2012 State of Community Management

State of Community
Management 2012
From Exploration to Evolution
Principal sponsor
How do 40% of the FORTUNE
500
solve their critical business and
technology problems?
They ask Protiviti.
Social technologies offer new ways to acquire and serve customers. Protiviti helps organizations
create social business strategies to engagenot managetheir customers. We also help companies
build internal communities that improve business processes. Protiviti will benchmark your
current state of social business to what others are offering and work with you to build a plan to
get to the next level. Learn more at protiviti.com/socialbusiness.
2012 Protiviti Inc. An Equal Opportunity Employer. Protiviti is not licensed or registered as a public accounting rm and does not issue opinions on nancial
statements or offer attestation services. PRO-0212
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The Community Roundtable is committed to
advancing the business of community. We are
dedicated to the success of community and
social business leaders and offer a range of
information and training services. We facilitate
TheCR Network a community of business
leaders that provides access to experts, programs,
curated content, relevant connections and a trusted
environment in which to share.
For more information, please visit us at
community-roundtable.com.
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2012 State of Community Management
Sponsors
Endower
Protiviti
Protiviti helps organizations create social business strategies to engage not manage
their customers. We also help companies build internal communities that improve
business processes. We value our association with The Community Roundtable
because we too are committed to uncovering objective measures of maturity to
advance community managementand many other business processes. In fact, our
3,000 professionals have been formally evaluating the maturity of our clients business
processes for as long as we have been in business.
Because we are a risk consultancy, clients engage us to work with some of the most
challenging communities, such as those where conversation is regulated by FINRA or
other laws and regulations. Even in this setting, open, honest exchange still takes place.
We invested in the SOCM 2012 report because its specifc illustrations of community
management maturity help us energize our clients to get to the next level, even when
there are signifcant constraints. Here's how:

First, we help clients explore innovative ways to socially-enable their business,
drawing from current practices we have cataloged by industry, by process.
Second, we engage our Protiviti KnowledgeLeader community and others to
obtain valuable insights to better your operations
Third, we benchmark your level of community management maturity, establish
goals, and build plans to advance your social business capability
For more information, visit the Protiviti website at www.protiviti.com/socialbusiness
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Supporting Sponsors
Ektron
Ektron Social Collaboration and Community helps organizations embrace
customer relationships, enhance brand loyalty, and build and maintain vibrant
social communities. Connect with your customers, foster new ideas and
innovation, and allow community members to collaborate. Your members can
have their own profle, join groups, rate products, take part in the conversation
and share across social networks. Monitor popular social communities and
respond in real-time to changing sentiment.
Combined with the Ektron Web Content Management platform, organizations
can create and manage a seamless blend of corporate-, user- and community-
generated content.
For more information, please visit the Ektron website at
http://ektron.com/Products/Web-CMS/Social/
Enterprise 2.0 Conference
Social business technologies accelerate information fow to drive revenue and pro-
ductivity. Attend Enterprise 2.0 Conference to learn how to leverage social business,
focused on how real customers use the latest technologies in a comprehensive confer-
ence. Visit leading companies showcasing the latest collaboration tools and services in
the expo pavilion. Bring the power of Enterprise 2.0 to your organization.

For more information please visit www.e2conf.com
Fleishman-Hillard
Fleishman-Hillard lnc., one of the world's leading strategic communications frms, has
built its reputation on creating integrated solutions that deliver what its clients value
most: meaningful, positive and measurable impact on the performance of their organi-
zations. The frm is widely recognized for excellent client service and a strong company
culture founded on teamwork, integrity and personal commitment. Based in St. Louis,
the frm operates throughout North America, Europe, Asia Pacifc, Middle East, Africa
and Latin America through its 80 owned offces.
For more information, visit the Fleishman-Hillard website at
www.e|shmanh|||ard.com.
IBM
IBM helps you unlock the potential of communities to collaborate, innovate and drive
productivity. As the industry leader in social business, lBM has identifed a foundational
set of capabilities that allow your business to become more social. From social soft-
ware, content services, and social analytics to process management, and risk and
security solutions, IBM not only helps you encourage community involvement and
contributions, but also ensures that you capture, grow and share the value of that
engagement.
For more information, visit www.ibm.com/socialbusiness
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Table of Contents
Introduction .....................................................................................................1
Perspectives ....................................................................................................2
About The Community Roundtable ......................................................9
About this Report ........................................................................................10
Methodology .......................................................................................................10
Community Maturity Model .................................................................................11
2011 Roundtable Schedule & Topics ..................................................................13
Overview .........................................................................................................16
Social Media is Mainstream ................................................................................16
Community Management Is Continuing to Mature .............................................18
Internal Employee Communities Are On the Rise ...............................................18
It is No Longer About the Technology. It is Always About the Technology. .......20
Community Leaders Have a Unique Opportunity ...............................................21
Patterns in Community Maturity ..........................................................23
Stage 1 - Hierarchy .............................................................................................23
Artifacts ..........................................................................................................24
Organizational Patterns .................................................................................24
Initiatives ........................................................................................................27
Reading & Resources ....................................................................................28
Stage 2 Emergent Community .........................................................................29
Artifacts ..........................................................................................................31
Initiatives ........................................................................................................36
Stage 3 Community ..........................................................................................39
Artifacts ..........................................................................................................41
Initiatives ........................................................................................................46
Stage 4 Network ...............................................................................................49
Artifacts ..........................................................................................................51
Initiatives ........................................................................................................53
Appendix .........................................................................................................55
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Introduction
Welcome to the 2012 State of Community Management, an all-new look at the interac-
tions and insights we uncovered with members of TheCR Network. In past incarnations
of this report we focused on highlighting best practices observed within the eight com-
munity management competencies outlined in our Community Maturity Model. This
years report takes a different path, exploring the insights by organizational maturity,
uncovering artifacts, patterns, and initiatives to look for as you develop your
community and social initiatives from one stage to the next.
Since we started The Community Roundtable in 2009, weve seen community manag-
ers go from working in relative obscurity to being the linchpin of so many social initia-
tives. With that spotlight, comes added pressure to succeed. This report is intended to
help all of you, both the veterans and relative newcomers alike, achieve success.
The 2012 State of Community Management Report would be a shell of itself without
our members. While some work at the largest brands in the world, others are with small
companies youve never heard of, but all are doing amazing work. Were thrilled to have
the opportunity to work with them to help shape the vision and future of community
management as a discipline. On the following pages, youll hear several members
perspectives on what they get out of being part of TheCR Network.
We also depend on the generosity and expertise of experienced practitioners, who
share their knowledge with us nearly every week. They challenge us to think differently
and get us out of our comfort zone. We appreciate their willingness to contribute to the
community management conversation. You can fnd a complete listing of experts in the
Appendix.
Without this year's sponsors Protiviti, Fleishman-Hillard, Ektron and the Enterprise 2.0
Conference, wed be hard pressed to pour so much energy into this report. We thank
them for their generosity and support to help bring the 2012 State of Community
Management Report to you.
Finally, we would like to thank you. Yes YOU! Whether you've been a community
manager for ten years or are just getting started, this is your report. Whether youve
been following what we do at The Community Roundtable since we started or just
stumbled on this report by chance, we appreciate you giving it your time. We look
forward to the continued growth and success youll bring to the community manage-
ment space and will write about it again in 2013!
Jim Storer & Rachel Happe
Co-Founders
The Community Roundtable
Industry Perspectives
Guard Your Dreams and visions: SOCM 2012
Think of the fundamental skills and disciplines required to run a business. There are
tangible skills like accounting, inventory management and lead generation and there
are intangibles like leadership, vision and core values. The discipline of community
management blends the tangible and intangible discrete activities, platforms and
tools right alongside the values, beliefs, and business goals native to every community.
In 2012, community management isnt new and its no longer an option managing
communities is a business imperative to succeed.
Community managers are all about creating and fostering an environment ripe for
meaningful interaction with members. That infection point, where the art of digital
communication fuses with real world relationships, is what the community manager
seeks to master. Communities require facilitation, content, structure, education and
measurement. The Community Roundtable brings that together by providing members
with the tools they need to succeed to reach that infection point. This isn't community
101; its 501. Its a resource for people who practice the discipline daily and want to
succeed.
The 2012 State of Community Management Report is a resource that captures the
essence of The Community Roundtable. In its third year, the SOCM is hitting its stride
like the third album of a band on a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame trajectory. Bruce Spring-
steen's third album Born to Run exemplifes the maturity and evolution of an artist on
the rise. Like that album, this is arguably the best effort to date from TheCR. This is a
powerful resource to help practitioners learn from others in the discipline and become
masters of the tangible and intangible, a treasure trove of conversations, guides,
how-tos, and thought leadership. Forget the rhetoric, roll down your windows and put
the volume on 10.
Adam Cohen
Partner, SVP Social and Digital Media
Fleishman-Hillard
What I enjoy the most about consulting is sharing with executives what everyone in
their organization is thinking, but no one is saying. As we continue to consult with
clients, though, we will eventually need to do less of that. Communities will mature to
a level of openness and honesty where all members come to realize that Bad News is
Good News. Management will have more time to respond, not just react, to what they
are learning in their communities.

Transparency is of course a critical element of success in even the least mature com-
munity. Communicating without fear, though, is something more than transparency. An
unvarnished, open, honest exchange of ideas that is reinforced over time with positive
feedback refects a signifcant level of maturity and trust.

Generating relationship-based engagement in a community is challenge enough. The
research in this report challenges us further. It suggests we advance the maturity of
even internal communities and poses a signifcant challenge. There are, after all, un-
spoken obstacles: Employees fear embarrassment in one way or another. Most avoid
confict. Political agendas are hidden. And resistance to change remains a persistent
blocker.

I most enjoy helping companies explore breakthroughs in business process advance-
ment by introducing communities into otherwise linear business processes. Marketing
and Customer Service, Product and Service Development, Supply Chain, Operations,
Human Resources and Finance encounter exception processing that can occasionally
be well handled by reaching into an internal community for quick and sometimes inno-
vative answers.

When we suggest an approach like this that seems to make objective business sense, it
may go nowhere fast. Usually we are tripping over a political obstacle we just can't see.
One of our own House Rules is to commit to check our egos at the door so we don't
prove our value at the expense of the people we are trying to serve.

So how might communities overcome political barriers that stunt their maturity? Con-
sider posting a few new conspicuously placed House Rules of your own:
Let's take advantage of confict as an opportunity to solve problems.
Save time and improve quality: let's quickly provide each other feedback when
we fall short.
No guessing. Let's talk openly to address obstacles so we can beneft from
change.
Speaking of change, let's embrace it. but not too much at once!
Gregory E. Hedges
Managing Director
Protiviti
TheCR Network Member Perspectives
As a Social Business and Community Strategist at a Fortune 200 global consulting
services frm l need to stay on the leading edge of not only technology best practices,
but also on people and organization transformation best practices in my feld. TheCR
offers excellent programming, access to industry leading experts, value added con-
cierge services and research and conference programming that adds to our collective
knowledge in community management. I am so excited to see the launch of TheCR,
WOMMA, ComBlu community management training program this year. It will address a
tier of digital literacy training that I need to deliver to my organization.
Its been easy to make the case for not only my own personal membership in TheCR,
but also to make the business case for several other CSC Community Managers as part
of our corporate membership in TheCR Network for the second year in a row.
I have been grateful for the relationships, and yes friendships, Ive formed through
this network. If youre a Community Manager, and youre not a member, you need to
change that soon! You will see an immediate return on your investment, and your boss
will, too.
Claire Flanagan
CSC Director, Social Business and Community Strategy
And TheCR Network member, fan and friend
For me, valuable programming, content creation and curation by dedicated, experi-
enced and professional community leaders is a key differentiator of The Community
Roundtable. I can meet and network with community professionals many places these
days, both in person and online, but TheCR Network provides the best service and
leadership that Ive encountered.
Ted Hopton
Global Community Manager
UBM
Ive long believed that the best source of information about building healthy and valu-
able online communities is the community of community practitioners. The Community
Roundtable has assembled some of the best and brightest practitioners in the industry,
and l personally fnd it to be an indispensible resource.
The value of The Community Roundtable ranges from the regular member calls, to
research and reports, to the actual online community of community practitioners. Jim
and Rachel do an excellent job of industry analysis, content programming and member
engagement.
I believe one trend we will see in 2012 is a resurgence of interest and investment in
building on-domain communities, as brands begin to feel stretched by extended social
engagement and realize the value of hosting their customer conversations. The im-
portance and value of building online communities is only now beginning to be fully
realized. It stands that The Community Roundtable and their TheCR Network will only
become a more valuable and necessary resource for community managers and
strategists.
Bill Johnston
Director of Global Online Community
Dell
ln the frst year of membership, The Community Roundtable has become the 'go-to'
resource for myself and our community management team. Rachel and Jim ensure cov-
erage of a broad range of relevant and timely topics, so we are able to arm ourselves
with information related to our current hot-button topics such as governance, advocacy,
funding and analytics. TheCR Network is an active, social network of community and
social practitioners across industries all with the shared goal of improving and furthering
collaboration amongst our constituents. lt's a membership we will defnitely be continu-
ing and looking for ways to increase our knowledge through active participation.
JJ Lovett
Director Community Management
CA Technologies
What exactly is a community manager? When l frst started in my role, l was asked this
question almost daily. Until l joined The Community Roundtable, l had no idea how
many others shared our unique profession. There is no degree program or industry
manual so we can only learn through sharing our experiences. l fnd the monthly calls to
be invaluable and enjoy participating in the group discussions. It is exciting to see the
profession mature and programs like The Community Roundtable, WOMMA and Com-
Blu's community management certifcate program help to bring legitimacy and respect
to the role of community manager.
Sarah Mahoney
Innovation Community Manager
Children's Hospital Boston
As the sole community and social media practitioner in a small company, The Com-
munity Roundtable has been an incredibly valuable resource for me. When l frst started
in this role two years ago, I wasnt even sure what I did had a name. TheCR Network
provided a professional framework that legitimized the work I was doing both internally
and externally. As our company grows, TheCR continues to be a source of information
and guidance for discovering helpful tools, creating community policy and refning so-
cial strategy. The roundtable calls give members access to the countrys leading social
business experts, and the knowledge base of Rachel, Jim and TheCR Network commu-
nity of practitioners is second to none.
Cindy Meltzer
Director of Community & Social Media
Isis Parenting
The actions of community managers, both personal and professional, are exposed for
internal and external communities to observe. We choose the role of community man-
ager knowingly because we are driven by a passion to serve, connect, educate and
learn from others. The battle scars of lessons learned are numerous, but we still show
up on the online and offine frontlines of our communities. TheCR Network offers a safe
and exclusive haven for community managers to learn from each other and experiment
with new ideas. As this role evolves and becomes a more prominent and integrated,
strategic position within the enterprise, I know I can count on The Community Round-
table to keep my growing team informed and educated.
Lauren Vargas
Community Management Strategist
Aetna
I joined The Community Roundtable in 2011 after following their publications for a
while. The Community Roundtable helps me to connect to other community and Social
Media-professionals that are challenged by similar questions and challenges within
their companies. What I really like about TheCR Network is that we cover topics from
all different angles: l can get topics discussed that touch on Marketing, Product De-
velopment, Governance and Training as well as Support. Their publications help me to
stay up to date on the discussions in case I cant join the live calls. In 2012 I am looking
forward to expand our membership to my whole team to make even better use of the
great resources The Community Roundtable offers especially TheCR Network!
Lasse Wasserman
Social Media/Community Program Manager
Google
About The Community Roundtable
The Community Roundtable is dedicated to advancing the business of community. We
offer information, education, and professional development services for community and
social business leaders including:
TheCR Network - Our annual membership-based peer network of community,
social media, and social business practitioners. We run strategic, tactical, and
professional development programs and curate content and interactions in a
private online community for our members.
Our members are leading the discipline of community management at organi-
zations big and small from Fortune 500 organizations like SAP, Aetna, CSC,
AT&T, CA, Google, verizon Wireless, Dell, Ernst & Young, Hitachi and Fidelity to
smaller organizations like EDR, the American Speech Language Hearing As-
sociation, Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare, CFA lnstitute, Humana, Black Hills Cor-
poration, GHY lnternational, Constant Contact, and MocoSpace. Members are
typically social business owners, social strategists or community managers.
TheCR Focus - Our monthly report subscription is perfect for busy community
leaders and people interested in staying on top of whats happening in commu-
nity management. TheCR Focus is designed to keep subscribers in tune with the
tools, tricks and topics were talking about in TheCR Network.
TheCR Advisory - Our advisory services and workshops are custom designed
for your organization's specifc challenges and goals. We provide feedback on
strategies, priorities and plans based on our own experience managing online
communities and our experience working with a wide variety of companies on
their social media and community initiatives.
Community Management Training - We partnered with WOMMA and Com-
Blu to put together a Community Management Certifcate Program. Community
management is both an art and science. While the roles in community man-
agement are growing and evolving rapidly there are established best practices
emerging. This online training program sets industry standards for: Community
Specialist, Community Manager, and Community Strategist.
About This Report
We publish this State of Community Management report annually and it compiles and
curates the lessons we learned with members from the previous year. This report
extends and adds to both our 2011 report and 2010 report.
Unlike previous years, where we compiled a composite of the practices we learned from
our members and visiting speakers by competency, this year we organized and curated
what weve learned over the past three years by maturity level. The report covers what
weve seen applied most commonly by members of TheCR Network.
If you are relatively new to community management, this report will provide great insight
but we also suggest you look through many of the free resources we publish and
curate.
The perspectives provided in this report represent those of various experts and practi-
tioners and may not necessarily be the best practice for every context. Because of that,
we term practices 'organizational patterns' throughout this report. Community manage-
ment is a discipline that requires judgment and a deep understanding of the dynamics
of a specifc community, so what we offer here are patterns that we see applied by the
practitioners with whom we work.
Methodology
This report lays out a collection of artifacts, patterns and practices, initiatives, and
resources we have found to be practiced at different stages of enterprise community
maturity. We use the maturity stages of the Community Maturity Model, a framework
we developed to help organizations plan for and develop their social business and com-
munity competency.
Our analysis and content is based on a number of sources:
100+ roundtable calls with TheCR Network members over the last three years,
each of which is transcribed into a detailed report.
Advisory work with specifc clients.
Working groups with members to develop community management training.
A series of calls with members to defne the artifacts and initiatives typically
associated with each stage of maturity.
We have removed attribution to specifc items in this report because the conversations
within TheCR Network are privileged. However, we have listed many experts through-
out this report who have shared their expertise and wisdom with our members and we
encourage you to familiarize yourself with their work. We hope this report gives you a
valuable reference tool in your own social business initiatives and we hope you will
consider joining TheCR Network or subscribing to TheCR Focus.
Community Maturity Model
We developed the Community Maturity Model as a way of organizing and making sense
of the issues, associated competencies, and information relevant to community man-
agement as the discipline matures and extends across an enterprise. It aligns on two
axes: competencies and maturity levels.
The eight competencies in the Community Maturity Model are those that must be
addressed in order to build either a successful community or a social business
competency across an enterprise. They are:
Strategy
Culture
Leadership
Community Management
Content & Programming
Policies & Governance
Metrics & Measurement
Tools
Stage 1
Hierarchy
Stage 2
Emergent
Community
Stage 3
Community
Stage 4
Network
Strategy
TM
Familiarize & Listen Participate Build Integrate
Leadership Command & Control Consensus Collaborative Distributed
Culture Reactive Contributive Emergent Activist
Community
Management
None Informal
Defined roles &
processes
Integrated roles
& processes
Formal & Structured
Some user
generated content
Integrated formal &
user generated
No Guidelines Restrictive Flexible Inclusive
Tools
Consumer tools
used by individuals
Consumer &
self-service tools
Social functionality
is integrated throughout
Anecdotal Activity Tracking Activities & Content Behaviors & Outcomes
Content &
Programming
Policies &
Governance
Metrics &
Measurement
Community created
content
Mix of consumer
& enterprise tools
www.community-roundtable.com
Community Maturity Model
Along with these competencies, we have identifed four stages of maturity:
Stage 1: Hierarchy ad hoc use of social technology or community structures.
Stage 2: Emergent Community experimental or pilot use of social and
community tools and/or processes, along with considerable investment in
creating structure to better evaluate and manage social opportunities.
Stage 3: Community explicitly chartered, funded, and staffed social or
community initiatives resulting in measurable business outcomes.
Stage 4: Network a corporate strategy driven by a networked market
perspective.
These stages refer primarily to the information and relationship environment of an orga-
nization. ln a Hierarchy, information is shared one-to-one or one-to-many. ln an organi-
zation with Emergent Community, pockets of individuals are starting to experiment with
many-to-many communications. In a Community, there are successful many-to-many
communications environments existing for a variety of different constituent groups. In
the Network stage, an organization views its markets as a set of relationships, and is
linked to the majority of market participants regardless of whether they do or do not
directly impact revenue - because they all have a capacity to infuence customers.
While these maturity stages are a continuum, certain behaviors are emerging as estab-
lished patterns of particular stages. For example, Emergent Community suggests that
usage and experimentation of social tools and techniques is happening. Defned bud-
gets, community management resources, and policies are hallmarks of an established
Community. Finally, being in the Network stage suggests integration between employ-
ee, customer, partner, and even competitor constituencies and that the company fo-
cuses on the strength of these relationships as the foundation of its corporate strategy.
These segments inform the way we organize community management content. The
Community Maturity Model can be used as:
A framework to set expectations for both community managers and stakehold-
ers across an organization.
A tool to execute an enterprise performance gap analysis.
A model that articulates community management's cross-functional nature.
A taxonomy for organizing patterns, examples, templates, and tools.
A roadmap for organizational planning.
A way to organize training.
This report addresses the stages in the Community Maturity Model as our members
experience them. While this may not always align with the most current discussions
about each stage, we feel it represents the leading methods employed by practitioners
today.
2011 Roundtable Schedule & Topics

Topic-specifc, facilitated roundtable calls are the core of TheCR Network's program-
ming. These calls often include an independent expert that joins the discussion to
share their best practices and facilitate a member discussion. For members, we publish
roundtable reports summarizing the discussion and highlighting the best practices, ad-
vice, and lessons learned. Below are the roundtable calls that were held in 2011 and are
used as source material for this report, with the featured expert and core Community
Maturity Model competency listed.
January
2011 Goals and Plans - member led - strategy
Social Media & a PR Crisis: Best Practices and Lessons Learned -
Valeria Maltoni PR/community management
Seven Tips for Killer Twitter (and Facebookj Promotions -
Allen Bonde (Offer Popj - tools
Understanding Social CRM - Jacob Morgan (Chess Media Groupj - tools
February
Career Path of the Corporate Social Strategist - Jeremiah Owyang (Altimeterj -
leadership/community management
Enterprise Collaboration/Community Platforms - Member led
The One Year Club: Defning Requirements That Scale - Thomas Vander Wal
(lnfoCloud Solutionsj - metrics & measurement
The Governance Balance: Riding a Fine Line Between Adoption & Control -
Sara Roberts (Roberts Goldenj - policy/governance
March
Reverse Mentoring - Alexa Scordato strategy/culture
Social Media and SEO - Lee Odden (Top Rankj - tools/metrics & measurement
Disputes, Flame Wars and Trolls: Managing Confict in Community - Andrea
Weckerle (Civilinationj - community management
Social Listening Update - Ken Burbary (Digitasj - tools
2011 State of Community Management - Jim Storer & Rachel Happe - all
April
What George Lucas Can Teach You About Community Management: Myths,
Reality, and Storytelling Paula Thornton community management
Measuring for Success: Social Business ROl - Erin Traudt metrics &
measurement
lntroducing Game Theory in Your Community - Neela Sakaria & Kim Gaskins
strategy
May
vetting New Group/Community/FB Page Requests - Member led discussion -
community management
Community Management 2016 - An Enterprise Odyssey - Member led -
strategy
Developing an Authentic Organization - CV Harquail culture
Building a Successful vlP/Ambassador Program - Sean ODriscoll (Ant's Eye
viewj - community management
June
Executive Perspective: lBM's Social Business Journey - Jeff Schick
leadership
Using Linkedln to Support Your Community - Member led call - tools
Thoughts on Social CRM - Paul Greenberg strategy
Building & Managing Customer Advisory Boards - Jane Hiscock (Farland
Groupj - customer support/strategy
July
Measuring Social at lsis Parenting - Cindy Meltzer metrics & measurement
Community On The Side - Member led - case studies
Summer Book Club: Digital Habitats - John Smith, Etienne Wenger & Nancy
White - tools/community management
August
Getting the Most Out of Slideshare - Ross Maye|d (Slidesharej - tools
Summer Book Club: Empowered - Josh Bernoff (Forresterj - culture
Powerpoint Smackdown - Member led - tools
September
Budgeting for Social - Member led - strategy
Creating Engaged Communities: A Speed Round - Member led - community
management
Case Study: The lnternal Unconference - Bill Johnston (Dellj - culture/
leadership
October
Social Media Analytics: What Does (and doesn'tj Matter - Chuck Hemann
(Edelmanj - metrics and measurement
Social Customer Support: Member Case Studies - Member led - customer
support
Top 10 Misunderstandings Between Community & Legal Teams - Ryan Garcia
(Dellj - policies & governance
Building a Community Playbook - Lauren Vargas (Aetnaj - community
management
November
Giving Employees the Skills to Build Their Reputation - John Stepper
(Deutsche Bankj - culture
Are You Moving Forward. Or Are You The Red Queen? - Rachel Happe
(TheCRj - strategy
Humanize: How People-Centric Organizations Succeed in a Social World -
Maddie Grant & Jamie Notter culture
December
Lessons in Building Community Advocacy - Lasse Wasserman & Adrienne
Bernakevitch Ludwick (Googlej - community management
Outsourcing Community Management? - Jeremiah Owyang (Altimeterj -
community management
Priorities for 2012: Out with the old, in with the new? - TheCR Member Call
Overview
We are in the midst of a perfect storm of market and social upheaval that is driving
profound changes in how organizations operate. The power of communities has never
been greater and it is driving organizations and governments to undergo leadership
changes at the highest levels. Those who ignore their communities do so at their own
peril. Weve seen this in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya. Weve also seen this happen with
Occupy Wall Street and the protest over SOPA/PIPA. And weve seen this in response
to decisions by Bank of America and the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Communities
are beginning to understand their power and are fexing their muscles. Given recent
successes, this trend is likely to increase.
The best way for organizations to hedge against community revolts is to be an active
participant and supporter of the community itself. That can take many forms from
listening to general online conversations, to participating in any of the many online
conversations related to the organization or its markets, to hosting the community
itself. Regardless of the approach, communities need to be integrated into the leader-
ship, culture, and operations of your organization so that decisions whether they are
tactical or strategic are informed by the perspective of an organizations communities.
Crisis may be the best way to understand the need for community management, but
many organizations are seeing dramatic reduction in operational costs and increases in
the quality and speed of innovation. Communities are phenomenal tools to fatten and
align large groups of individuals whether internal or external to organizations.
Most companies now understand this at a conceptual level, but are still struggling to
fgure out what that means for them and how to make the structural, cultural, and tacti-
cal changes needed to foster better alignment with their communities. Because of this,
2011 was a year of growth in the community and social business space. There were
more case studies, more community managers, and more discussions about how com-
munities are being effectively used to deliver business results.
Social Media is Mainstream
With 800 million+ people on Facebook, it is rare to fnd individuals who do not use so-
cial technologies or organizations that do not have a social networking presence. This
is both good and bad news for those of us working to bring an understanding of online
communications to our organizations. We no longer have to explain social networks
and how they work at a basic level. Unfortunately, personal social media participation
can also heavily skew and limit individuals perceptions of how social tools can be used
effectively for business.
One of the challenges that we see is that the word community is used indiscriminately
and often applied to any group of people online. We believe online communities exhibit
some distinctive characteristics and we defne community in the following way:
A group of people with unique shared values, behaviors, and artifacts
Communities are not just a social audience of people that converse with an organiza-
tion, they are a group that share unique characteristics, shared goals and have a
relationship density much higher than you would see for a general group of people
using a common social network. These shared characteristics, common goals, and
relationship density create a much more infuential and collaborative dynamic than a
general network of people. This sense of community is what encourages more complex
value creation and business outcomes. Understanding the complexity of the desired
business outcome will help organizations decide what type of online network to foster.
Its one of the most critical and basic things to understand before creating a social
business plan.
Communities are morphing however, and we see three common community structures,
often used simultaneously by organizations to address different business goals:
Exclusive
Relatively high barriers to entry (expertise, fees, credentialsj
Community has a primary home base" online
Membership is clear
Examples: Fee-based community (Weight Watchersj, B2B customer community
(Thomson Reuters, American Express OPENj, invite only market research com-
munity (JC Penney, Unitedj, vlP/Advocate community (SAP Mentors, Microsoft
vlPs, Google Top Contributorsj, employee Communities of Practice, employee
retention groups
Discrete
Community has a primary home base" online
Membership is nebulous to the participant (they have to proactively visit but they
may not associate themselves with the community in any wayj and based on
participation
Examples: B2C product support community (AT&T forums, Best Buy Blue Shirt
Nationj, B2B thought leadership community (EDR Commonground, lDC's
lnsightsj consumer media community (BabyCenter, Sony, ABCj, internal lT or
HR support communities
Distributed
Community interacts in many locations online
Membership doesn't really exist as such
Examples: B2C products and services (lsis Parenting Community, Whole Foods,
Wells Fargoj, B2B products and services (Radian6, SAP, Dell, CSCj
Members may not interact with one another as often as they interact with com-
munity managers and/or content curators.
As online communities become more mainstream, they are colliding with corporate cul-
tures that reward perfection, completeness, planning, and control. The cultural hurdles
that this creates will greatly limit the success of communities and social business at
many organizations. In large complex, opt-in environments, perfection is rare and com-
munities become sustainable only when members feel they not the organizations that
sponsor them have a say in the future of the communities. This is perhaps the biggest
challenge that organizations face as they try to adopt a more holistic social approach.
Community Management Is Continuing to Mature
Until recently, community management has been a somewhat opaque craft practiced
in a handful of areas online gaming, open source engineering, online media platforms,
and specialized technical support and while a wealth of expertise developed, it was
not generally well understood or needed in broader markets. That has changed as
everything digital is also becoming social and most organizations are looking to under-
stand what community management means for them. The need has developed to help
translate existing expertise, add to it for new contexts, and codify it so it can be eff-
ciently shared with more individuals.
In the past year a number of new community management education initiatives have
sprung up Twitter chats, Facebook groups, conferences, unconferences and formal
training programs, including one weve developed in conjunction with WOMMA and
ComBlu (for more information see: http://womma.org/communitymanager/j. All of
these resources are helping individuals at all levels of responsibility understand com-
munities. As this happens, there is also concern about who gets to own or defne what
community management means. We encourage you to explore all the resources avail-
able, learn the patterns of community management applied in different contexts and
use your own organizational needs to assess the patterns that will work in your environ-
ment. There is a considerable portion of community management that will always
require judgment and sensitivity to the unique environment in which it is applied, but
there are also many things we have been able to learn together, document, and share.
The great news is that there are more sources than ever from which to learn.
Internal Employee Communities Are On the Rise
One of the most active areas of community growth is in internal communities for em-
ployees. Many organizations moved from a relatively small internal social software pilot
to enterprise-wise roll outs in 2011, bringing with it a high demand for internal commu-
nity management expertise. This expertise is challenging to fnd specifcally, but often
internal community managers come from IT collaboration groups, internal communica-
tions, knowledge management roles, or HR positions.
While internal and external community management initiatives share many similar
responsibilities and tasks, internal environments are quite complicated due to their
unique existing leadership, culture, organizational structure, and infrastructure. Because
of these complicating factors, adoption patterns and the needs of the participants are
much different than in external communities for marketing or customer support.
Employees need better ways to work, not only so that they can manage information
overload, but also because of the information overload, it is hard to fnd the time to
become comfortable with new approaches.
One of the concerns organizations have the most trouble articulating is how
a community approach should be integrated into existing workfows. We think
communities can be used to make any of the following internal process elements
more effective:
Process
Element
Market Network, Communities of
practice, Customer communities,
Partner communities
Team networks, Functional
communities
Team networks, Functional communi-
ties, Communities of practice,
Customer communities,
Partner communities
Team networks
Team networks, Communities of
peers/practices

Functional communities, Communities
of practice, Customer communities,
Partner communities, organization-
wide networks
Quality
- Better inputs
- Better alignment with
markets
Productivity
- Faster time to
answer/insight
Productivity
- Reduced meetings
- Micro-mentoring
- Alignment
- Focus on issue resolution
Productivity
- Shared ownership of
analysis
- Broad buy-in of issues &
framing
- Faster awareness and
buy-in for analysis
Productivity
- Ongoing alignment as
content is development
- Less wasted work
Productivity
- Transparent decision-
making process
- Better sensing of potential
responses (crisis manage-
ment)
- Shared ownership of
decision
Productivity
- Alignment and shared
situational awareness
- Better understanding of
reactions (crisis manage-
ment)
Research &
Discovery
Status Updates
Data Analysis
Content
Development
Stakeholder Review
Communication of
Information &
Decisions
Type of Community Metric
A major caveat to understanding how communities contribute to internal business goals
is that when communities are integrated into processes without good boundaries and
process management, it can be much more not less chaotic. As an example, many
organizations are intrigued by the idea of building an idea exchange community.
However, if the topics and discussions pursued in that effort do not align with organiza-
tional plans, the organization will fnd it diffcult to execute on them, making the overall
effort ineffective. When, however, the challenges promoted in the community align with
the plans of the organization, they can provide valuable feedback on how to prioritize
and execute, while creating early advocates and adopters.
Internal communities have the potential to transform organizations in a vast number
of ways - from saving wasted offce supplies and equipment, to better aligning with
markets, and vastly changing the effciency of innovation. Because of this array of use
cases, internal communities focused on specifc use cases are more successful since
clear success can be documented before the initiative is broadened to a more complex
set of objectives.
It is No Longer About the Technology.
It is Always About the Technology.
Technology is the key enabler of online communities and yet it cannot alone ensure a
successful community. Once software is selected the focus shifts to ensuring produc-
tive use of it and maximizing the business benefts. Strategy, adoption, facilitation,
programming, content, and support become much more pressing topics once the tech-
nology decision is made. Do not wait until the platform is launched to focus on these
issues.
We continue to see the rise of new technologies and with them the need for community
managers to experiment and explore to determine business applications. Communities
even exclusive private communities are spilling out and interacting across the social
web - making it challenging to keep up. 2011's hot new social networks were Google+,
lnstagram, Path, and Pinterest - mostly still niche, but growing quickly. lnternally as so-
cial business initiatives grow, they need to be integrated with existing platforms, mobile
delivery channels, and more powerful analytics tools.
Community leaders need to partner with internal and external experts to ensure that
focus remains on the business goal while continually evaluating the constantly shifting
technical landscape.
Community Leaders Have a Unique Opportunity
It is an exciting time to be a community leader. Articulating how communities are con-
tributing value to an organization and understanding the opportunities that open up for
the organization is rewarding and inspiring. We see community leaders as explorers,
builders, and translators charting new paths for their organizations in a complex new
environment.
Explorer
The pace of change has become dramatically faster as networked communications on
a massive scale fatten the access to information. Community leaders need to excel at
and relish the role of explorer not only discovering emerging environmental factors,
but also exploring the behaviors, interests, and goals of their community members. This
curiosity is critical to helping communities and the organizations that sponsor them.
Builder
Community leaders must be builders. Communities and relationships will rarely, if
ever, be perfect. Successful communities are built by those who have a predilection
for action and who will experiment instead of waiting for perfect timing. While planning
is necessary to ensure that an organization is prepared to respond and has suffcient
resources to support a community initiative, trying to predict what the community will
do and be before it exists is impossible.
Translator
Finally, a community leader must be a translator ensuring that different constituencies
can understand each other and making sure stakeholders know how to evaluate the op-
portunities and risks in a community approach. This is particularly critical because new
technologies can often seem like fads to enterprise stakeholders. They need to have a
discussion of realistic opportunities and risks in their own language in order to effec-
tively understand and support investment in this space.
Those leaders that can evangelize and bring the value of communities into organiza-
tions are seeing their work rewarded with increased budgets, recognition, and new
opportunities.
This is the third annual State of Community Management and weve learned a lot in the
past three years. ln the frst two reports, we aggregated and presented what we learned
with TheCR Network members about the eight critical competencies in community
management. These two reports are overfowing with patterns and practices that indi-
viduals can use to build, grow, and maintain communities.
This year we felt like wed learned enough to provide a more prescriptive view of the
path organizations take and chose to structure the report by organizational maturity
stage. We lay out the artifacts, organizational patterns, and initiatives we see
organizations undertaking as they move from those wobbly early days to a structured
and methodical approach to real impact and then fnally, to a transformative change to
the organization.
Common patterns and approaches have emerged and we hope this report provides
you and your organization with a valuable guide in executing your own community and
social business initiatives.
Finally, we would like to thank TheCR Network members and advisory clients of The
Community Roundtable who have contributed to our collective understanding in a wide
range of ways. Without our clients, members and sponsors we could not offer you this
comprehensive insight that is so valuable to understand.
Patterns in Community Maturity
Stage 1 - Hierarchy
Organizations in CMM1 (Community Maturity Model, Stage 1j can range from those rel-
atively un-touched by social technologies and methods to those with a chaotic jumble
of different teams using different technologies with an inconsistent understanding of the
opportunity, risks, challenges, needs or interests of the organization.
lndividuals in this environment are typically left on their own to fgure how social ap-
proaches might help them. Most individuals have no interest. Those that do attempt
to integrate social approaches into their workfow are often quickly overwhelmed with
the plethora of tools and streams of data. In this stage, social can become a short-term
productivity drain, as people learn and often reinvent the wheel using social approaches.
Management in this environment often sees social tools and techniques as a distrac-
tion or as superfcial and is not interested in supporting any meaningful investment in a
social initiative. The challenge is that they are often right the use of social tools does
cause distractions, but without investment, a thoughtful and consistent approach is
hard to develop.
CMM1
Ironically, any companies that incorporate a well-designed social media marketing ap-
proach can internally still be in CMM1, especially if most of that work is outsourced and
does not impact or touch the majority of the business.
Artifacts
Likely
No social media/social networking specifc policies, except those that prohibit or
restrict access and use.
Established corporate social media accounts.
Other than in marketing, communications and PR groups, there is little
awareness of how social tools and methods are applied to business.
Employees are rarely asked to participate in work outside of their explicit roles
and responsibilities (i.e. to contribute new product ideas, input for strategic
decisions, etcj and even less likely to be encouraged to do so.
Functional teams have a low level of interaction or primarily transactional
interaction with other teams in other functional groups.
Executives see social tools and approaches as a distraction rather than an
opportunity.
The information sharing culture can be quite distrustful, resulting in information-
hoarding, defensiveness when asked to share, and suspicion around the use of
information.
Possible
Organization is reactive with customers on public social channels
Organization is reactive with employees on internal social channels (if they even
existj
A documented active listening strategy
A basic listening tool set
Explicit guidelines for employee use of social media channels
Organizational Patterns
Start simple with monitoring. Monitoring social channels for brand and key
market terms is a good place to start. Some analysis to aggregate and report on
the volume and make-up of the mentions is valuable to gain exposure and support.
Schedule social media socials or other types of informal get-togethers.
Face-to-face gatherings help social leaders advocate and build awareness of
social tools and approaches.
Evangelize to naysayers and skeptics. Break down barriers to social by
CMM1
Aj meeting with the skeptics in an informal setting vs. a business meeting;
Bj acknowledging any concerns and show concrete examples that resonate
with the individuals pain points as to how social media can be of assistance;
Cj making videos and telling stories about social media, highlighting success
stories and how mistakes were overcome.
Peers are the best |nuencers. Arrange peer-to-peer discussions when
evangelizing a social approach. People are unlikely to quickly assimilate new
ideas from those unfamiliar with their context.
Invest in understanding the audience. This will drive program/staffng,
engagement, technology, and content decisions.
Say it again. Be sure to squeeze every last drop out of any of your social media
and/or community successes. Skeptics will not be converted with the frst success.
Personal and business lives are blurring: The lines between personal and
business interactions are becoming blurred (employees talk about their company
on Facebook, Twitter, etc.j lt's important to have guidelines and training in place
to give employees boundaries for interacting on public social networks.
Let the outside in. Companies need to understand that if they are going to
go down this path of community, they need to be prepared to include external
people into matters that would normally be discussed behind the closed doors.
Self-awareness is critical. The frst step to removing cultural roadblocks is to
help others understand the obstacles, self-imposed and organizational, that are
impeding them to utilizing social approaches.
Shift the mindset. When describing social media/social learning, make sure that
it is not described as being something extra that the person has to do. Instead,
let them know that by removing whatever obstacles were blocking its use
before, it now allows them to do what comes naturally (to be socialj.
Be human. A community mindset is embedded in most people. It is more
human than the typical transactional philosophy found in business. People
love connecting and building relationships.
Promote ecosystem thinking. The more that you can think about your orga-
nization as a member of a larger network, the easier it is to connect with the
people you are trying to serve and those that either positively or negatively
impact the network.
It is still business. There still needs to be a value proposition with any business
initiative. Be intentional with whom the organization connects with, what the
ideal outcome is, and how that positively impacts the business.
Education is the key to success. Senior executives, legal and all potential par-
ticipants need a grassroots approach to understanding social media before they
can understand the bigger picture.
Mavericks matter. This journey often begins with leadership at a grassroots
level, by someone who sees the changing opportunities and risks and takes a
chance.
CMM1
Take stock. An internal audit often shows that there is already activity happen-
ing in the social arena. This helps to highlight to senior executives that all this
organic activity could continue with zero governance or it could be structured
in order to get the most value out of it. Audits can help get the ball rolling for
broader funding and attention.
Recruit leaders who can be pioneers. This is going to feel like pushing a
boulder up a hill, so recruit leaders who are confdent, risk takers and willing to
ruffe some feathers.
Establish a framework. It is very important to create a roadmap that outlines
where the organization stands presently (a baselinej, the goal (where you want to
bej, and an analysis of the gaps. The Community Maturity Model can be used in
this way.
Most experience lies outside of the organization. Recognize the importance
of networking with external colleagues, organizations, and experts. One organi-
zation cannot know all there is to know.
Dont block the box. In order to make the adoption of social media more suc-
cessful, work to allow access to social media sites if they are currently blocked.
Broad adoption and understanding cannot happen without experimentation.
Legal is on your side. Legal teams are not necessarily a roadblock. Yes, they
ask the tough questions, but they need to do so, particularly in regulated envi-
ronments. Continuous education and information sharing is critical and helps to
fnd allies/advocates within the legal department.
The technology is the easiest piece: Finding the right technology for your
specifc use case is challenging, but community management is going to be the
hardest piece because that skill set and experience does not reside within most
companies right now.
Translate. Explain social media in terms of the organizations business objec-
tives. The critical outcome is to convince executives that you know how to trans-
late social media into business objectives.
Ask for the right things. Understand when and how to ask for support and
authority. Get agreement on high-level approaches, not specifc tactics. Know
which tactics your business is particularly sensitive to and always make sure
your tactics comply.
Know your r|sk pro|e. To lead a social business initiative one needs to be a
risk taker. lf you are not that person, fnd a partner who is. Changing an organi-
zation takes a degree of personal and professional risk.
Ask the right questions. lf you have an early goal of engagement, the questions
you ask are more important than the bulk of the content. Questions should be
very specifc rather than general so it is more obvious how to respond.
Understand the value of lurking. Just about everything we do online markets
to the lurker. Even though they are not commenting, it does not mean that they
CMM1
are not reading. They are watching how you respond and what you write to other
people. People have different engagement tipping points and many need to lurk
for a long time.
Understand the two Cs. Consistency and cadence is critical to model the ex-
pectations you have for member engagement
Include others in your content. The best way to get your content shared is to
collaborate with others on it. They will likely share the content with their network.
Relevancy matters. If you are not sure about what content would be relevant
to your audience, or just do not have any content yet, simply ask your audience
outright via both conversations and surveys
Reduce and reuse work. Communicate the whats in it for me element of
social participation. Help individuals (particularly subject matter expertsj see that
participation will actually reduce their workload, not increase it. Having an online
presence will reduce the amount of time that people with expertise are called
into meetings and/or asked to sit on projects because his/her expertise is much
more accessible.
Know your audience. When sharing social media successes, keep it focused
on the audience with whom you are speaking.
Initiatives

Find an internal 'owner'
Recruit one or more executives sponsors
Identify cross-functional champions
Educate control functions - legal, lT, risk, compliance, HR - on social
technologies and dynamics
Create an operational framework and roadmap
Complete a social business audit or gap analysis
Start a listening program
Moving through CMM1 to CMM2 can happen in a variety of ways:
Overload becomes so disruptive executives look to reduce that disruption
A mid or senior level employee is exposed to and educated in what social can
do for the business and adopts the mission to bring that knowledge into the
organization.
A maverick employee starts a groundswell
CMM1
Reading & Resources
Books
Drive, Daniel Pink
Trust Agents
Sway
Groundswell
The Power of Pull: How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in
Motion
The Now Revolution
Reports
The Community Roundtable
The 2010 State of Community Management Report
The 2011 State of Community Management Report
Other
Social Media is not a fad
Social Business Evidence is Mounting, Best Cases of 2011
Social Media Usage Statistics
The Community Roundtables Resources
How social technologies are extending the organization
List of Social Media Management Systems
[Wiki| Social Media Monitoring Solutions
CMM1
Stage 2 Emergent Community
Typical length: 3-5 years
Organizations in CMM2 (Community Maturity Model, Stage 2j are consumed with the
task of organizing, assessing opportunity, researching, learning, developing an opera-
tional approach, and marshaling resources. The investments early in this stage tend
to be limited; activity is happening in a relatively small group of individuals and costs
accrue around consulting, advisory work, research, and training to support the work of
that core team. Once critical decisions are made about the organizational approach,
investments increase to include the infrastructure, tools, and teams required to execute.
Early in CMM2 is an exciting time for the individuals involved is social business ap-
proaches because they have a better understanding of the opportunities and they can
see how their organizations might beneft from social and community approaches.
Some of the experiments done sporadically during CMM1 have likely piqued the inter-
est of a variety of stakeholders so there is more interest and often, tangible support
from a set of executives. By CMM2 the organization has an identifed lead or leaders to
organize a social strategy and having more structure helps reduce the chaos and as-
suage some of the fears.
By early CMM2 there is some level of executive awareness and support even if it is
still limited to pilots and trials to determine the real opportunity at the enterprise level.
CMM2
Management is still, however, generally cautious or adverse to social and community
approaches. For those responsible for social initiatives, the goal for stakeholders in this
stage is education. This can take many different forms with the objective of enabling
'Aha' moments and an understanding of the opportunities to speed up support for
further investments.
The purpose of early CMM2 is to get critical decisions made and to spread the under-
standing of those decisions, which include:
How the organization frames the opportunities & risks
How and where the organization will integrate social tools & methodologies
What is on the organization's social/community roadmap
The governance structure for managing social & community initiatives
Once these decisions are made, planning and budgeting cycles are then aligned to
bring those decisions to life and social business initiatives move into a more operational
period. Some of the bigger line items typically include:
Infrastructure: Social applications, tools & integration services.
Resources: Community managers, social media managers, content specialists,
data analysts, business analysts and trainers.
Training: External and internal resources and programs to address formal and
informal learning across the enterprise.
Content & Programs: budget to support events, content development, and
content curation to support communities and encourage engagement.
Measurement: Tools and/or services to help determine whether youre achiev-
ing your objectives in social environments.
External Resources: Consultants, trainers, research, and expertise from outside
the organization to help fll internal gaps or speed execution.
The latter part of CMM2 is focused on deploying and optimizing approaches. This
involves a lot of work, education, behavior change, and the adoption of new work fows.
This process can and does separate out the organizations that have effectively commit-
ted to a social business approach and those that may not have the culture or leadership
will-power to retain the focus needed to mature. Those organizations that better under-
stand their cultural limitations and opportunities are more likely to make it through this
stage, which can feel like the trough of disillusionment" (see Gartner referencej. One
of the key challenges faced by social business teams is that organizations may not see
scaled outcomes that are convincing, due in part to the fact that it is not possible before
the approach is operationalized and optimized. This period can be very hard to
navigate, particularly if executive sponsors and advocates are not committed. It is
worthwhile to plan for a 'gap strategy' - i.e. how are these new initiatives going to
be protected during this period of fear, uncertainty, and doubt?
CMM2
The conclusion of CMM2 occurs when social business initiatives start producing
results at a meaningful scale to the organization. It is a time of great relief and much
rejoicing. Progress and success are obvious and the individuals that took the biggest
risks are often rewarded with acknowledgement and recognition.
Artifacts
Likely
There are explicit guidelines for employee use of social media channels.
Corporate social media accounts have been established and used to push
existing marketing or support content.
Organization is reactively engaged with customers on public social channels.
There is at least one executive sponsor.
There are identifed social business leads and defned representatives in
various functions to coordinate on social media/community issues: lT, Legal,
HR, Compliance.
A social business gap analysis or assessment exercise has been done, in some
form.
There is a documented active listening strategy.
There is a basic listening tool set.
There is one person/team with explicit responsibility for listening.
There is regular communication - both formal and informal - internally regarding
social media/community initiatives.
Possible
Organization is proactively engaged with customers on public social channels.
Organization is reactively engaged with employees on internal social channels.
Organization is proactively engaged with employees on internal social channels.
There is an internal social software pilot.
Community management is an explicit responsibility and set of tasks for
individuals and teams involved with communities.
There are defned social media & community resources (coaches, training,
templates, etcj.
There is an advanced listening tool set.
There is a documented workfow for responding in public social channels.
There is a documented social strategy (or multiplej.
The organization has customer support forums or community.
There are links to social channels in 'contact us' sections of the organizational
website.
There is documented positive ROl or benefts for discrete social projects.
CMM2
There are dedicated budgets for social initiatives.
Social metrics are tracked and reported to business leaders.
Social media training is available to employees.
There is documented competitive social media activity.
Social channels are actively used for crisis communications.
Geographically dispersed employees are connected through social channels/
networks.
User generated content is used in marketing and support programs.
Some executives are using social tools to communicate.
Develop an integrated social strategy approach. This will insure you do not
have to reinvent the wheel every time a business unit wants to test social. Have
them vet their idea in the context of evaluation, design/launch and manage/
monitor.
Develop a proactive approach. Defne enterprise goals and promote use cases
that support them vs. supporting requests that spring up from various groups
within the business.
Understand the importance of education. Internal evangelism is the key ele-
ment to adoption of social media within the organization and requires far more
resources than most organizations anticipate.
Make friends with legal, compliance, fraud, etc. Get the control functions of
the organization on board with social media frst, before any meetings with the
executive team. This is important because if legal is on board then executives
are not able to hide behind legal risks as a reason for not moving forward.
Help early teams win. Set up for 'wins' for the control functions (legal, compli-
ance, fraud, risk, information security, lT, etc.j within your organization. They are
typically groups that are treated as the inhibitors of change organizationally, but
that is often misplaced. They want to support progress, but in a way that miti-
gates risk to the organization - collaborate with them on this.
Ensure scalability. Educate stakeholders within the company who want to use
social media in their business unit by making them complete a requirements'
sheet that outlines their plans and needs, including what they need from a cen-
tralized social business team
Take sma|| steps at rst. The best way to receive funding and approval for a
growing social initiatives is to get creative and skinny down the ask, to make
it small enough to do the initial experiment that proves the business case. Also,
gain an understanding of how your organization manages P&L and fnd a busi-
ness case that people can rally around.
CMM2
Centralize the role of the social team. This approach will work with the internal
and external partners, as well as many internal functional departments and
business units.
Foster a community management mindset. Community management should
be seen more as a philosophy and a way of thinking than a specifc role. A com-
munity management mindset includes transparency, engaging the members
and/or volunteers, soliciting feedback, inclusion and the support and sharing of
other peoples ideas.
Develop strategies for overcoming objections from naysayers and skeptics.
- Meet with the skeptics in an informal setting vs. a business meeting.
- Acknowledge any concerns and show concrete examples that resonate
with the individuals pain points as to how social media can be of assistance.
- Make videos and tell stories about social media.
Empower your community manager. The community manager needs to be
able to answer member questions and fnd answers when they need them. Give
them the authority to go directly to a source for answers and set the expectation
that they need to receive straight answers.
Ask people frank questions about social media and community. There are a
few typical responses: l have nothing important to say" and/or Those people
are going to say something dumb." Both of these statements refect organiza-
tional dilemmas vs. individual dilemmas. ln the frst statement, people do not
feel that they are being heard within their organizations. The second statement
exposes trust issues in an organizations culture.
Start early with the legal team. Discuss policies with your legal team months
ahead of the launch phase. Realize that this is a time-consuming task.
Invest in listening. It is vital that a company invest in monitoring software. Not
only will it give you a true picture of your brand perception, but it will also prove
invaluable in helping you determine your social strategy by exposing hidden op-
portunities and challenges.
F|nd the vendor w|th the r|ght t for your organ|zat|on. It will not necessarily
be the market leader. Vendor intangibles are things like maintenance and sup-
port, etc. Accordingly, an organization should understand the vendors strategy
and roadmap and insure it maps to the organizations goals.
Know your workows. lt is very important to understand the key workfows
needed to support the business goal and then align the software choices around
those workfows frst.
Start simple. When defning requirements that scale, the focus should always
be on simplicity. However, also prepare to evolve, as you will run through the
simplicity stage rather quickly. People who are new to a service need the sim-
plicity to understand what is available to them.
Social comfort is critical to tool adoption. People have different defnitions
of trust. The concept is right, but a term like social comfort might be a better
CMM2
ft. Social comfort has three components: comfort with people, comfort with the
software and comfort with the content.
To SaaS or not to SaaS? When considering whether to go with a hosted plat-
form or in-house, consider the issues of integration, managing entitlements and
data integration with community members and CRM. The other concern with
hosted platforms, specifcally SaaS, is customization limitations.
Know your ROI expectations. There are considerable differences between a
large organization and a small company in regards to the importance of short
term fnancial ROl. This is also true of different industries. Understand sensitivi-
ties and expectations before building ROI models and estimates.
Dont track too often. ROI from community activity typically takes a while
because you are looking to change behaviors and that takes time. Tracking on a
daily or weekly basis may give you the wrong picture and it is often time wasted.
Consider your goals, if they are simple tracking on a weekly basis may be ap-
propriate, but if they are complex, monthly tracking is a better frequency.
All members are not created equal. They behave and infuence differently. Un-
derstanding that difference and treating segments differently can help you reach
business outcomes more effciently. This directly impacts ROl.
Executives have become numb to copious amounts of data. What gives
meaning and helps infuence change is the ability to share a story. Using metrics
to tell a story is a powerful approach when sharing with executives.
Develop social stewards. When implementing an open culture create a social
stewardship program. The social steward role is the linchpin needed to help
promote the benefts, rewards and opportunities of employee engagement while
also reducing the risk to the organization. These individuals work hands-on with
employees throughout the organization with a focus on promoting adoption and
coaching others.
Keep a global perspective. Build governance, stewardship programs, and cul-
tural initiatives to meet the needs of your entire enterprise. A narrow initial focus
can often backfre if it hasn't incorporated a broader set of goals.
Develop good judgment. A guidebook does not exist with all the appropriate
responses to follow for each and every interaction in social media. It takes train-
ing and experience. Ensure social and community teams have access to peers
that can help refne this judgment.
Know your data sources. When setting up advanced listening initiatives it is criti-
cal to understand where data is coming from and what data is not being included.
Understand the purpose of social monitoring. Unfortunately, in its quest to
market to the masses, the social monitoring industry has created a bit of a mon-
ster by making it appear simple in their marketing. It is not simple. In fact, it has
evolved to a point where this is now a broader, consumer insights research type
of tool that has applications across the company. The depth of the monitoring
will depend on the needs of your organization and its goals. The main features
CMM2
and functionalities focus on engagement and response, text analysis, sentiment
analysis, competitive intelligence and infuence identifcation and analysis.
Start managing at the outset. Without effective management of a community,
it is diffcult to aggregate the conversation and engagement. lt is more diffcult to
try and reign back control vs. facilitating it from the start.
Growing groups. Without effective community management, there is the risk of
having too few groups. When there are too few groups, content is diffcult to fnd
because people join the group that is about everything. Time can be wasted try-
ing to locate specifc content. On the fipside, create too many groups and you
can silo information and conversations, also making it hard to locate. Finding the
right balance comes with experience.
Know your organization. Many of the problems and the conficts that exist in
online communities could be authenticity-related challenges. In other words,
people are conficted over an issue because they are unable to answer the ques-
tion of how the company would really do this if it were being true to itself.
Build in hooks for engagement. It is important to have a hook within the com-
munity that keeps people coming back. This can vary by community and can
include such things as immediacy in response to posted questions, planned
programs or events, reciprocity, a tie with offine activities, camaraderie and/or
recognition.
Some critical lessons from participating in communities have helped com-
munity managers:
- Cultivate pride and identity
- Nurture the shared passion that brought this community together
- Build camaraderie
- Find altruism
- Generate excitement
- Build a sense of duty within the community
- Fun is critical ingredient
Use surveys to understand where to allocate budget. When deciding where
to allocate fnancial resources within a community budget, a best practice is
to poll a portion of the membership (particularly the super usersj. To improve
the effectiveness of this best practice, follow up with a phone call to the survey
respondents.
With regards to legal regulations, theres no such thing as The Wild West.
The misconception is that this is all new, so therefore there are few rules. There
defnitely are rules/laws that need to be followed. We need to learn how to
adapt existing rules/laws within social media until such time as new laws can
be enacted.
Dont shoot the messenger. Lawyers do want to help their business clients
win, but they cannot change the rules. Their job is to help their clients and busi-
ness partners interpret the laws and take steps to reduce the risk. Keep in mind
CMM2
that the risks are almost always external. Lawyers give advice based on those
external risks.
You get the legal advice you ask for. Lawyers worry about whether or not the
business client has been honest and forthcoming with all the facts or that some-
thing has changed without the lawyer being informed after s/he has imparted
his/her advice. That gap in information or change may have a material impact on
the advice that has been given.
If you want a better answer than it depends, do not play in the lawyers
world. lnstead, ask the lawyer to play in your world. Do not ask: Can l get sued
for this" or How will this play out in a lawsuit?" lnstead, ask: What are the big-
gest risk areas that I can do something about? If you ask a lawyer for that kind
of guidance, then he/she can speak from experience based on what they have
seen, on emerging issues or actual cases. In turn, the lawyer will be able to give
you some steps to help you work with your business team to mitigate those
potential risks.
Initiatives
Build an operational framework and roadmap
Develop a comprehensive budget
Formalize an enterprise-wide governance structure
Deploy social software
Develop community management expertise and tools
Create metrics scorecards for various reporting levels
Document response and escalation processes
Defne and execute on social and community staff training needs
Moving through CMM2 to CMM3 typically happens in the following way:
A social/community strategist is appointed, usually through some combination
of experience with the new technologies, interest, and position in the organiza-
tion. These early leaders are sometimes replaced or supplemented with outside
hires.
The strategist builds momentum, organization, and support for a well-scoped
and defned plan, which leads to budget and a variety of efforts around technol-
ogy, community management, training, and governance.
Social business initiatives show results - not always at the scale needed to
make meaningful enterprise impact, but enough to show their potential to do so.
CMM2
Reading & Resources
Books
Online Community Management for Dummies
Digital Habitats Stewarding Technology for Communities
The New Social Learning
Get Bold
Social Media ROI
Smart Business, Social Business
Reports
Altimeter Reports:
- How Corporations Should Prioritize Social Business Budgets
- Career Path of the Corporate Social Strategist: Be Proactive or Become
Social Media Help Desk
- A Strategy for Managing Social Media Proliferation
Deloitte
- The Shift Index - 2011
lBM
- 2011 Tech Trends Report
Jive
- Social Business Survey Results
Lithium
- Community Health Index
Articles, Presentations & Posts
Differentiating Between Social Media and Community Management
Dennis McDonald: How To Develop a Business-Aligned Social Media &
Social Networking Strategy
The Commun|ty Manager's Con|ct P|aybook
Thomas vander Wal: Enterprise Social Tools & The Knowledge Organization
vanessa DiMauro: Designing Metrics for Online Customer Communities
Connie Bensen: Metrics & Measuring Success in Online Communities
Measuring E2.0 Success & Business Value Metrics & Analysis
Paul Schneider: Build a Content Plan & Successful Community Management
Blaise Grimes-viort: How to create an editorial calendar
Amber Naslund: New Media, New Metrics, New Lessons
valeria Maltoni: Crisis Communications in Social Media: Are You Ready?
CMM2
Other Resources
Doug Cornelius: Social Media Policies Database
Chris Boudreaux: Social Media Governance & Policy Database
TheCR's Slideshare Favorites: Case Studies, Ideas, and Reports
Glassdoor (Anonymous view of employee satisfactionj
Troll Taxonomy
CMM2
Stage 3 Community
Typical length: 2+ years
Organizations in CMM3 (Community Maturity Model, Stage 3j have reached a major
milestone they are seeing business returns from their community or communities at
a meaningful scale for the organization. While this allows the community management
team to take a collective sigh of relief because the pressure to prove the approach
dissipates, it creates new challenges in sustaining and managing growth. One of the
biggest risks is the perception that now that the community is successful, community
management can take a back seat or be de-prioritized because members have taken
on a lot of community management responsibilities themselves.
One of the biggest business decisions during CMM3 is whether a community approach
will remain something applied to discrete business goals or whether it will be incorpo-
rated into a broader business strategy and drive major changes to the organizational
business model. For many organizations, achieving and maintaining a CMM3 envi-
ronment will satisfy their needs and interests. A smaller percentage of organizations
will have the opportunity and interest in transforming their organizations through to a
networked approach to operations. Regardless of the long-term vision, organizations
should focus on getting to CMM3 successfully frst, as it provides the necessary chang-
es to business process and culture required to drive the perspective change needed for
CMM4.
CMM3
For individual employees, CMM3 can be a very unsettling period because no longer can
all decisions and processes be executed in the privacy of an offce or small team envi-
ronment. For the business processes the community supports, power is shared with the
community and the community increasingly understands and fexes its power. Negotiat-
ing this shifting power dynamic becomes something all employees who interact with the
community become responsible for. Community management is critical to help achieve
a healthy balance of power and to help navigate the myriad of hiccups that occur as
this ongoing negotiation happens.
While community management was primarily focused on organizing an approach and
selling a vision in CMM2, the responsibilities for community management shift in CMM3
to communicating, aligning and resolving confict. As one TheCR Network member suc-
cinctly put it, We are no longer fanning the fames, we are now controlling the fre." lf
community management is reprioritized, the community can often overwhelm the orga-
nization because of its emerging power. The tone and authenticity of engagement plays
a critical role in preventing either a reactionary stance from management or worse, a
community revolt. The risks associated with a CMM3 can come as a big shock to an
organization that, having made it up the mountain, now expects a relatively easy path to
future success.
CMM3 is where the bulk of the organizational culture and leadership change happens.
While a group of leaders likely made this leap during CMM2, the scale of the commu-
nity effort now touches a much larger percentage of the organization. Individuals who
were either not interested or skeptical during earlier periods now have to acknowledge
the community as a productive part of the organization and pay more attention. Many
people may do so unenthusiastically because it forces them to change how they oper-
ate. These changes can make people feel inept because the new approaches are so
unfamiliar. Education initiatives become vital to supporting and familiarizing all employ-
ees in what is expected and required in this new environment.
The goals for CMM3 are typically the following:
Maintain community momentum
lncrease the value generated by the community while optimizing investments
lntegrate community more broadly into affliated corporate processes
Negotiate a new balance of power between formal and informal leadership
structures
CMM3 is usually where an organization stays for a long time, often for the foreseeable
future. However, when it does come to an end, that end happens in two ways - com-
munity initiatives founder and are killed or organizations discover so much opportunity
and effciency in community approaches that they set out to re-tool their entire opera-
tional approach and move toward CMM4.
CMM3
Artifacts
Likely
There is a documented social strategy (or strategiesj.
There is a dedicated budget for social initiatives.
There is a well defned governance structure for coordinating social and
community activities across the organization.
Community management is an explicit responsibility and set of tasks for
individuals and teams involved with communities.
There is acknowledgment of the importance of social/community approaches at
the most senior levels of the organization.
Business leaders understand the value proposition of community and how social
dynamics work.
The organization is pro-actively engaged with various communities and has
expanded points of interaction to meet customers everywhere that they want to
interact across the web.
There are defned social media & community resources (coaches, training,
templates, etcj.
There is an advanced listening tool set & a team responsible for listening.
There is a documented workfow for responding in public social channels.
Social channels are actively used for crisis communications.
Competitive social media activity is tracked.
The organization has customer support forums and/or a community.
There is internal social software deployed for HR, collaboration, or knowledge
management use cases.
Social metrics are tracked and reported to business leaders.
Social media and community management training is available to employees.
Curated user-generated content is used for marketing and support purposes.
Some executives are using social tools to communicate, both with employees
and customers.
A wider range of employees than people explicitly responsible for social media
or community are discussing business on external social channels.
Organization has pockets of employees and teams radically changing their
collaboration and workfow to align with social tools, resulting in fewer meetings,
less structure, and more fexibility.
Community goals move from growth to engagement of existing members.
Metrics move from basic activity metrics to include content- and behavior-based
measurement.
CMM3
Possible
There are explicit programs and initiatives for emergent community leadership.
Community management responsibilities have been transferred to members and
emergent leaders.
Real-time business intelligence generated from the community fows into all ap-
plicable business functions.
Functional business leaders understand when applying social methodologies is
appropriate and benefcial vs. when it is not.
There are offine community events, whether centrally planned or emergent.
There are links to social channels in 'contact us' sections of the organizational
website.
There has been one or more major disagreements between emergent commu-
nity leaders and formal organization leaders that has required a long series of
discussion and which consumed months of internal attention.
Communities are starting to generate revenue and open up new business
opportunities.
HR actively considers and prioritizes online communication skills and alignment
with corporate values in the hiring process.
Online communication skills are included in the employee development processes.
Actively listen for change. Watch for shifting narrative in the community and
respond appropriately. Continue to watch the tone of the narrative (another
rationale for the best practice of staffng to listen during a crisisj. Be prepared to
change and update public statements according to what is being said in social
media channels.
Watch and adapt. Community members may not use the community as it was
designed or envisioned by the organization. Community members want what
they want, not what organizations want to give them. Be ready to reassess initial
goals and requirements, but don't be quick to let members steer the community
too far away from your goals.
The med|um (of|ne, Facebook, soc|a| software| does not dene the
community. lt is user commitment that defnes the community.
Conduct war games. When working towards an open culture, reduce executive
anxiety and prepare the organization by getting fears out on the table, articulat-
ing worst-case scenarios, and planning hypothetical responses. Include a cross-
section of leaders from various functions.
CMM3
Create increased awareness and participation through ideation. Instead of
an open-ended ideation process, use more time- and topic-based ideation runs
because it is a better way to integrate internal processes and generate a mini-
community around certain topics.
Train employees. lmplement certifcation training for employees who want to
engage publicly in areas related to their work. This is particularly useful for orga-
nizations in highly regulated industries. The training emphasizes the necessary
best practices for collaborating in the social media space, particularly the dos
and don'ts required to work within the legal restrictions. Employees must pass
an exam and sign a commitment document. This helps align the organization
and reduce risks.
Create an advocacy program: Get the company ready by helping them to un-
derstand that they must give up some control. Select the right advocates (those
who are engaged and passionatej and give them a platform for their voice. Grow
your advocacy program over time and decide whether or not this will be a paid
or unpaid program.
An advocate is an output and advocacy is the input. A loyalty program and a
fan program are actually very different. Loyalty programs may reward frequency
of use and consumption, but often frequency is not indicative of fan behavior.
Your biggest fan may not even be on the company radar because their dollars
spent are minimal.
Create a center of excellence. This group is designed to train, triage informa-
tion, & coordinate social media and community activities with various business
units.
Technical integration is important. Integration with other tools and platforms
within the organization will help increase adoption and value and may be part of
your selection criteria.
Encourage a change in habits. Get commitment from managers and leaders to
use the community in place of meetings or emails, particularly in contexts where
it makes the most sense (email distribution lists, informational meetings, etcj.
Reverse-mentor your executives. When setting up reverse mentorships plan
for individualized executive mentoring. Social media socials or brown bag
luncheons will not work for executives because they do not want to appear
unknowledgeable. Therefore, consider one-on-one face time for mentoring
executives and encourage them to lean on each other when their mentor is not
available.
Align your taxonomies for performance. Share keyword glossaries with com-
munity managers, social strategists and anyone who is in a position to create
digital content that is published publicly. Include keywords when creating the
editorial plan and tap into data sources that are a refection of what people are
actually searching. Reconcile that with existing content for complete optimization.
CMM3
Teach members how to attract relevance. Creating valuable and topic-specif-
ic content is instrumental in being discovered and making relevant connections
to others whether internally or externally.
Understand how peop|e reso|ve con|cts. Understand adult personal confict
styles and their accompanying strengths and weaknesses in order to manage
confict within a community. lt is important for the community manager to know
which of these styles he/she feels most comfortable with as it can have either a
positive or negative impact on the community. The fve styles are: avoiding, ac-
commodating, compromising, competing and collaborating.
Know your con|ct. Understand the spectrum of online hostility to help manage
a healthy community. There are several possibilities of confict within a commu-
nity, from the relatively mild to the extreme and illegal. Such examples are fame
wars (attacking a person or industryj, rude comments aimed at a person that
are belittling, teasing or mocking, comments that could potentially damage an
individual's reputation (online defamationj, accusations or serious wrongdoings,
impersonations of an individual, Google or Twitter bombs, physical threats and/
or cyberstalking. It is important for the community manager to understand this
spectrum, as it will denote how he/she will handle the situation.
Use alignment leadership. This is a methodology that can be helpful when
dealing with confict within a community because it detracts from fnger-pointing
and helps move the involved parties toward collaboration.
Anonymity has its place: There are times when anonymity is necessary (whistle
blowers, for examplej and our ability to speak freely and to use anonymity
should come with a sense of responsibility and accountability. Encourage peo-
ple to use their real name in situations where there is no discernible risk, includ-
ing professional risk. If people are held to a higher standard, they will not be as
inclined to voice-off online as easily as they would if they could not be identifed.
Also know how to enable anonymous feedback, where its appropriate.
Use emotions to drive behavior. Give people something to which they can
attach an emotion or a visual. Stories and analogies are tools that help break-
down communication barriers. They can also help another individual connect
and relate to the message conveyed.
Develop a shared enemy. Create the equivalent of a shared enemy to help
increase engagement. An enemy could be a person, but it could also be an idea
or a challenge. Choose whatever it is that binds the community together (i.e.
something that they strongly believe in and would be willing to band together to
defendj.
Use imagery. Imagery is crucial because the straight use of words does not
work. Creating a term for the members of the community might be a way to
translate the mythology through imagery (like the way a sports team uses
mascotsj.
CMM3
Game the system. Use any of the following game elements to change
behaviors:
- Appointment dynamic (win by showing up at a specifed timej.
- Level up for reputation's sake (anything with a leader board likely has
this mechanicj.
- Track progress (shows how well the participant is doing against a goalj.
- Cooperate to compete (people provide an invaluable service to the
brand in the form of a game, such as Google's lmage Labelerj.
Make it matter. When implementing gaming tie extrinsic motivators to some-
thing meaningful. Extrinsic motivators such as badges, points, leader boards or
even money are on the periphery of the gaming experience. However, they hinge
on being rooted in something deeper, like intrinsic motivation (such as a sense
of community or doing something socially benefcial, having fun and/or a sense
of well beingj.
Dont plan in isolation. Realize the importance of environment, economics and
a social sense as motivators in game dynamics. In organizations this might be
refected in a new hire's unwillingness to spar with an executive.
Use peer pressure effectively. When implementing gaming, combine person-
alization of a goal with socialization. For example, Health Month combines the
idea of a community that is supportive and cooperative with an element of com-
petition.
Give people performance feedback. Consider game mechanics for peer-to-
peer trust building with real-world relevance. This includes game-like mecha-
nisms such as share ratios and rating systems, which provide the infrastructure
for individuals to prove and make transparent their trustworthiness over time
(such as reputation scores in eBayj.
Enhance vs. add motivators. When implementing gaming, be organic. Follow
your community members lead, see what they value and build game elements
around the tradeoffs/negotiations/exchanges they are naturally initiating with
each other. Be mindful of not creating inherent motivation schemes that go
against the natural rewards that exist within the community.
Educate and train aspiring community owners. People do not understand
what they are getting themselves into when they request to launch a group or
splinter off a conversation. Therefore, help these participants understand the
ramifcations of their request and prepare them to be successful with their com-
munity aspirations.
Authenticity matters. The community team has to embody and portray the
organizations distinctiveness in order to be authentic, which is what leads to a
competitive advantage.
Many of the prob|ems and con|cts that ex|st |n commun|ty management
may be authenticity-related challenges. ln other words, people are conficted
over an issue because they are unable to answer the question of how the com-
pany would really do this if it were being true to itself.
CMM3
Create a line of defense. If communities enable the customer to have a hand in
developing the product, they will defend it passionately.
Differentiate community tactics depending on the audience. An executive
community requires different tactics than a community for individual contribu-
tors or customers. Functionality, content & programs, behaviors, and measure-
ment will all be different.
Ensure outcomes and actions. Communities are more productive when mem-
bers are asked specifcally to be part of the solution and when they are publicly
asked to be accountable for their commitments.
Hierarchy still matters. Executives drive change. If you can bring executives
into an advisory board strategy, ROl will be achieved more quickly and delivers
on results faster than a customer community that does not consist of executives.
Consider an unconference. The format of an unconference is similar to the
dynamic in communities and can be used to both educate an audience and get
them comfortable with the emergent dynamic that exists online.
Initiatives
Develop a community leadership governance structure.
Build a community leadership program (vlP, MvP, advocate, top contributor,
cheesehead, etcj.
Develop enterprise wide training for various audiences covering online
communications through to community strategy.
Create a repeatable framework and toolkit for community building, specifc to
the organization.
Evolve social and community analytics from tracking activity to behaviors and
infuence/roles.
Redefne, articulate and share broadly the core organizational purpose and
doctrine so that employees can better align themselves and make effective
communications decisions.
Retool specifc workfows and processes to optimize decision and communica-
tions points using community input and sharing.
Moving through CMM3 toward CMM4 may never happen in many organizations, but
when it does, it typically happens in the following ways:
The community business model creates such meaningful impact to the busi-
ness that more and more communities are deployed. As momentum grows, the
recognition of a bigger opportunity is acknowledged and the effort to restructure
around a networked model is initiated.
A crisis erupts in a networked way (see case studies of Al Qaeda & 9/11 or Dell
Hellj and the only way to address it is to re-organize to meet the challenge.
CMM3
The strategic and operational opportunities are recognized at the highest level in
the organization and leaders move to take advantage of it proactively.
Reading & Resources
Books
Humanize: How People-Centric Organizations Succeed in a Social World
Empowered: Unleash Your Employees, Energize Your Customers, and
Transform Your Business
Transparency: How Leaders Create a Culture of Candor
Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They
Shape Our Lives -- How Your Friends Friends Friends Affect Everything
You Feel, Think, and Do
Content Strategy at Work: Real-world Stories to Strengthen Every Interac-
tive Project
The Hyper-Social Organization: Eclipse Your Competition by Leveraging
Social Media
Open Leadership
Booz & Co
- The 2011 Global Innovation 1000: Why Culture is Key
5 ways Communities best Networks
Ian Thorpe: Measuring value in communities of practice
Vanessa DiMauro: Designing Metrics for Online Customer Communities
John Stepper: Relationships and reputation in the enterprise: a course
outline
11 Principles For Responding To Disruption
Civilination Resources (Confict resolution, managing online hostility,
reputation managementj
Where the Game Layer Really Counts: Sharing & Peer Communities
CMOs Begin Rightsizing Their Social Media Expectations
Why You Should Treat Your People Like Its 1879
Claire Flanagan: Community Advocates: Your Secret Weapon in Going
Global and Viral
Margot Bloomstein: Content Strategy: Smart, Useful & Paper-Trained
CV Harquail: Do Social Technologies help organization members think
more holistically?
CMM3
Applying A Pattern Language To Online Community Design
Using Unconference in the Enterprise Manifesting Social Business
Modeling Enterprise Social Business Processes
Other Resources
The Microsoft MvP program, SAP Mentors, the Oracle Ace Program and Wal-
Marts ElevenMoms are examples of companies that have a strong advocacy
program.
V|deo Interv|ew of Sean O'Dr|sco||: Inuencer Programs: How to Engage
Smart People Outside Your Organization
Ants Eye View Advocacy Planning Framework
Four Perspectives of a Social Media Balanced Scorecard by Forrester
CMM3
Stage 4 Network
Typical length: 3+ years
Organizations in CMM4 (Community Maturity Model, Stage 4j have typically undergone
major philosophical, cultural and structural changes or have been built as a networked
organization from the start. Networked organizations incorporate a shared value ap-
proach to multiple business processes and models across their organization. The
default mode of operating becomes one of sharing and openness instead of propri-
etary and private. Responsibility, accountability, and self-synchronization is expected
of every individual in the system creating a culture of shared ownership and proactive
response. Employees are hired and rewarded primarily on how well they align with and
execute on the purpose and values of the organization. All management looks more like
community management, replacing task defnition and assignment with coaching and
facilitating productive outcomes. All individuals have greater fexibility and
responsibility in determining their tasks, projects, and career path.
In CMM4, hierarchy and transactional processes do not go away, but they are informed
by and operate in an environment of shared decision-making and networked commu-
nications. Leadership, infuence, and respect are formed independently of hierarchical
roles. Hierarchical roles typically are the reward for leadership, infuence, and respect
vs. the driver of them. Additionally, a wider array of network roles are recognized as
critical and individuals who are great connectors of people and information, for example,
CMM4
are recognized for their role in the performance of the system as much as those who
contribute specifc expertise.
One of the biggest challenges for organizations in CMM4 is to release a degree of
control and oversight, particularly when looking at discrete processes. Measurement
and progress at the organizational or business unit level become important indicators of
progress and performance. This frees up capital and increases productivity by removing
some of the discrete measurement and accountability systems in place today in most
organizations, but requires trust and faith in the human network to surface and reward
performance. Measurement is not removed entirely, but it becomes more of a mecha-
nism to provide performance or progress indicators back to individuals, in a public
way, exerting social pressure to demonstrate value. These mechanisms use both auto-
mated indicators and intrinsic rewards to foster a culture of individual accountability.
For individuals in a CMM4 organization, work life feels a lot more entrepreneurial than
in traditional organizations. The onus of responsibility and the rewards for contribution
are both predicated on individuals taking an activist role in their work. It also falls on the
individual to decide how to optimize their contributions, which requires them to be self-
aware about their skills/preferences/interests and to seek out those tasks and projects
that are best suited for them. For example, is an individual someone best suited to long-
form research work or do they perform better on shorter term initiatives like event man-
agement, which has numerous deadlines? Do they prefer isolated work or work that
involves interaction with a wide number of people? How do they want to grow, develop,
and be challenged? In CMM4, managers are there to help individual employees work
through these questions, but ultimately the primary responsibility for where and how
an individual contributes is up to them (within the bounds of the organization purpose
and contextj. This environment is not well suited for everyone and those who do not or
cannot step up to this level of individual responsibility will likely remove themselves or
be facilitated out of the organization. However, this culture will also attract a swath of
individuals who had formally not found a ft in organizational settings and it will encour-
age both an increase in productivity and a level of loyalty to the organization that more
traditional organizations will fnd hard to match.
Community management as an explicit role recedes in CMM4 as the discipline be-
comes the de facto method of achieving progress by all individuals within the organiza-
tion. There are still individuals that will be responsible for ensuring that various pieces
of the network are performing optimally, but they are likely to be responsible primarily
for a product, a skill set, a market segment, or a set of employees and that will be their
primary role. Community management becomes an operational approach. Regardless,
most organizations will have centers of excellence, training, and other resources that
support a consistent understanding of how to do community management well in their
context, with its unique constituent groups, market dynamics, and product or service
complexities. The focus of community management initiatives in CMM4 is to ensure
that is it the de facto and standard approach to achieving a business goal vs. an option-
al approach. This process continues the training, behavior modeling, and mentoring
developed in CMM3, but extends it to every corner of the enterprise.
CMM4
CMM4 is typically the stage where major structural changes are made to the informa-
tion architecture, organizational model, and human resources practices. Everything
is recalibrated and integrated around a networked perspective of the enterprise value
chain, which accounts for a range of values in addition to fnancial. This process is
disruptive, but if cultural change has been successfully initiated and cultivated in CMM3
the pent up demand for these changes will help ease the transition.
The goals for CMM4 are typically the following:
Align infrastructure with new cultural and process norms
Reorganize to better support a networked approach
Continue to reinforce, invest in and support cultural and leadership change
Many organizations even those that aspire in some parts to do so will not be able to
achieve the transformation refected in CMM4. ln other organizations, it may not be ap-
propriate or needed to reach CMM4 because their value chain includes less need for or
use of tacit knowledge and innovation. Commodity product businesses may not beneft
from advancing to CMM4 unless they are looking to change their business signifcantly.
Because the majority of organizations are a long way from CMM4 at the present time,
this is also the stage that we know least about. Most examples of networked organiza-
tions are start-ups (Giff Gaff, Spiceworks, and uTest are a few examplesj, but we are
starting to see parts of larger organizations transform from what started as communities
for support or marketing purposes into lines of business with a networked model (eBay
Developer Community, SAP SCN Network, EDRs Common Groundj although in
these cases the enterprise around the business units is still quite a bit less mature, from
a social business perspective.
Artifacts
Likely
The CEO, board, and executive team see a networked model as core to the
organization's growth and proftability.
Community management responsibilities have been transferred to members and
emergent leaders.
Real-time business intelligence generated from the community fows into all ap-
plicable business functions.
Functional business leaders understand when applying social methodologies is
appropriate and benefcial vs. when it is not.
Communities are starting to generate revenue and open up new business
opportunities.
HR actively considers and prioritizes online communication skills and alignment
with corporate values in the hiring process.
Online communication skills are included in employee development processes.
CMM4
The majority of organizational leaders and executives use a community manage-
ment approach.
Metrics and modeling are driven by a systems approach & orientation and social
metrics are integrated in to core operating metrics.
values other than fnancial are accounted for and tracked on balance sheets and
business plans.
A vast majority of all digital communications happens in networked environ-
ments instead of email.
Competitors are engaged and often encouraged to participate in community
discussions.
Partners get a signifcant percent of their revenues through their participation in
the organizations ecosystem.
Enterprise software is calibrated around the needs of each individual, providing
a stream of data, alerts, and conversations designed to maximize the individuals
productivity accounting for expertise, tasks, preferences, ambitions & work
style.
Employees proactively share their work and ideas because they understand that
it opens up new opportunities and earns them a positive reputation.
Possible
The organization has redefned the core construct of a job and what it means to
work for the organization to something more fexible and variable.
There are far fewer layers of hierarchy.
Employees self-assign themselves to projects and tasks.
Develop organizational authenticity. Once an organization understands and
knows who it is and/or wants to be, the next step is to envision what those
characteristics look like in peoples behavior. That behavior is recognized,
labeled, and rewarded.
A majority of players in the ecosystem recognize the distinctive and authentic
behavior of the organization, even if the interaction is anonymous.
The customer experience becomes paramount in making decisions about
products, services, and communications.
Shared value approaches create positive externalities. Whenever possible,
this makes shared value models preferable.
Community management can be much more of a philosophy and a way of
thinking about a functional discipline than a specifc role. A community mindset
includes transparency, engaging the members and/or volunteers, soliciting feed-
back, inclusion and the support and sharing of other peoples ideas.
CMM4
The more that you think about your organization as a member of a larger net-
work, the better you are able to connect with the people you are trying to serve
and those that either positively or negatively impact their decisions.
Help internal leaders understand that when developing a business case, they
should frst focus on solving a problem and doing what will add the most value
for the customer. The second step is to fgure out how to build a business model
that yields enough value for the organization to make the opportunity worthwhile.
Initiatives

Redesign information architectures to holistically improve the customer experi-
ence and the employee experience. Ensure regular feedback and performance
indicators aligned with workfow to help improve productivity.
Redesign the human resource function to hire, support, & develop employees in
a more fuid and less rigid way.
Change how employees are rewarded and advanced, including removing many
hierarchical titles.
CMM4 is still in embryonic stages. What companies will look like as they morph into a
networked way of working is likely to be quite varied and lumpy across the large multi-
national organizations.
Reading & Resources
Books
Linked
The New Capitalist Manifesto: Building a Disruptively Better Business
Complexity
The U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual
Obliquity
The Death and Life of Great American Cities
What Urban Planning Can Teach Us About Social Business Design
The Empowered Employee is Coming; Is The World Ready?
Ross Dawson: Crowd Business Models
John Seddon: Cultural Change Is Free
Leading Large-Scale Change: Network-Centric Warfare
CMM4
Websites & Other Resources
Management Innovation Exchange
Social Network Analysis Resources
- Org.net
- NodeXL
- Rob Cross Case Studies
System Dynamics Resources
- Creative Learning Exchange
- Vens|m (mode||ng software|
CMM4
Appendix
We ask a range of experts, practitioners, and business leaders to join members for our
weekly roundtable conversations. The range of topics we cover is broad but always
with a perspective of how it aligns or supports community management. We treat
our visitors as respected peers and we recommend their work to you. Below we have
categorized them according to the topic that they covered with us but many of these
individuals have expertise in a wider range. We encourage you to put them on your list
of infuencers.
Strategy
David Alston, Radian6
Margot Bloomstein
Marcia Conner
Nigel Fortlage, GHY lnternational
Kim Gaskins, Latitude
Paul Greenberg
Francois Gossieaux, Human 1.0
John Hagel, Deloitte LLP Center of the Edge
Jane Hiscock, Farland Group
Michael Pace
Gordon Ross, ThoughtFarmer
Neela Sakaria, Latitude
Julie Wittes Schlack, Communispace
Alexa Scordato, 2tor
Aaron Strout, WCG Group
Leadership
Debra Askanase, Community 2.0
Len Devanna, Ants Eye View
Charlene Li, Altimeter
Jeremiah Owyang, Altimeter
Jamie Pappas, AMP Agency
Jaime Punishill, Thomson Reuters
Jeff Schick, IBM
Mark Yolten, SAP
Culture
Chris Bailey, Bailey Hill Media
Josh Bernoff, Forrester
Janet Fouts
Maddie Grant, Social Fish
CV Harquail
Bill Johnston, Dell
Beth Kanter
Gia Lyons, Jive
James Notter, Management Solutions Plus
Kevin Ryan
John Stepper, Deutsche Bank
Community Management
David Armano, Edelman Digital
Leanne Chase, Career Life Connection
Dave Delaney
Adam Garone, Movember
Valeria Maltoni, Conversation Agent
Sean ODriscoll, Ants Eye View
Mike Pascucci, Zynga Boston
Burr Settles
John David Smith
Paula Thornton
Robyn Tippins
Lauren Vargas, Aetna
Andrea Weckerle, Civilination
Etienne Wenger
Nancy White, Full Circle Associates
Content and Programming
Natanya Anderson, Whole Foods
Andrew Davis, Tipping Point Labs
Steve Gare|d, SteveGarfeld.com
Michael Katz, Blue Penguin Development
Leslie Poston, Magnitude Media
Chip Rodgers, SAP
Liz Strauss
John Wall
Policies and Governance
Ryan Garcia, Dell
Lauren Gelman, Stanford
Cynthia Gilbert, Hyperion Law
Ed McNicholas, Sidley Austin LLP
Sara Roberts, Roberts Golden
Mari-Anne Snow, Sophia Think
Tools
Patti Anklam
Tony Byrne, Real Story Group
Allen Bonde, OfferPop
Ken Burbary, Digitas
Frank Eliason, Citibank
Laura Fitton, Hubspot
Nathan Gilliatt, Social Target
Erica Kuhl, Salesforce
Ross Maye|d, Slideshare
Gail Moody-Byrd, SAP
Jacob Morgan, Chess Media Group
Lee Odden, Top Rank
Cappy Popp, Thought Labs
Mary Wardley, IDC
Metrics and Measurement
Chuck Hemann, Edelman Digital
Cindy Meltzer, Isis Parenting
KD Paine
Erin Traudt, formerly of IDC
Thomas Vander Wal, Infocloud Solutions
Photo Credit (Stage 3 - Communityj
Ross Chapin Architects
Ross Chapin Architects is an award-winning frm known for designing wonderfully
scaled and richly detailed buildings and gardens. We take joy in designing places for
people that are both functional and beautiful. Our work shows that neighborhoods,
buildings and outdoor spaces can be alive and vibrant, authentic and soulful. We strive
to create places that nourish the individual, support positive family relationships, and
foster a strong sense of community.
For more information: http://www.rosschapin.com/index.html

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