Managing an online community can be like being on recess duty at middle school when all the kids are hopped on sugar and have been stuck inside for a week because of rain. Having a set of rules that everyone understands and agrees with beforehand can help restore order when everyone is really excited or a fight is about to break out.

We are human beings having a human experience through technology, and in online communities, we are having the experience together. As human beings we show up to life (and online communities) with our own beliefs, expectations, values and desires. In an online community, the conversations we have and actions we take together become our rituals. Online communities need to be designed and managed with all of this in mind.

Having built, launched, and managed more online communities than I can remember, I’ve learned that the community managers who invest in developing, validating, and managing their community cultures have more productive, fun, and resilient communities.

So what is Community Culture? Here is my take that I have adapted from what I’ve read about culture and my own experience:

Community Culture is the shared set of beliefs, expectations, values, desires and rituals that influence the ways in which individuals, groups, and teams will interact with one another and collaborate to achieve common objectives.

Our clients who run GovDelivery Collaboration for their online communities typically do so to increase the effectiveness and efficiencies of member capacity and to increase awareness and change behaviors of those they influence. As Director of Engagement Services at GovDelivery, my team helps government organizations discover the beliefs, expectations, values, and desires of their community members during the Assessment phase. Then, we infuse the cultural knowledge learned in this phase into the design of engagement flows. In addition, this knowledge is used to customize features that increase the value of member participation, driving ongoing engagement that results in productive, fun and resilient communities.

Below I’ve shared the template we use at GovDelivery as a starting point — feel free to use it. Keep in mind this is meant to serve as a general statement for the community as a whole. I recommend you use this as a part of your community guideline and/or moderation policy. It’s important to remind members of the guidelines periodically and when moderating, point to the guideline to remind them of what is acceptable and unacceptable.

Beliefs:  When we are connected, and use common tools to collaborate, we are more effective and efficient at meeting individual, organizational and collective objectives.

Expectations: We contribute what we can about what we know; ask for what we need; keep doing what is working; communicate about what is not working, and when possible, offer suggestions towards the solution.

Values: The spirit in which we take actions:

• We are thoughtful, respectful and helpful.
• We encourage each other.
• We celebrate each other’s accomplishments.
• We appreciate the diversity our approaches.

Rituals: The actions we regularly take:

• We read and comment on each other’s discussions and blog posts.
• We share our best practices and success stories.
• We ask for help and help each other out.
• We are factual, cite sources, and make it clear when something is our own personal opinion.

Desires: What we have in common that motivates us:

• We strive to serve others.
• We seek to serve each other.
• We choose to learn and empower ourselves.

Common Objectives: What we are working towards together

• Objective 1
• Objective 2
• Objective 3

Another lesson I’ve learned is that I don’t have all the answers and the best place to look first is the community itself. And so I humbly ask you:

1. Do you have any suggestions of what we should consider adding to this template? Is there anything you don’t agree with?
2. How in your experiences have you seen beliefs, expectations, values, desires and rituals contribute to or hinder a community’s productivity, fun, or resilience?

Live streaming is an effective tactic to engage those who cannot attend your event in person and to distribute your messages to broader audiences. Some other examples of government organizations who live stream are: The White House, The Minnesota Senate, and NYC Council Committee on Technology.

But live streaming can be stressful enough to induce a heart attack. Over the last four years, I have utilized live streaming to build public support to advance National Service (with some help from Super Man), making it possible for law enforcement officers to spread out all over the country to virtually participate in a memorial service, and most recently, to help spread the word about Challenge.gov.

I hope that by sharing these best practices I will save you from making some of the mistakes I’ve made and help you more effectively reach and engage your stakeholders — without the stress!

While many organizations choose to outsource the technical production, these best practices are aimed at organizations that have have internal resources or  individuals who wish to do it themselves using a laptop with a webcam (or smart phone) and have access to a broadband connection.

I hope you find this information helpful. If you got other tips or had other experiences please share them as a comment. Also feel free to ask me any questions!

As an engagement strategist still recovering from chronic burnout as a result of my organizing efforts for the Boston Police Department and Neighbors for Neighbors (facilitating 250+ meetings a year for many years), I avoid spending entire Saturday afternoons at civic events like the plague.

To my surprise, something extraordinary happened this past weekend. I ended up staying at a civic event for 7 hours and had a productive and fun experience.

The event I’m referring to was Washington, DC’s One City Summit. The Summit, facilitated by AmericaSpeaks, explored the question, “How can we become more of One City?”

Here is my professional take on why this summit, unlike other civic experiences I’ve participated in, was so effective at engaging citizens and why other cities should pay close attention:

1) Ground rules were clearly stated:

2) A strong vision that resonated with participants presented:

One City is a place where every resident:

• Participates in a diverse, thriving economy with equality of opportunity
• Lives in a safe neighborhood free from crime
• Accesses quality public or public charter schools no matter what neighborhood he or she lives in
• Enjoys a high quality of life that includes access to quality healthcare, recreation, transportation, and retail choices in every ward of the city
• Finds affordable housing options throughout the city in ways that advance the racial and economic diversity we cherish
• Receives a solid return on investment and high-quality customer service from their government
• Lives in the most environmentally sound, sustainable city in the world
• Has a voice that counts – including a vote in Congress

3) Challenges supported by data clearly laid out:

• Unemployment: As of December 2011, Wards 2 and 3 have the lowest unemployment rates (5.0% and 2.6% respectively). Wards 7 and 8 have the highest (16.7% and 24.8% respectively). The overall unemployment in the District stands at 10.4%.
• High School Graduation Rates: For the latest data available (2009), the high school graduation rate in the District was approximately 51.6%.
• Illiteracy: Approximately 19% of District adults are functionally illiterate.
• HIV/AIDS: The District has an infection rate of 3.2% (for adults and adolescents), far higher than the national rate although comparable to U.S. cities of the same size.
• Disparities in Per Capita Income: DC has wide disparities of per capita income – more than $60,000 per year in Wards 2 and 3, and under $20,000 per year in Wards 7 and 8.
• Children Living in Poverty: In 2010, Wards 7 and 8 had the highest percentage (29.3% and 35.5%, respectively) of children under age five living in families at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level; Wards 3 and 4 had the lowest percentages, at 2.1 percent and 11.9 percent respectively.
• Obesity Rates: As of 2007, Wards 2 and 3 had the lowest adult obesity rates (12.5% and 11.7% respectively) while Wards 7 and 8 had the highest (39.9% and 41.9% respectively)
• Budget Challenges: An uncertain economy and the specter of significant federal budget cuts have created a challenging and unpredictable budget climate. The District heads into FY13 facing potential budget cuts, and over the longer term, two of the biggest budget areas (Medicaid and health care) are growing far faster than the rate of inflation.

4) Pre-developed strategies presented (as opposed to asking the audience, whom may or may not have subject matter expertise, may or may not have access to supporting data nor analytical skills to make sense of it, to come up with strategies in one day’s time to solve pressing challenges):

• Diversifying and Growing our Economy
• Early Success: Thriving in the First Years
• Educating Our Youth for the Economy of Tomorrow
  
• Aligning Residents’ Job Skills with Our Growing Economy

5) Technology used to complement and facilitate in-person engagement:

Program format:

• Facilitated Table Discussions. You will be seated with a group of D.C. residents to discuss plans and policies the District has developed, and to provide comments and recommendations. A trained facilitator at your table will keep the conversation moving and, importantly, make sure every voice at the table is heard. A note-taker will record the conversation on a computer.
• Discussion Guide. This discussion guide has helpful background information on the issues that will be discussed today and lists the questions you will be asked. You will have time to read each issue section before the discussion takes place.
• Keypad Voting. Throughout the day, you will use the keypads on your table to answer questions and vote on your preferences. You will see the results of the voting on the large screens and will know right away how everyone in the room feels about these issues.
• Theming. Notes from your table conversations will be transmitted electronically to a team of people who will review them, pull out common themes, and summarize them. You will see this information on the large screens, and it will be used to help make final recommendations.

6) For those who could not participate in person, the summit was live-streamed and tweeted:

7) Results for each completed module were immediately published on the screens:

Dance party:

9) At the conclusion of the Summit, aggregated results of the findings were distributed in person and online:

One City Prelim Report FINAL

Outcomes:

1. Trust was created by using technology (facilitated by a neutral party with facilitation expertise) to reflect back how participant voices through real-time polling and feedback
2. 2,000 residents learned about what the city plans to do to address challenges, while giving their input and weighing in on which priorities to tackle first
3. Residents, city employees, and other stakeholders are energized, excited and ready to get to work

Interesting facts I learned about DC:

• It’s experiencing its first net population growth in decades
• DC grew faster than any other state last year
• Last year, for the first time in four years, the city added to its reserve fund
• 6 of the 8 wards have seen increases in mean income
• First the first time in a long time, no single race dominates the percentage breakdown of the DC population

The next questions I recommend be asked are:

• How and where will the conversation continue?
• What actions can residents take beyond “voicing their opinions” that is meaningful to them and have short term and long term impact?
• How will progress be measured and communicated?
• What can reasonably be accomplished by next year’s summit?

These 9 engagement tactics resulted in a productive and fun experience. They can be utilized offline, online, and, as I saw at the One City Summit, as a combination. When thinking about producing civic engagement experiences, the rule of thumb is to ask yourself and your team, “What would result in meaningful and valuable experiences that respect the intelligence, experience, and time of the participants and that has impact on what we are trying to accomplish?”

Let’s discuss:

• If you were at the Summit, did you have a similar productive and fun experience – why or why not?
• Are there any tactics you would add, or one you disagree with?
• If you have ideas for answers on the next questions I recommend we ask, I’d love to hear them.