Enterprise Communities - Winning Over Your Curmudgeons

Perhaps “curmudgeon” is too strong a word, though don’t you find them endearing?  In an “I am going to strangle you” sort of way?    With a little nurturing and attention, you might find that your curmudgeons become some of your most ardent evangelists. 

First, why are some individuals so resistant to participating in an effective and cooperative manner with your social computing efforts?  Some reasons may be:

·         Resistance to sharing information because “knowledge is power”.  This is very common.  In the olden days, it was easy to keep your information close to the vest and dole out tiny scraps of info on a “need to know” basis.   

·         An attitude that one is too important to participate with the masses.  This is related to #1, but is obviously more arrogant.

·         Fear that one’s ideas will be critiqued and questioned.

·         Skepticism about enterprise 2.0 efforts as just another technology that will provide no real value to the individual.

So, what do you do to turn them around?

·         Appeal to their affinity for critiquing – curmudgeons tend to be drawn to pointing out what is not working.  And, healthy criticism is an important part of a community discussion.    Draw them into a discussion that calls for debate.

·         If they suffer from, um, I mean are blessed with an inflated sense of self importance, exploit that by asking them to share their ideas and content with a broader group.

·         An inflated sense of sense of self importance can accompany a fear of critique, so consider enhancing their contributions with positive ratings and/or commentary.  Not forever, mind you, just long enough to instill a sense of confidence and encourage participation.

·         Consider finding a very specific community contribution – a shared feed, web page, blog contribution – that will directly benefit the skeptical user.  Sometimes all it takes is that little nugget to convince someone they should come back for more.

Comments

[David H.]

Great suggestions. You're advising your readers to be the bigger person and not let ego get in the way.

I laughed at your definition of curmudgeon -- endearing in an “I am going to strangle you” sort of way.