A question that keeps popping up in my inbox is when should you create a new group in your community? I thought I would share with you some reasons you should create a group.
First, think about how your community is structured right now. If you have a ton of groups and not enough activity, then you should scale back. At the launch of your community, we usually recommend an Open Forum type group and a few groups based on the interests of your members. Groups are typically based on data from your AMS, such as: committees, chapter, interests, topic, etc.
Create new groups as the reach and impact of your community grows:
- When your members need more specialized support and content
- Based on need or request from the community
- By location, geography, regions, etc.
- Special needs for certain people to communicate
- Topic/subject specific
- For a new chapter or committee
When deciding if you should start a new group, you can consider some of the following questions:
- How will your members find the new group?
- Will there be enough people to drive traction and have utility?
- Would it be effective to create groups based on location?
- Are there language or cultural differences that could make it harder to communicate effectively in a large group? Would people with common languages and cultural nuances enjoy being together in a subgroup?
- Are there people within the community with distinctly different interests or preferences who would enjoy more specialized content or engagement?
- Is your original community already running efficiently and effectively so that you have time and energy to place elsewhere?
Remember that you can give permissions for any member to create a group in your organization settings. If you allow members to create groups, let us know how that works out for you!
As long as everyone stays within guidelines of the group, they are contributing to the community and engagement. Remember to let your members know about new groups – consider announcing them in the Open Forum group.
