Communities, and community organizations, arise around common needs, values and objectives. A community is a community (as opposed to just a group or place or list) because its members share a common vision, values and voice. The strength of a community comes from the extent to which its members are invested in this shared vision and in their common objectives, the authenticity of their commitment, and the degree to which they participate in actions based on shared beliefs.

Any discussion of online community should of course look to ‘The Cluetrain Manifesto’ for guidance. The management approach in ‘The Cluetrain Manifesto’ is radical, to say the least. It suggests that to thrive in a customer-centered world, managers must hand over the reins, stop trying to steer the corporate message, and allow the collective voices of all of the organization’s members to interact with the collective voice of the organization’s other stakeholders.

Handing over the reins is an excellent idea if your company is truly a community, with members (staff) who share a common vision and values. If, however, your organization is like many, there may be a fear within management of exposing the voices of people who might get “off message”. Unfortunately, this leads to management feeling compelled to try and control all speech emanating from the firm, resulting in a continuing command and control approach to communications. » Read more…