Drumbeat/p2pu/Assessment and Accreditation/Webcraft Assessments - detailed/Community builder

Background

One hallmark of open projects is the distributed, collaborative nature of most work. In addition, the participants can bring diverse backgrounds and expertise to any project, which also means that not everyone has the entire suite of skills and knowledge that might be needed to be most effective. In these situations, one or a few people often assume a role as a community builder - attentive to and engaged with the members of the community in such a way that they facilitate successful outcomes for everyone.

This skill is multidimensional, and excellent community-building behavior in one context runs the possibility of simply being disruptive or even disrespectful in a different context. The skill is a mix of communication, work habit, and leadership skills. There is always a danger that a good community builder will act in that capacity to the detriment of her own work, so excellence in this skill demands balancing personal goals with facilitating the goals of other people.

Community builder skill

Breaking down this skill into component parts, we get:

• Your attentiveness to other members of the community.
  • Receptive to questions and comments.
  • Able to receive messages and respond to them in a timely manner.
  • Identified as a "go-to person" in the community.
  • Appropriateness of responses.
• You are useful, in the sense of being able to provide accurate advice and comments.
  • At times, may require a certain degree of decisiveness.
  • At times, may require referral or delegation to the correct person, such that people are confident that the correct referral has been made.
• You are deferential and accommodating
  • The goal is to build other people's capacities, not just show off.
  • You don't have to be expert in everything, and recognizing when others may be better positioned to help is itself a hallmark of community facilitation.
  • Balance between making a decision and consensus building, as a measure of leadership.
  • Strike appropriate tone.
  • Members of the community value your presence, and they feel that their own presence is valued.
• Community-based projects tend to run more smoothly and achieve desired outcomes more efficiently by virtue of your presence.

Each component part of community builder considered in turn

Your attentiveness to other members of the community

• Receptive to questions and comments.
• Able to receive messages and respond to them in a timely manner.
• Identified as a "go-to person" in the community.
• Appropriateness of responses.

This aspect of community building reflects the ability of a person to make it known that this is a role they want, and perhaps is an area of proficiency. Probably the best single metric we could use here is simply the perceptions of the other members of the community; for example, if asked to identify someone who was particularly adept at community engagement and facilitation, who is it?

There may be some automated mechanisms for tracking the sub-metrics, such as timeliness of the responses.

You are useful, in the sense of being able to provide accurate advice and comments

• At times, may require a certain degree of decisiveness.
• At times, may require referral or delegation to the correct person, such that people are confident that the correct referral has been made.

Nothing here yet.

You are deferential and accommodating

• The goal is to build other people's capacities, not just show off.
• You don't have to be expert in everything, and recognizing when others may be better positioned to help is itself a hallmark of community facilitation.
• Balance between making a decision and consensus building, as a measure of leadership.
• Strike appropriate tone.
• Members of the community value your presence, and they feel that their own presence is valued.

Nothing here yet.

Community-based projects tend to run more smoothly and achieve desired outcomes more efficiently by virtue of your presence

Nothing here yet.