Seven golden rules for building online communities

Why most online communities fail

Most online communities become ghost towns. People register, log in once, decide it is not for them, and never return. The pattern repeats across organisations of every size.

This article is for L&D managers and senior leaders who are asked to build a community for a team, a customer base, an alumni group, or a learning programme. If you still want one, these seven rules will help you avoid the most common mistakes.

• Rule one: there is no 'big bang'
• Rule two: community building takes time
• Rule three: give the community an engaging purpose
• Rule four: opportunism kills communities
• Rule five: protect your community
• Rule six: do not neglect place, face, and voice
• Rule seven: build in some enjoyment

Rule one: there is no 'big bang'

Real communities start small. A 'big bang' launch produces a crowd of the uncommitted. It might look like a group, but it lacks what it takes to last.

It is much better to have five or six committed members than 50 to 60 spectators. With a solid group of founder members, you can grow to 10 or 12 if each person brings in one more and takes responsibility for welcoming them. Add members carefully, one at a time, in waves.

Rule two: community building takes time

Do not start unless you can commit for at least 12 months

If you abandon a community after a month, you will damage your reputation. Community building is like planting a garden: for a long time nothing seems to happen, then you get growth.

At the start, plant the seeds with regular, valuable posts until engagement appears. Then find other community leaders to share the load.

Rule three: give the community an engaging purpose

If the purpose is too narrow or dull, you are doomed before you start

Think hard about this. If you sell video conferencing services, for example, the community focus might be everything to do with virtual engagement, including good meeting practice. If you mention specific technology, cover a range of products rather than just one.

Rule four: opportunism kills communities

You need authentic engagement

At some point, a valuable community will be developing nicely and you will think 'What harm would a little product update or promotional message do?' Resist it. It takes a long time to build a reputation for authentic, valuable knowledge, and just seconds to lose it.

Rule five: protect your community

Do not let spammers undo your hard work

Once your community is going, spammers will find you. There are two types to watch for.

• External spammers post spam comments on public pages. Requiring login filters out most of them, as they are often bots, but some will go to the trouble of logging in. When that happens, remove them and their contributions
• Internal spammers join, lurk for a while, then try to take the community over. Talk to them to see whether they can become leaders by working with you, or whether they need to go. Be vigilant, as competitors may join in disguise

Two steps give the strongest protection: carefully control who can post messages, and contact other members one to one by private message.

Rule six: do not neglect place, face, and voice

The strongest communities tend to have some element of connection around place. With geographically dispersed groups that is often impossible, but look for ways for parts of the community to meet in person, which is best, or virtually by video and audio.

With free and paid tools so well established, there is little excuse for neglecting this. Until someone has met you or seen you on video, they are less convinced you are a real person and more likely to let you down, which is how free-riding takes hold in communities.

Rule seven: build in some enjoyment

Do things together that members find enjoyable. A community that has not laughed together is liable to fragment when the going gets tough.

From rules to practice

Even if you follow all seven rules, community building is tricky and takes practice. Real communities are built on trust, shared purpose, and people choosing to collaborate across boundaries, which are skills that leaders can rehearse before they have to get them right.

Our collaboration challenge page sets out how immersive, facilitated simulations help teams work across functions and build a collaborative culture. Two simulations bring those dynamics to life:

• Consortium, where rival businesses join forces and must balance competition with collaboration
• Cruise, where a team runs a luxury cruise ship and has to align around shared priorities

If trust between members is your sticking point, Cohesion focuses on earning trust and resolving conflict in a team.

If your community is specific to your own organisation, with its own people, platforms, and terminology, we can build a simulation around it. Explore our tailor-made simulations, or get in touch to talk it through.