Virtual teams in non-profit organizations
Stumble It!In an article entitled “When Collaboration And Leadership Are More Important In Non-Profits Versus For-Profits” Steve Shu suggests three of the main failure areas in the ability of non-profits to successfully collaborate:
- Over-ambitious goals and lack of quick-win outcomes
- Non-optimum organisational structures
- Lack of access to good collaboration mechanisms (the article includes some good free virtual technology suggestions)
These three points are very pertinent and real issues for non-profits attempting to move into collaborative working supported by virtual technologies.
From my own experience I have found the following also useful:
1. Consider new ‘affirmative methods’ of virtual community development
Techniques such as 'Appreciative Inquiry (AI)', where you focus on amplifying the good in the organisation rather than fixing the bad, are more in keeping with the ethos of these organisations and can be very valuable aids to incubating a participative community.
2. Experiment with new leadership and management styles
Non-profits are ideal candidates for exploring new organisational structures such as self-managed teams. Virtual technologies are creating new possibilities for extending and modernising this concept.
For example, the evolving area of bioteaming which I am particularly excited about.
3. Explore opportunities to involve sponsors and donors
For example, in Northern Ireland, the local e-government unit have made available free one-year fully hosted licenses to over thirty non-profit organisations for an industrial strength virtual community platform as part of an OnlineNI Smart Communities Programme.
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Bioteams Books Reviews
Social Propagation is the secret to organizational and team learning
and the most evolved non-human species on the planet is not who you think it is! Arie de Geus is credited by many as the inventor of the concept of "the learning organisation". In his book "The Living Company" Arie describes an interview with Professor Alan Wilson, distinguished zoologist and botanist.
Buy it now from:
Amazon.Com
Amazon.Co.UK
Related Virtual Communities Articles
Virtual Community development as active waiting
Growing a successful virtual community is like tending a delicate rose in your garden. Both the rose and the community need to be carefully nurtured and both are under constant threats to their continued health and existence. Despite all our hopes and intentions for them, they are both living systems and will never thrive and develop on demand – no matter how hard we push!
Community building resources
Anyone serious about developing community, virtual or otherwise, should have a look at the excellent free resources at the Foundation for Community Encouragement originally established by Dr Scott Peck to help groups of all types work through the universal stages of community building.
Virtual communities - learning from conflict resolution
What can we learn from conflict resolution that can help us build strong virtual communities, networks and teams?
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