Keeping People Involved

No matter what kind of community you are trying to create, grow or keep active, there are some basics that anybody can implement. Part of it is conflict resolution, part is having things to do and part is organization.

These lessons come from my experiences in online communities for the last five years. Sometimes I was in charge, sometimes I wasn't, but all the time I was paying attention. Now I'm sharing what I've learned from all that "wasted" time.

Conflict Resolution

#1 Ask before you EXPLODE!!!

I've seen this go wrong several times. One person does something that another finds objectionable and before getting the facts straight goes off on the offending party. It's rare for there to truly be a problem. Sometimes one of the two is wrong about some rule or fact. Sometimes an important fact is unknown.

Either way it is easy to solve by calmly inquiring about the possible problem and checking references. Once the facts are known, the problem resolves itself, or there is a person who needs to be dealt with.

The cool part about this is that with each example of your reasonable attitude, your group becomes more favorable. That reasonable attitude means that if they make a mistake the leaders are not going to yell scream and let loose with the gnashing of teeth. For most people it's a great comfort to know they will be given a chance to explain and fix mistakes.

#2 Be nice, to EVERYBODY!!!

Let's say there really was a problem with somebody, don't be rude. You can chew a person out without being rude, however they are still likely to be offended. For all you know, they may turn around in a few days to weeks and realize how badly they were acting. That's where being nice really hits gold.

Most people get the idea that being nice to the jerks makes you looks good, but there's more to it. If you are nice while another person explodes, that's how you will be remembered. That person may not remember it that way, but they might. If they don't, others are likely to set them straight. If they do, they may become one of your greatest supporters. Loyal defenders can do a lot of the heavy lifting in running a community.

Now back to the making you look good part. No, it has nothing to do with your ego. It has to do with how you are perceived and how people react to you. For instance, if most people in the community think you are one of the nicest people, and you ban a member for a vague reason, such as disturbing the group, you are likely to get support from the community. If they think you are not so nice, it may take more to keep the support.

Things To Do

#1 Don't sweat the big stuff!!!

While this can motivate and inspire, the big goal is long term. If keeping the group is important, the big goals aren't so important. The reason is in part that the long term goals are distant and can seriously cripple creativity and improvements.

In designing (games, novels, websites ...) the big goals need to be flexible. Perhaps not in general results, but the details need to be flexible. This gives room for creative individuals to experiment and "play" with the ideas. That's when the really cool ideas usually are born, and great times are made.

This is not about project planning and implementing, though it works well there too, but rather keeping the community active. That means letting the community have the freedom to be creative with your stuff. You might find that there is more to the ideas than previously know, and that is almost always a good thing for those in charge.

#2 Sweat the small stuff!!!

Okay, so I'm saying not to care too much about the big event plans, "Why?" Here's the why. Daily use is NOT a part of the big stuff, it's the small stuff.

It's like in sports where you have playing the game and the big games. Whether you win the championship is a big deal to most people in sports. However, enjoying practice and playing the game are comparatively small. Looking at that it should be obvious that the small things build up to the big things for results and user satisfaction, and satisfaction equals loyalty.

If the daily involvement is fun, the bigger goals can take more time and effort without dragging the community down. People don't mind losing the championship as much when they had a blast just playing. The fun of playing keeps the players in a better mood through the grueling practices they might not have stayed through for the championship game.

So, maybe that doesn't quite fit with "Have things to do" for you. When figuring out things to do for a community, think about the daily activities and supplying things to do to keep people involved and having fun. It doesn't have to be important, just something enjoyable and worthwhile. Bored people are more likely to leave a community.

Show And Tell

#1 Make it always available!!!

This doesn't mean to merely have it in existence, but to make it accessible whenever it might be needed. This is why cell phones are such a hit. They take the functionality of a phone, and many other devices usually, and make them available almost anytime the user could wish.

Organizing the communication, events and anything else you have to be always available is a way of lower barriers to participation. Rather than go on about this, I suggest reading this to see how it has been done to get students more involved with class content.

#2 Make it easily available!!!

More than being always available, it needs to be easy to use. It's like on many websites where there is a navigation bar with links to important pages. Having those pages right there on hand makes it more likely a person will go to them and participate. That's people in general, so it applies to communities.

The less wasted time, the more valuable the community is to the members. Remember they have lives outside the community. In fact the community might just be a resource they use for other things.

SO...

In the end I have three bits of advice from my experiences. First is to always be considerate and reasonable when dealing with conflicts, it makes people feel you are likely to be that way if they are a part of a conflict. Second, focus on the daily activities to motivate people to participate, because that's the stuff that get's the most traffic and gets the big things to happen. Third, try to make any resources and communications as accessible as possible, because it wastes less time and causes less frustration. The end result should be an active and possibly growing community that is likely to forgive faults and mistakes.

Have fun, spread the word and tell me what you think,
Igen Oukan

Keeping People Involved

View Blog Reactions