There aren’t any steps. I’ve never really liked “STEPS” lists, because they are too generic (unless you are putting together the Space Shuttle, or something like that).  It is as if they will take you to the holy grail.

Steps imply that they must be done in order – in sequence.  Yet each community is in its own phase.  They have their own unique strengths & weaknesses & culture.  There isn’t a One-Size-Fits-All method.  It is impossible to come up with a list of steps that will cover them all.

Instead, here are 10 things you must do (or not do) when creating a community.

1. DO gather (virtually or in person) the community together (or a portion of it) and look at it from a performance improvement perspective.  You can’t go in thinking that an online community will solve all of its problems.  How much better to be able to go in, recognize an area that can be improved, and then be able to provide a solution, whatever that may be!  If not provide it, then recognize what a potential solution could be and who to contact.  It could be training, process re-engineering, dealing with cultural issues…
2. Don’t just target the GenY or Millenials.  Those who are older get this just as much as they do.
3. Don’t ask them to blog, or tweet, or use a wiki.  They won’t know what to do with it.  Well then, how do we help them use these new tools?
4. Work the tools into their workflow.  If it is an extra chore, they won’t use it (this seems pretty intuitive, but is forgotten in practice).  Make it a part of how they work.  But don’t focus on the tools either…
5. Focus on the people, the culture.  Usage of the tools will follow.  Help the people “work out loud.”
6. Don’t create communities hoping they will join.  Make sure you have a plan! (Again, that seems obvious, but…)  Throwing something out there will rarely work.  Be strategic, yet flexible enough to allow the employees to set the agenda.
7. Do set the example yourself.  Use it.  Show others how it can be used in the real world.  At NASA we are in the middle of development of our enterprise social solution.  How do we communicate?  Using the tool and principles of transparency.  I can’t tell you how effective that has been in showing others the value and how to use it practically.  Oh, and I have avoided a ton of meetings and emails as well.
8. Do dare to be different.  Don’t go with the flow which will only lead you back to the same results the organization has always achieved.  You MUST go against the grain – not to be combative, however.  But when people challenge you, stand up with them (not ‘to’ them) and help educate them, allthewhile having a smile on your face.  Some will laugh at you and that is okay.  Just smile, knowing that they will come back later and use the very thing they mocked.
9. DO focus on TRUST.  I can’t stress this enough.  Talk about it in your meetings, online, on the phone, all the time.
10. Help others understand the difference between personal and professional uses – internal and external uses.  They are very different (although they can bleed into each other, but keep it simple with them for right now).  Beat that drum loud and hard.

Can you ever imagine these situations in a business setting?

By by D'Arcy Norman on Flickr

• Billy grabs a pen and paper and starts writing, “Hi. I am writing this note because I was told I should.  I am not sure who I am writing to or why I am writing, I just am.”
• Jane picks up the phone and dials a random number, “Hi. I am calling you because I was told I should use this thing.  I am not sure who you are or why I am calling, I just am.”
• You get an email invite to the meeting entitled, “A meeting.”  In the body it says, “Hi. Please come to this meeting that I was told to have.  I am not sure why we are having it or why you are invited.  But we need to have a meeting.”

You would never see that. Why?  Because the pen and paper, a phone and meetings are not end results.  They are tools used when there is a purpose and it makes sense to use them.

Do we ever think, “I am going to use the phone,” without following that up with, “to talk with…”

Why, then, do we feel we need to use a blog or a wiki or a discussion group?  Why do we feel others should use them?  To often we say, “You should write your blog,” Or “You should try a wiki.”  But using these tools won’t lead to any positive outcome unless we have a reason to use them.

This is why it is so important to make sure these potentially powerful tools are used correctly and for the right purposes.  We need to weave them in the way we work.

Don’t write a blog post. Instead, share with everyone where you are on your project.

Don’t create a wiki page. Instead, collaborate more efficiently.

Don’t create a discussion. Instead, ask a diverse set people for an answer to a tough question and have a conversation.

Don’t tweet. Instead, share your insights and links.

What is your ROT?  You know, your Return on Tweets?

According to a survey, 4 out of 5 marketers could not make a connection from Twitter to higher revenue.  Why is that?

There are two main reasons: 1) They don’t get IT or 2) They don’t GET it or 3) They shouldn’t get it.

1) Most efforts try Twitter because it is the IN thing to do, without even really know why why they are doing it or how.

2) Then they try to calculate the ROI of their time on Twitter and don’t see a relationship.  When looking at Twitter, it is true that few can directly link revenue to Twitter, like Dell.  But that is not the point.  The point is to engage the customer (or potential customer) – the revenue is something that will happen.

3) Many realize that they shouldn’t be using Twitter for the reasons they are, or even at all.

Yet, at the same time, you can’t fault a company for trying.

So, they are either using it incorrectly or they shouldn’t be using it at all for the reasons that they are.  How do you fix that? Keep trying or change your Twitter goals.

Remember a time you were at a gathering – a child’s soccer game, a party, a dinner with friends, your neighborhood watch meeting.  Your conversation was mostly, if not all, casual.  There wasn’t an agenda – you talked about what came to mind.  Often those topics center in your similarities.

How many times did you turn to ways you might be able to help each other? Or collaborate on a project? Or give someone the name of someone else who they may be able to do business with? Or learned a new way to…? Or shared information which the other person was not aware of?  Or started a relationship with who would be a life-long friend?

Welcome to microblogging at your business.  It is the conversation starter that leads to greater things.  If you only jump into the heavy topics you miss the serendipitous interactions that pay big dividends.  Encourage the small talk – For by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.

Yes, that’s right – Twitter is not all fun and games (although it can be – the subject for tomorrow’s post!).

Can it be used for professional reasons?  Absolutely.  And once you learn this it is hard to turn back because it is so useful.

Remember when I wrote about social networks and the ability to bring geographically disperse, like-minded people together?  Twitter does the same thing.  I follow people (from all over the world).

People I follow on Twitter

Most of the people I follow I am similar to in some way (except for maybe the llama).  Twitter brings us together to allow us to have discussions (albeit short ones).

Here are a few of the most popular professional uses of Twitter.

#CHATS

Example of TweetGrid on the #lrnchat hashtag, but not during a session.

There are Twitter Chats that happen on many different subjects.  Usually one hour is set aside for anyone to join in on a chat and it is assigned (by the moderator) a #hashtag.  Then they use web page like TweetGrid or a downloaded app like Tweetdeck to watch the chat’s #hashtag.  They will automatically update.

Then, at the appointed time, those who want to join do a short intro (every tweet will have the hashtag) and the moderator will ask the first question.  Everyone else will start answering and having discussions about the topic and sharing resources (links to more information).  These are very valuable discussions which help you step out of your comfy box and find out what others are doing or how they have tackled certain problems.

Sound good?  Find a Twitter Chat that interests you.  Here is a short list of twitter chats.  There are chats for the organizational learning profession – #lrnchat (a favorite of mine); accountants – #AcctgChat; knowledge management – #KMers; children’s literature – #kidlitchat; social media – #socialmedia; young moms – #youngmoms; dogs – #WoofWkly, and a ton more.

#CONFERENCES

This is what hooked me on Twitter.  Every conference nowadays will have a specific hashtag.  For exmaple, the Enterprise 2.0 conference uses #e20conf.  Those tweeples at the conference can use the hashtag to discuss or share the content of keynotes, sessions to those who didn’t come, which sessions to come to because they are so good or which ones to avoid, and to hook up with others for dinner after the conference.  There are many more ways to use it – these are only a few.

#TOPICS

Dave Wilkins and I used to moderate a “social learning question of the day “(@slqotd).  We would ask one question and everyone would answer.  We used a little bit of technological magic that made it so when you DM’d @slqotd, everyone who followed received the response, but we got too much spam.  I haven’t done it for a while, but need to get back on track.

Others, however, have done it differently.  For example, #lrn2day – what have you learned today?  Andrew McAfee asks a question a day using #andyasks.  Everyone answers with that hashtag.  Everyone else follows it to see all the answers.

There are lots of ways to do it.

#QUESTIONS

So many times I have thrown out a question on Twitter and received immediate responses from people who knew more than I do.  These are people I would not normally have access to.  What a great resource that is!

ASIDE: In a session where I spoke about Twitter, one person asked why I didn’t just Google a question.  I brought up the point that the answer may not be out on Google (imagine that!).  But someone from that session later emailed me his AH-HA moment which I feel is worth quoting:

“I hadn’t thought much about the power of Twitter, but yesterday’s session brought it into focus for me.  When I do a regular internet search, I’m either added or doomed by my choice of words for the very rule-based machine search that ensues.  In Twitter, I benefit from the interpretive skills of fellow human brains that read and interpret my need and thus are able to better design a relevant response.”

Well said!

#THROUGHtheDAY

All day I have Twitter up on my screen.  When I have a free moment, I look at it.  I always find something valuable to my profession.  A link to a study. A reference to a new technology I had not heard about.  A new perspective that helps me broaden my own. A person in need that I can help by responding to.

BTW – there is so much coming in that I miss most of it.  And remember – it is OK to let go of what you missed.  Taking in more than you are able would overwhelm you.  Don’t even try.

Do you have any more professional uses of Twitter that you can share with us?  Use the comments below!

Tomorrow: The fun side of Twitter and great Twitter apps.

Now that you are signed up, let’s figure out how to use this.  Let’s talk about value, following and how to tweet.

VALUE

One of the first things you might notice as you log on to your home page is that it displays the number of people you follow and the number of followers you have.

First and foremost you must understand this principle: The value of Twitter comes in the number and quality of people you follow, not in the number who follow you. Why? In the end, Twitter is about learning.  And here is my theory:

The opening question, “What’s Happening?” or “What are you doing” make very shallow conversations – on or off line.  But if I were to share with you some bit of interesting information – that’s were things could get interesting and a real conversation can take place.  But for that to happen, the information I share should be something you are interested in.  If I tweet, “interesting diagram on intentionality & formality in learning http://is.gd/5n2ar via @csessums” as did @hjarche yesterday, and I was interested in the learning profession, that would be something I would want to check out. (As you can see, it is who you follow that gives you the most value.)

So, Twitter is turning into a medium allowing professionals or other like minded individuals on a topic to share useful information.  This is why the highest demographic of users is between 18-35 (47% of users).  1) They are starting their professions and have a lot to share and 2) they latch on to technological solutions faster than those who are older.  BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!  The second largest demographic is between 35-49 (31%) and then the next is 50+ (21%)!  And of all Twitter users, 63% have a college degree.  Where are the teens?  They are last at 1% – why?  Texting 1:1 is most important to them.  As they enter the workforce, connections and communicating, 1:many becomes much more important.  So I am not surprised with the change in stats.  Teens are not joining yet only because they don’t ‘get it’ and they don’t need it.

That’s my theory, anyway.

FOLLOWING

Remember – value comes in who you follow.  Go to my Twitter home page (make sure you are logged in).  If what you read you find interesting, follow me.  If not, skip me.

To find others you might want to follow, go to Twitter’s search engine and search a keyword.  “Learing” or “e.20″ or “Social media” or “NASA” or whatever you are interested in.  Find out who is saying what about these topics.

Then click on the name of a person you think you might want to follow.  On their Twitter home page (make sure you are already logged in) click on the FOLLOW button under their picture.  Now, on the right are pictures of people they follow.  Go exploring.  Click on someone. See if they are worth following, if so, do so.

As we go on, you will get the hang of who to follow.

HOW TO TWEET

True, you can tweet from the Twitter page.  But oddly enough, most people don’t.  Why? To read your friend’s tweets or to tweet yourself, you have to open a browser, go to the page and do it there.  It may seem like a no brainer, but it is actually a pain.

Instead, you can download a small program that will keep Twitter open all the time (Tweetie for my Mac is my favorite).  This makes a BIG difference in how and why and when you would use it.  When you do have time, you can look at it or you can quickly tweet.  Another option is to put it on your iPhone or Blackberry.

But, whatever you do, don’t rely on the Twitter home page.  Just don’t do it.

TO DO – Set Yourself Up!  (Difficulty Level: EASY – Time: ???? Depends on you)

Do all the actions I mention above.

• Find followers
• Download a twitter app to your desktop and phone (if you can).

Tomorrow we will talk about Tweeting and sharing and what @ & # & DM & RT mean, and why they are important.

Yesterday I was in a meeting where two new terms surfaced. The first I came up with, the other a peer of mine created:

Digital Vagabonds: This came up in a discussion about how many people don’t have a presence on specifically Facebook, but really this applies to anything online. That got me thinking – in rapid succession – about how we would never dream of not having a physical address. Where would our bills be mailed to? Where would grandma send the Christmas presents? How would the police know where to come when our child accidentally dials 911 (which has happened at our home). It is important to us to have a physical address so that others can find us, can come tee-pee our homes or just stop by with a jell-o and carrot dessert.

Yet many don’t give a thought that they should have a ‘home’ or at least some place to be found online. This online address (or plural) is shaping up to be just as important as a physical one. My physical address may change, but my blog will always be there, as will my Linkedin account, or my Facebook page (until the newest, better thing comes along – in which case you will know where to find me).

Vagabond: a person, usually without a permanent home, who wanders from place to place (in this case, maybe trying something new, but never really staying there). An idle wanderer without a permanent (virtual) home.

(OK, maybe not totally a new term after all, but new in this context.)

Digital Delinquents: This phrase was created in response to others in the meeting who have created accounts on Twitter, Facebook, who have created blogs, etc., yet never check nor update them.  They are there to say, “I have an account” but don’t use them.  Which is like saying, “I have a physical address, but I don’t live there.  Nor do I check the mail.  And if anyone stops by with a plate of cookies to welcome me to the neighborhood, I won’t be there to accept them nor to develop that neighborly relationship.”

I tried to find a picture that would depict either a digital vagabond or a digital delinquent, but failed.  In reality, you can’t tell who they are in real life by physical appearance.  But you can tell by their virtual appearance.

photo credit: Lazurite

Here is another ‘ah-ha’ moment for me.  Again, it was something that I always knew, but the importance of it became even more glaringly obvious.

I was reading a ReadWriteWeb post from back in September on Personalization.  To make their point, they quote Ken Fromm as saying,

“The Internet is shifting from discrete units of websites and Web pages to discrete units of information [...] organized in ways that are relevant and personal to each individual, using data gleaned from social graphs as well as recommendation and personalization services that allow users to set their preferences.”

Much of our focus is on sharing data.  To do that we want to create web pages and portals – the vehicles of web information. But that is seen from the creator side of the pond.  Look at the consumer side: I want information to come to me. And only on topics I find interesting. I want to follow the streams of interesting people and learn from them. I want to share information that I find useful. And I want it in one place, if possible.  But if not, I want to control where they come to and what it looks like. (Notice the number of ‘I’s.)

We all know about RSS, about Twitter and FriendFeed applications that pull in streams of information.  None of this is new. What is new is that we, as providers, need to focus on that instead of how to get the information out there.  Personally, I care only this much about where it is and in what form.  As long as I can a) quickly find it or the experts,  b) have it ‘delivered’ to me in the way I want to see it and c) be able to collaborate on it, I don’t care where it originated.  It could come from X and as long as I can collaborate on it in Y, that is fine with me (but let me define Y).

So the focus is even less on the site (how to share the information) and much more on enabling those in an organization to create their own personalized way of receiving shared information. Yet it is SO easy to fall in the trap.

Yet, the main problem is that most people are accustomed to the ‘web site’ mentality and will default to that to get and share information.  Our job is to first provide a way for them to personalize information transactions and second, to help them understand that the personalization they want is there and how to use it to their advantage.

Not that we have fully departed (although some may say differently), but when something new is introduced – I don’t care what it is – we, as humans, often lose our common sense.  We try things we would never have tried before.  We push the limits.  We act in ways that, in other contexts, we would never think of acting.  Sometimes in these ‘departings’ we discover something new and wonderful.  But most of the time we return to common sense.

Twitter opens up and people feel more free to say things they would never have said.  For example, @connor Tweeted: “Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work.”  Smart?  No. Did he get the job?  Doubt it.

Or you can get on Facebook and talk about how you don’t like your job and then lose it.  The choice is yours.

So in the enterprise (E2.0) world, what do many people want to do?  Lock down.  But wait – give people a chance to return to common sense before you lock down.  Let a few people make fools of themselves.  It is OK.  It is fun to watch, doesn’t take very long for normalization to happen and usually is only a minor embarrassment.  But they will return.