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Brain Circuits
Are you community-centric? A checklist for leaders
A community-centric approach to organizing and managing can contribute substantially to solving the grand challenges of our time. Consult this checklist of enablers to see how it’s done.
Enablers of community-centricity
Mission and vision
- Do your mission/vision statements contain explicit references to a community orientation?
- Is your business purpose aligned with a community orientation?
- What kind of stakeholder orientation is evident in these statements?
- What kind of future do you envision? What is your place in it?
Strategy
- What internal and external community projects are part of your strategic agenda?
- In which strategic fields of action does the development of communities play an explicit role?
- Are all relevant stakeholder groups involved in strategy development and decision-making?
Product development
- To what extent are community members involved in the initial development of products?
- How is feedback gathered from the user community once products are on the market?
- How are innovations from the community integrated into products?
- How are relevant stakeholders addressed when products reach the end of the lifecycle? To what extent are they integrated into developing sustainability solutions?
People and culture
- Do you create a sense of belonging for your community members? How?
- Do diverse employees/community members feel included and valued? Are they represented in recruiting and development processes?
- To what extent does management and leadership training include community-centric elements?
- Do you develop internal and external community management capabilities? Is community-based and peer learning established?
- How are external stakeholders integrated into your organization? Are there formal policies for participation and promotion?
Finances
- Are there budgets for developing and activating communities (detached from the marketing budget)?
- Are these budgets substantial compared to other strategic initiatives?
- Is the community being monetized? If so, what is the underlying revenue model?
- Is there an ROI for the community?
Technology
- Do you need technology infrastructure to support the community?
- Do you invest in technology and developing technical platforms/expertise to support the community?
- Do you rely on cooperation with established software partners, or do you have your own (community) developments?
Key learning
A mindset shift to community-centricity can help combat the grand challenges of our time. To make it your guiding principle and core resource, ensure it is visible in your mission and vision, values, strategy, business model, finances, product development, personnel, and technology.
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