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Discussion: Opening a Space for Reflection about this On-line Tool
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aerindunford |
Opening a Space for Reflection about this On-line Tool
Sep 23 2009, 1:32 PM EDT
I would like to open a space for ongoing reflection around how this wiki is working to serve the vision of the LNE initiative. What's working? What could be improved? How do the virtual tools enhance the possibility for meaningful connection and collaboration?After working to create online communities of practice and use virtual tools as a way of keeping people in a dispersed community connected I have many questions about what works and what doesn't. I have often spent a great deal of time creating these platforms, only to find that they are not used by the community. I am not entirely sure why this happens; perhaps it is the types of people I have been working with, or perhaps it is the tools themselves . . . but it seems important for the LNE team to be checking-in regularly around this theme and reflecting on how the tools serve and on the vitality of the virtual space. Do you find this valuable?
Keyword tags:
community
LNE
online tools
reflection
virtual spaces
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RossWirth42 |
1. RE: Opening a Space for Reflection about this On-line Tool
Sep 24 2009, 1:53 PM EDT
There is a large body of knowledge on best practices for growing Communities of Practice that we could discuss, but most boil down to recruiting a critical mass of power users that generate and organize content that attracts others. This content can be active discussion topics and/or knowledge base of leadership theory and practice. However, central to taking action is knowing the reason around which community forms. For example, is the focus here to be discussion on what new models of leadership are needed and how those ideas are to be diffused? Or, is the purpose to be a knowledge repository (including links to other resources) for those designing leadership development programs?
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creinelt |
2. RE: Opening a Space for Reflection about this On-line Tool
Sep 25 2009, 10:39 AM EDT
Thanks Aerin for starting this discussion. Reflecting on what is working and not working and understanding what factors influence how people engage with the virtual community space is going to be critical for the success of this initiative. I'd be interested in other thoughts you have from your own experience because I know how hard you worked on this for Berkana. WiserEarth has posted a number of blogs on the topic of online community building like this one "Eight Steps to Community Engagement." http://blog.wiserearth.org/eight-steps-to-community-engagement/
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creinelt |
3. RE: Opening a Space for Reflection about this On-line Tool
Sep 25 2009, 10:54 AM EDT
| Post edited: Sep 25 2009, 10:56 AM EDT
Ross, I was wondering if you could say a little more about recruiting power users. What incentives attract power users? How many do you think we would need to recruit? I agree with you that the reason around which community forms in crucial to understand. Our vision has been that there are many organizations and individuals that are working to transform the leadership paradigm from one that focuses primarily on individuals towards a more inclusive, collective, and networked approach to leadership and leadership development. Through LNE we want to create a space where we can connect, network, and exchange ideas with the goal of influencing how we, and the broader society, collectively conceive, practice and develop leadership. So in that sense I think it is more along the lines of your first question, but I also think that this site will be a great repository of knowledge around key themes and topics. Hopefully, those themes and topics will continue to expand. Do you find this valuable? |
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RossWirth42 |
4. Response, part 1
Sep 25 2009, 1:15 PM EDT
"Ross, I was wondering if you could say a little more about recruiting power users. What incentives attract power users? How many do you think we would need to recruit?For convenience, let's divide members into three categories along the power curve. A small group of 5-10 highly motivated individuals would make up the core and would probably account for more than 80% of the online activity. The second group might be called “active, but focused” in that they are semi-active and only jump in on certain discussions that hit their hot button. Given the size of the core group, this semi-active group might contain 25-50 individuals. The remaining group of lurkers could easily exceed over 100 individuals. While many efforts at building membership ignore this group, lurkers are important in that they carry the message of the group to many others in their network, as well as have potential to get more active if a particular topic interests them. The core group comes from personally inviting people who you know to be interested in the group’s mission as well as making it easy for others to self-nominate themselves through an invitation to join. The essential element is that these people not only understand the mission, but have it align with their personal vision of how leadership is evolving and the potential this has for empowering the masses. Do you find this valuable? |
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RossWirth42 |
5. RE: Response, part 2
Sep 25 2009, 1:16 PM EDT
If the core group can sustain a couple messages each day, there is sufficient content to bring others to the discussion boards every couple of days to check the discussion topics. However, once the activity gets to more than five or six daily, it is probably best to have a mechanism to sub-group discussions so you don’t risk running off people due to inbox overflow.In addition to personal invitations being a reward of recognition, other rewards are necessary to attract and retain the core membership that generates the necessary activity to attract lurkers. Wikis are sometimes problematic in not being able to recognize those who are contributing time and knowledge. However, activity counts associated with individual profiles can be a surrogate for recognizing those taking an active interest in the welfare of the site. Actively identifying valuable content and tracking that statistic is another way of recognizing knowledge workers within the group membership. One additional way of recognizing people who help drive value is involving them in special projects and asking for their opinion while developing a new idea that will later be rolled out to a wider audience. In all cases, individuals receive a feeling of accomplishment of helping others while also being recognized for their efforts. Do you find this valuable? |
DeborahMeehan |
6. RE: Opening a Space for Reflection about this On-line Tool
Oct 12 2009, 6:49 PM EDT
Hi Aerin,This is a good question and encouragement to be reflective practitioners in the process itself. I am curious to hear what you have learned that may be helpful. I am hoping that we will be ratcheting up the conversation and exchange as we begin posting questions that emerging in the synthesis of materials shared and in response to the synthesis in each of the four proposed topic areas as they are posted. I plan to post the Leadership and Race synthesis soon and expect that the conversation will need some facilitation to get things rolling ...but maybe not too. Please share any advice you have. thanks! Do you find this valuable? |
