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10 Techniques for
Building Beehives
from Building
Beehives: Creating Communities that Generate
Returns
Building beehives requires a new way of
looking at the world.The main
task of management, when working with a community,
changes from supervising subordinates to enabling
colleagues. People, in
their hearts and minds, hold the perspectives, the
knowledge and the experience that will create the
honey in the hive.
To
bring this know-how to bear on organizational
needs, managers need to cultivate relationships
built on trust and healthy growth.Here are ten
techniques that embrace this new way of working,
giving guidance on how to build beehives that
deliver results.
1.Share the idea with all who have
a stake in success.
This includes
those who will gain from the business benefits
being achieved, such as managers, members, clients
and stakeholders. Also
include those who support the community’s
concerns. This may bring you into contact with
people outside your normal sphere of influence,
such as members of academia, research groups and
policy organizations. Each of these people has the
potential to make valuable contributions to your
community and help your organization achieve its
goals.
2.
Interact with potential
bees.
When you are
talking with people who may participate, ask for
ideas, suggestions, and the names of others who
would benefit by taking part. Listen to understand
their perspective and concerns, especially if
different from your own. You may be
able to identify new participant
payoffs. Embrace multiple perspectives as
long as everyone is working toward the same
concerns.
3.
Identify a coordinator.
This is one of
the two most important roles in the beehive.
Responsibilities include:
* Identifying
important issues as they arise
* Planning and
facilitation of events
* Linking members of
the beehive
* Fostering professional
development
* Coordinating development of
documents, websites, learning events
*
Cultivating the health of the beehive
This
coordinator should be a “people person” with
strong interpersonal communication skills and a
genuine desire to help the community
succeed.
4.
Identify resident
experts.
This is the
second most important role in your beehive. These
people will have “deep” knowledge of the community
concerns.
For example, if your beehive focuses on how
to improve the annual meeting, the resident
experts will have knowledge of the annual meeting
in all of its varying capacities (history, revenue
source, vendors & exhibitors, membership,
professional contributions, etc.). The resident
experts are sources of guidance for group
decisions. They wield their authority through
their know-how and experience, rather than by
decree.
5. Invite people to
participate.
Communicate to people through their
preferred media. If they are telephone people,
call them. If they are email people, write them.
If they read Discovery Magazine, put an ad in
it.
In your
invitation, be clear about (a) the business
benefits, (b) the community concerns and (c) the
participant payoffs. Tell them what you are hoping
to accomplish and ask them to be part of the
effort.
6.
Make it easy for
members to contact each
other.
As soon as the beehive
forms, publish a directory with
phone numbers, email addresses, and
expertise.
You may wish to include a section in the
directory which members fill in any way they
want.
If they choose to put in personal
information (e.g., “I like to sail and have three
grandkids”), it will help increase rapport with
colleagues.
If they choose to put in requests for
assistance (e.g., “I need help increasing
membership”), it facilitates transactions within
the community.
7. Invite open
discussions.
Allow divergent ideas;
don't push consensus. If small groups form in your
community to champion an alternative perspective,
help them explore further. This
multiplicity of perspective bolsters the
work.
Tackling issues from many sides is one of
the strengths of a community. As long as
people are focused on the same shared concerns of
the group, differing perspectives strengthen their
abilities.
8. Communicate,
Communicate, And
Communicate!
Do everything you can
to keep people in the loop. Come to know your
beehive’s preferred communication vehicles and use
them. There will probably be several. You may
need brownbag lunches, one-on-one meetings among
core members, emails and listservs. Do
whatever works. It is no accident that the words
communication and community
have the same root. Whenever possible have
beehive members take responsibility for the
communication. Construct
communiqués so that they invite participation
(e.g.,, rather than exhaustive minutes, highlight
main points & invite others to fill in
gaps).
9.
Stay open to continued
suggestions
The community will
evolve.
This is normal. A community is a living
thing and changes over time. Create
ways for new ideas to be reviewed and processed
easily without derailing
progress.
10. Develop presentation
toolkits
Make
it easy for members of the beehive to share their
work with colleagues and other interested people.
You may wish to assist them in developing
PowerPoint presentations, brochures, CDs, or
product samples. These
toolkits support your beehive’s success. Each
member will reach into other communities to
support and endorse the work they are doing in
this beehive. Toolkits
make that
easier. |
