What is it you want out of RSA Networks?

Most fellows involved in the RSA Networks project should have received a discussion paper this morning. It's fairly long and detailed, but I thought it might be worth teasing out some of the more 'provocative' detail in a series of posts here. For instance early on, the paper poses a series of questions we might usefully mull over between now and next Friday:

"Do Fellows really want a deeper kind of engagement with the RSA? 

"What is it that Fellows would like to change about the interactions between themselves and the organisation?

"These are $64 million questions, but over the course of this project we hope to be able to answer them with a greater degree of confidence and clarity. The event you are attending on the 22^nd November is a chance for us to work together on addressing these issues and will be founded on the key question: what might new RSA networks do and how might they deliver?"

It should be emphasised that most of the detail as posed as questions: it is neither a blueprint, nor a position statement. Indeed it emphasises that it is hoped that:

"...as Fellows, you are fully engaged at every step of the process, as collaborators and co-creators along with the staff of the organisation. So please treat the thinking here as a springboard for your own views and ideas: challenge it, develop it and add to it."

It then goes on to ask a series of questions about what you would like to achieve:

• Discovering a new project to get involved in?
• Proposing a project and finding some collaborators?
• Developing thinking around how RSA networks might work in the future?
• New contacts?
• Good conversation?

We can explore some of the answers to these questions, or even your own specific ideas under the loose heading of "none of the above"!

Incidentally, the format for the 22nd is going to be "Open Space", which for those not already familiar with it, is a participative technique formulated to allow individual participants can set their own agenda and connect with others of a similar mind. This account from Michael Herman is a good gentle introduction to the concept.

None of the discussion here or elsewhere is intended as definitive agenda setting, or prescriptive, but hopefully we can begin making 'connections' around content as well as process issues.

Comments

[babu]

help me with the plan to carry out a competitor analysis in a given organization

[Andy Gibson]

That's a really useful summary for us Ian, with lots that's relevant to the work Saul and I are doing. And big thanks too to Mick for raising this incredibly important issue about what the fellows actually want from this process.

One of the key questions to ask when developing online networks is "what's in it for me?" so it's really useful for me to hear what benefits the RSA Networks project might bring to the fellowship, and to the institution as a whole. The more we know about what people want, the more opportunities we will have to engage them in the project, and meet their needs.

But perhaps it is time to widen things out into the obvious bigger question: what do fellows actually want from being an RSA fellow? And how do we begin to discuss this openly and effectively with 26,000 people?

[Ian Collins]

A colleague of mine who is a member of RSA pointed me in the direction of these blogs. It seems that there is a drive to develop some online social networking capabilities that will impact RSA (the reincarnation thereof) and help members do things online.

I have to say, I am not really clear what the "things" are (short of building project teams), so I thought that you might like to see some of the drivers from a recent online networking project in which I was involved, just in case it sparks some interest or generates some new ideas for you.

The project commenced with a discovery programme that engaged representatives of the institute and its members in order to understand needs. Here are some of the results – note that not all will be relevant to RSA but it should give you an idea:-

• Obtain introductions to key stakeholders.
• Find people with specific skills or experience.
• Match business supply and demands.
• Connect together business resources.
• Access soft knowledge.
• Obtain referrals.
• Carry out competitor analysis and market research.

If the online networking solution could address these needs, the outputs and/or benefits would be significant – for members and Institute alike:-

• Facilitating more business.
• Creating a richer all-inclusive experience.
• Improving communications.
• Making networking and information exchange easier.
• Building an interactive community.
• Leveraging the knowledge and experience of members.
• Disseminating or publicising key information.
• Obtaining important management information about members’ interests and needs.
• Offering a wider choice of free and subscription-based services.
• Generating additional income from sponsorship and advertising opportunities.

Through a series of workshops this lot was whittled down to some very real and often quite challenging objectives:-

• The ability to find out the things which are most important to customers, suppliers and partners.
• Getting to know when somebody is interested in them or their products and services.
• Connecting with prospects that they know are looking for their products or services.
• Connecting with people who share the same interests and expertise.
• Getting to know when someone they would like to meet is attending an event.

And so the project was formed, complete with project charter and a communication piece (networking vision) that looks something like this:-

• Improved networking throughout the Institute.
• Increased member engagement.
• Raised profile of the Institute.
• Closer relationships with members.
• The ability to identify and engage more communities.

OK, RSA's needs will be different but it may be that there are some common requirements and certainly the functionality of an online networking solution that can deliver this lot, will almost certainly deliver a lot for RSA. So perhaps worth having a closer look.

ome strategic input as to how you might develop some