Online communities: greater than the sum of their parts

We hear a lot of reasons why people consider establishing online communities for their organisation’s members.  Communication is of course number one, collaboration is often mentioned, supply chains are important, and there is a worthy feeling across the market that it’s important to keep up with the latest developments in technology.

These are also the bases of perceived reasons not to invest in an intranet – communication from the organisation to its members may already seem effective using emails, and from time to time we come across eager people who are being held back from the cutting edge of technology by their IT department’s reliance on outdated systems (Internet Explorer 6 to 9 users, stand up and be shamed!).

How your intranet changes the game

What only the most perceptive and ultimately successful organisations realise is that any online community is greater than the sum of its parts.  Yes, you could break down the modules of any intranet system and show a different way to carry out that function, but there’s a new dynamic waiting to emerge which cannot be replicated in fragmented communication.

Finding the synergies

The Ambix team recently spoke to a large multinational organisation who have rolled out their internal social platform successfully, thanks to understanding and highlighting the synergies that come with community.  They told us that being able to post a speculative question within a closed community, where you know that all the people on there respect the privacy, security and confidentiality of the organisation, gives you instant access to the expertise of the whole network, and can not only deliver a solution to a problem but discussion on improvements.  The more informal nature of the communication levels the playing field so that inspiration from junior members of a team reaches the attention of senior management quickly, and everyone benefits from recognition and exposure.  Where similar functions are widely scattered across the country or the globe, having the chance to continue a conversation and pick up on infrequent face to face networking delivers a sense of cohesion that can’t be duplicated through cold emails or open social media.

Once a part of the organisation ‘gets it’ and starts to use the community system by default, the rest will follow.  Nurture the early adopters in your membership organisation, and watch the synergies build until the rest of the network has no choice but to dive in.  To build and grow, we need to be greater than the sum of the parts.