gain an indication on what runs on a lower level

and needs improvement.


Community Maturity


Gone Well/Not Gone Well

Eve

nts

an

d A

ctiv

itie

s

Cost 5

Learning Curve 10


Geek Factor 15


A gone well, not gone well is a quick and useful tool to

get candid feedback at the end of an event or activity.

It allows all participants to say which aspects of an

event or activity worked and which didn’t in an open

and accepting atmosphere.


Community Maturity


Self Improvement

CoP Trumps 2013