Today we are going to talk about an essential feature of all communities – Values. But prior to that, we must understand what they truly define. For instance, in the LikeMinds community Defense Tribe, discipline is held sacrosanct for community members, as it should be for any aspirant of a competitive defense services exam. Similarly, depending on nature and type, each community harbors inherent some values.
What Exactly Are Community Values?
Community values are the set of belief systems that we consciously or subconsciously hold. They ideally determine our daily actions and influence our decision-making process. Aligning our values in the community with our actions is the key to living with integrity. Many individuals fall out of integrity when their core values in the community and actions become mismatched or misaligned.
In a similar fashion, communities can stand the risk of losing integrity with their stated values of community service. This undesirable phenomenon often occurs within brand communities. And what happens when our values and principles of community development fall out? Loss of trust. Demotivated members. Drop in engagement. Decreased brand value.
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Why Are Community Values Crucial?
- They distinguish between you and other players in the field/domain.
- They define the clear distinction between who can become community members and who would remain as visitors.
- They define whether we should pursue a given initiative for our community or not.
- They are an indispensable feature within a community.
Why Do Community Values Matter?
Values and principals of community development help you understand how you are going to pursue your community goal while sticking to the values in the community that will get you there. You do not want to get lost in the sea of communities doing the same thing.
Community core values act as the differentiator between you and any other community. Shared values of community service, moreover, help segregate members and visitors and clearly define if or not one should pursue or seek a particular community objective.
Ideally, you need about five community core values because a lot of values will mean a harder task at prioritizing.
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Steps For Defining Community Value
- Make a list of all your values
Firstly, gather all the potential community core values list that your organization might want for the community. This can be achieved by having everyone anonymously submit what they believe to be the values for the organization to generate a long list or you could gather the members together to generate a community core values list in a live workshop.
- Sort primary and secondary values
The community core values that are closest to your belief systems are primary, and those that fall away are the secondary values and even tertiary values. Repeat this process until you whittle down the list to five values and no more.
- Clearly define your terms
It’s crucial to define the community core values you have made a list of and be on the same page with your team. Define the words and share examples and illustrations of values in action. The team members can then make use of those values to aid their decision-making process.
Wait, we are not done yet!
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