THE CONVOS BLOG

Two weeks ago, we added the Subgroup functionality to Convos.  It's a really powerful addition and I thought I'd talk about it some more.  We know that all organizations operate differently and have different structures.  These structures, like departments, committees, project teams, and membership levels, are what really empowers an organization.  Too many solutions I've used before didn't allow me to organize members the way they needed to be.  In most cases, you only get one big group which is terrible for trying to communicate, coordinate, and collaborate with subsets of members.  

With Convos, we knew that the application needed to be flexible enough to adapt to different kinds of organizations while keeping the experience as user-friendly as possible.  You can check the Convos Help Center for an in-depth overview of managing subgroups.

Now here are six reasons why your organization should start using subgroups in Convos.

1. Subgroups promote collaboration and interaction

Organizations get things done in smaller groups.  When you break things down into committees, project teams or leadership boards, you're facilitating productive interaction with members in those subgroups.  Not only is it easier to manage smaller sets of people, but decisions are made more quickly and goals are more easily shared.

2. Convos subgroups have all the functions of a regular group

A lot of other online group tools simply have subgroups that act as mailing lists.  Those kinds of subgroups don't empower the members in them to work together, share files, and plan their own events.  In Convos, all subgroups have the same available functions of a regular group.

3. Subgroups can be used for any part of your organization

There are a wide range of uses for subgroups.  Here are a few ideas:

• Board of directors and advisory boards
• Committees
• Departments
• Geographic regions and chapters
• Project teams
• Alumni groups -  split them by year, occupation, or affiliation
• Membership tiers or levels - e.g., Platinum, Gold, Silver members
• Major events
• External relations - collaborate with people outside of the organization (see this post) 

4. You can create as many subgroups as you want

Whether you have three committees or 158 district chapters, your organization can create as many subgroups as it needs.  By not placing a limit, organizations can set up their groups to adapt to their organizational structures.  

 
5. You can send more relevant and targeted messages to specific members

Sometimes a subgroup doesn't need all of the group functions it provides.  Administrators can simply use subgroups as a means of distributing messages, event invitations, and feedback requests to specific individuals.

Some organizations I've been involved with have had problems with heavy listservs where too many messages are sent out.  You can actually use subgroups to prioritize messages that allow members to easily be alerted to important announcements.  One subgroup can be used as the heavy listserv for general discussion and a second subgroup can be used for important messages, events, and feedback requests.  

6. Members don't have to be re-invited

I mentioned before that other tools only give you one group to work with.  If you want to have subgroups on those tools, then you'd have to create new, but disconnected groups.  This doubles up the invite process.  

On Convos, all members just need to be invited to the main (top-level) group.  Once they're in, administrators of subgroups can simply just add them.  

In the past two weeks, I've been talking to some people at a large member organization to see how some of their content and online tools can be improved. I've been involved with the organization for a couple of years now and was familiar with their online "dashboard." Giving it some thought, I commented that the organization is still living in 2002.

I don't actually know when they implemented the dashboard, but it was around that time. Back then, the dashboard was pretty cool for the 200+ district advisors and 10,000+ active members to access. It was the one place for downloading manuals, reporting information, and looking over some basic statistics of the organization. They weren't using high-end association management tools. This was built from the ground up and customized for them. Seven years later, it badly needs to be updated or replaced with something better. Given what's come out on the web during that time (social media, more APIs, FB, etc.), there are lots of things that they can use to improve their operations.

Whichever tools they decide to go with, it was clear that they need to:

• Be simple to understand and learn
• Make content conveniently accessible
• Add communication and collaborative features
• Make reporting and documentation processes minimal but useful
• Be private and secure

A lot of the tools you can find now are extremely easy to use, well-designed, and actually useful. Trying to wade through the many online group solutions can be confusing and frustrating. The important thing is that the organization finds the tool(s) with the right features for them.

When selecting tools for online groups, you should start with identifying the needs of the people who will actually be using them. Without their input, you could be spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on something that will barely be used. Focus on what can make things convenient for them and that can add value to their busy lives. Then you can start to discussing the types of content that needs to be created and distributed as well as the communication channels that will work the best for everyone.

Once you get an idea of what the members actually need, then you can start examining the different solutions out there.  A lot of times, people do this in reverse. They look at the solutions available first and then get filled with lots of ideas, some of them useful and a lot of them irrelevant. By talking with the members (actual users) first, you get to see what the real issues and needs are. For example, you may find that one solution offers tagging on files. You might think that's such a great thing, but your members might not actually care. They just want the easiest and fastest way to find files, whether it's by tags, folders, or search.  Don't be fooled into thinking you actually need something when you don't.  

Overall, I think a lot of organizations are in this position. A few years ago, they made some significant investments in technology and now they're ready to do so again. But now the marketplace is filled with so many options. Some are cheap and some are insanely unaffordable. Others can focus on one function or they can have a broad range of functionality. By listening to your users carefully, you'll be able to narrow your options significantly and hopefully choose the best tool for your organization.

It's easy to start an online group. With tools today like Convos, it takes seconds to get a group up and running. The hard part is getting everyone else in your group or organization to use it. There needs to be one or more people to champion the use of the tool by constantly poking, prodding, and encouraging others. Members of your group have to clearly understand why they should be using the tool and how it can help benefit them and the organization.

I've seen too many organizations choose tools and create groups where they magically expect people to just start using it. I've heard of hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of dollars wasted on online tools that either don't fit the organization and/or doesn't get high adoption rates. It's important to note that technology is simply an enabler. It's only as good as the champions' ability to effectively use it and promote it.

Leaders choosing an online group tool for the first time usually make the mistake of choosing a tool for their needs, but not anticipating the needs of the members. Then, after realizing their mistake they painstakingly look for replacement solutions that have a better user experience.  No matter which tool is used, champions will always need to do their part.  Different tools are going to make it easier or more difficult for them to increase member usage.

One of the things we've done with Convos is to try and make it something that group leaders AND members like to use.  Convos has no ads, no page loading wait times, and a lot of interaction is done just over email.  By making Convos simple and convenient, we want to help group champions increase member usage more easily than with other group tools out there today.