• A little about me

Mara Tolja

~ Building Community

Mara Tolja

Blog Archives

Image

Opening the dialogue: The three key ingredients to building engagement

06 Monday Feb 2012

Tags

adoption, community building, conversation, Engagement, enterprise2.0, participation, social intranet

Those who know me, know that I have been wanting to publish a blog for a long time. Crossing that barrier, from subscriber to blogger took longer than it should have.
I have so much content and great stories to share, I just didn’t know where to start.

I imagine that is how most people come to social networks. Whether they be internal or external. That first post on Facebook or Twitter, that first status update on the corporate micro blogging tool, or that first blog.

So what are the magic ingredients that guide someone to take that next step?

The Three Key Ingredients

Over the past two years, I have worked with a number of people, helping them shape their use cases and engagement plans for their internal social networking strategies. There is an obvious increasing shift in the way we want to communicate, converse and share within the enterprise. But we have a long way to go. This shift requires more than a passion for new media – it requires a commitment to rethink the way we do everything. A commitment to change the way we work.

During that time, I have found three key ingredients to guide engagement:

1. Cultivate Relationships
Social networks are dialogues. People are likely to reach out, if they feel they will be heard, and if there is a chance they will get a response in return. Building a sense of belonging, based on trust and connection, will help people feel at ease within the community and start building relationships. These relationships, are the foundations for the conversations and contributions that will build the social network.

2. Provide the ‘Golden Path’
Understanding ‘what’s in it for me’, and the ‘calls to action’, helps someone put into context how and why they can contribute. Nobody wants to look a fool, so make it easy to understand what is expected and simply how to begin.

3. Acknowledgement
It is a basic human instinct to want recognition or acknowledgement. Create a culture of recognition and acknowledgement in your network, rewarding the behaviours you want to promote.
People want to converse, they want to get to know each other. Help them know, “Did anyone read or like what I contributed?”. Once someone gets this acknowledgement, they will reciprocate, and you have a culture of acknowledgement and community.

Once we have these elements, you will be on the journey to building your community, and it is this community that creates the dialogue.

Looking forward to the conversation.

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Posted by maratolja | Filed under Community Building, engagement

≈ 2 Comments

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,075 other followers

Me on Twitter

  • RT @THE_HR_GIRL: β€žI have a Voice.β€œ Bringing @workingoutloud back to #Onboarding. πŸš€ 1 week ago
  • @johnstepper #2 for sure! πŸ‘‹ 4 weeks ago
  • @johnstepper #1 - beautiful 4 weeks ago
  • RT @domesticanimal: Today is the first time we celebrate Matariki as a nation. It’s a time to remember those we have lost, celebrate and gi… 1 month ago
  • RT @workingoutloud: πŸŽ‰ πŸ† β€œNot only were we able to win over 450 HR experts as enthusiastic #WOL4HR participants, but we received the #NewWor… 1 month ago
Follow @tolja

Recent Posts

  • World famous outside New Zealand
  • Finding your purpose: A reflective practitioner works out loud
  • Corporate Communities: from offstage to centre stage
  • Influencing your community to go from good to great
  • The journey to becoming the most globally connected nation in the world

Archives

  • May 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • April 2013
  • July 2012
  • May 2012
  • February 2012

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Mara Tolja
    • Join 1,075 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Mara Tolja
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
%d bloggers like this: