The Social Organization Chapter 8

Chapter 8 begins with a story from EA. They had set up internal communities to connect the entire company globally. The problem with this is that they opened to many communities. None of the employees participated that much because everything was so spread out. They then go on to explain how the managers at EA did not handle the situation in the best way. Many people think that the managers are not going to do anything and that they are going to only watch over the community and try to stop anything bad from happening. The real issue is that managers are key to the success of communities. They have to be able to find the perfect balance in which they help to lead the discussion, but then allow the community to grow and flourish by itself. When employees see that the community is then being 'run' by peers, they feel more comfortable to join in and participate. When the communities take this turn, the managers just have to sit back and focus on any conflicts that may arise. This again makes the employees feel safe and wish to participate in the community. In the end, EA was able to figure things out and use the communities to promote internal communication and spread ideas around the globe. Even though EA ended up being successful, that scenario shows how easy it is to create a tool that you think would help only to have it do more damage.