As your organization grapples with social distancing from both clients and employees, virtual collaboration is critical. Online forums and communities can play an important role in successful virtual cooperation, especially when you are trying to communicate and engage with thousands of customers, partners and employees simultaneously. As companies adjust to the post-pandemic reality, the benefits of online communities will only grow.

This is, therefore, a pivotal moment for many community leaders – an opportunity to build and strengthen the community, to demonstrate its worth to senior executives during this uncertain period, and to model how the community will continue to provide value over the coming months and years.

Leader Networks Community Readiness Service

Leader Networks specializes in creating online community strategies that directly contribute to your organizational goals. During this period, we have been helping clients plan their community response plans to Covid-19. Now we are proud to introduce the Leader Networks Community Readiness Service. This 3-week service includes a “health check” of your community’s strengths and weaknesses and a report to help you formulate your strategy for your community during and after this crisis.

There are over 70 checkpoints to assess an online community’s strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for growth and greater success.
These include factors such as:

  • Strategic viability – Are operational practices in alignment with business strategy and goals?
  • Business plan integrity – Does the business model match up with community strategy and operations?
  • Operational performance — Is the member on-boarding process efficient? Is the community growing at the right rate? Are outreach efforts fruitful? Are success metrics on track? Are they the right metrics?
  • Technical framework – Does the community face technical limitations that inhibit use? Does the chosen technology platform support the business model? Are the community technologies moving towards greater integration with core business processes? If not, what are the implications of this divergence?
  • Organizational practices – Does the organization have the right skills available to support online community and social business? Do the social business initiatives have sufficient visibility and executive support within the organization? If not, what should you do?

Armed with the findings from this health check and our recommendations, the Leader Networks Community Readiness service will allow you to formulate your response for dealing with the crises and answer these key questions:

  • Immediate Response – How can you drive online engagement and increase community impact immediately?
  • “New Normal” – How can your community contribute to critical business measures (for example, customer loyalty) in the coming months?
  • New Strategies – How can your community help your organization identify and adapt to new strategies in the coming years?

It is hard to imagine a pre-coronavirus strategy plan that won’t change, perhaps significantly. Many organizations will permanently shift communication and collaboration online, as they discover efficiencies that provide competitive advantages. Some will face restructuring in their core business. For example, one of our client’s communities, Israel Industry 4.0, is discussing the implications of long-term shifts in manufacturing supply chain.

Every organization will need to figure out the long-term implications of Covid-19. With the results of the diagnostic and our recommendations, you will possess a community action plan and a strategic roadmap for your community for the unprecedented times ahead.

We want to hear from you. How are you and your community responding today to the Covid-19 crisis? Leave a comment or reach out privately.

 

 

 

 

Adam Zawel