What Should Microsoft Do for the SharePoint Community – My Opinions
Author: Marc D. Anderson
http://mdasblog.wordpress.com
As with so many things these days, this post started off in a conversation on Twitter. Eric Ligman, Microsoft Global Partner Experience Lead, tweeted a question: “What would you like to see from #Microsoft from a social networking/community perspective? #socialmedia #mspartner“. Here’s the conversation from Twitter:
@EricLigman
Eric Ligman
What would you like to see from #Microsoft from a social networking/community perspective? #socialmedia #mspartner
November 16, 2010 8:02 am via TouchTwitRetweet
@sympmarc
Marc D Anderson
RT @EricLigman: What would you like to see from #Microsoft from a social networking/community perspective? -> Support and nurture.
November 16, 2010 8:09 am via HootSuiteRetweet
@EricLigman
Eric Ligman
@sympmarc – Can you expand on that? Suggestions?
November 16, 2010 8:21 am via TouchTwitRetweet
@sympmarc
Marc D Anderson
@EricLigman We SharePointies have the community thing handled. Just help when asked and don’t try to overrun.
November 16, 2010 8:13 am via HootSuiteRetweet
@EricLigman
Eric Ligman
Absolutely agree > RT @sympmarc – We SharePointies have the community thing handled. Just help when asked and don’t try to overrun.
November 16, 2010 8:27 am via TouchTwitRetweet
@sympmarc
Marc D Anderson
@EricLigman Think I feel a blog post coming on this from my end. :-)
November 16, 2010 8:26 am via HootSuiteRetweet
I realize that Eric’s question was about communities around *any* of Microsoft’s products, but what I know is the SharePoint community. I’m betting that it’s as much of standout in the technical community spectrum for Microsoft as it is against just about any technical community out there.
As I mentioned above, the SharePoint community is alive and well, thank you very much. Through the herculean efforts of people like Michael Lotter (the king of SharePoint Saturdays) and Mark Miller, Jeremy Thake, and Joel Oleson (the kings of SharePoint online communities), and a band of others, the ball got rolling. After those early cultivators of the community started things off, it seems like the community just keeps growing. Of course there are those who enter the stream to try to make a quick buck off SharePoint as the latest new big thing, but the vast majority of the SharePoint community kicks in their time, knowledge, and effort for free or very little. This is something which makes the SharePoint community so unique.
It’s been said ad nauseum, but the SharePoint community *really* is unique. I’ve been in technology for almost 30 years now and I have never seen such a giving, thoughtful community built around a technology platform. I often wonder if this is more due to the technologies available to support things (20 years ago we wouldn’t have even had a way to identify the others in our field, much less collaborate with them regularly) or the domain itself. I think it’s probably the confluence of the two: passion for collaboration supported by the best collaborative technologies that have ever existed. I’m not just talking about SharePoint here; it’s just one of the threads in the amazingly vibrant social and collaborative technology fabric which we all use every single day.
So, what do I think that Microsoft should do in the SharePoint community space?
Be Aware
For gosh sakes, know what the community is doing. I was at a Microsoft-sponsored event a while back and it flabbergasted me that we had to explain to marketing folks in the Office division how SharePoint Saturdays worked and how the SharePoint community uses Twitter. Microsoft needs to know all that is going on and participate mindfully. Know what we are up to and learn the lingo and the names. Get to know us, even those of us who aren’t MVPs. Many of us don’t do this for things like MVP badges, but for the community itself and the rewards we get from participating, as intangible as they may be. Think about what we are doing and why. Let us know what you see us doing that seems good or bad and why. Keep the channels open.
Be Respectful
Yes, the community is alive and well, and to a large degree that has been without much help from Microsoft. So respect what has happened around SharePoint and don’t meddle without very carefully considering each act. We don’t just need a bunch of money and a herd of Softies showing up at all of the events. But the events are fun, mind-bogglingly valuable and informative, and might benefit from a little Softie TLC and mind share.
Understand how much time many of us put into the community. Think about the fact that the reward structures (the MVP program for one) that you offer to the propeller head geeks (That’s not a put down, BTW. I’m a closet propeller head.) don’t really work for everyone in the SharePoint space. There are also a lot of *very* good small shops out there who work with SharePoint who don’t necessarily get much from things like the Partner Program. That’s OK, frankly, but we’re not just going to sell software seats for you (which *sometimes* seems like the overarching motivation for you). We’re going to help make people think about Microsoft differently, one project at a time, but also one conversation at a time.
We’re in this not just for the technology, but for how this stuff can fundamentally change work as we know it. We see potential far beyond documents in lists and social networking. We see a greater whole which transcends SharePoint itself. (OK. I’m getting a little ridiculously hyperbolic here, but I’m not kidding, really.)
Be Supportive
Yes, that may mean a little money. But it also means continuing to let us use Microsoft facilities for SharePoint Saturdays. It may also mean being there at SharePoint Saturdays to show that you know about them and understand the value. It may mean tossing the community leaders a few bones every once in a while, and that may be very simple stuff like mentions in articles or invitations to cool events. Different rewards work for different people. If you get to know us, you’ll figure out what those might be. Acknowledge what we do and the difference it makes to you. Help us when we ask for help, whether it be on a particularly thorny technical issue, or when we point out problems with your documentation, or when we ask for new ways to work with you.
Summary
If there’s one message I’d say is the take away for Microsoft in all of this, it’s “Don’t screw this up”. We’ve got a great thing going here. We may not all get rich, but we’re doing good work and making a difference. The SharePoint community is the glue that hold it all together.
Author: Marc D. Anderson
http://mdasblog.wordpress.com
Marc D. Anderson is a Co-Founder and the President of Sympraxis Consulting LLC, based in Newton, MA. He has over 25 years of experience as a technology consultant and line manager across a wide spectrum of industries and organizational sizes. Marc has done extensive consulting on knowledge management and collaboration and what makes them actually work in practice. Read More.
on
Great article Marc and i could not agree more.
Dave
Always good to see a passionate plea for extra support. ++
I totally agree that the community benefits Microsoft as much as it benefits the community membership.
However I am hesitant to involve ‘reward’ or even ’supportive’ finances of any kind from Microsoft (specifically if they are substantial). I just fear that when money starts exchanging hands the focus begins to change. This goes for monetary rewards too in my humble opinion.
Big Note: Prizes for conferences, facilities, or free licenses etc are all totally cool in my opinion. I just mean literally cash/liquid funds.
Here’s what I would like to see more of:
1. Microsoft needs to encourage/actively support their staff participating at these events more (money can totally change hands here!).
I absolutely agree that we need more presence at the community events. People have Microsoft questions all the time! In fact even have some sales guys there to answer licensing questions and I bet it will return value for the business.
2. Microsoft needs to publically acknowledge the community on a more regular basis. At Conferences, at events, in news, honestly even press releases and everywhere. Why? Because this reduces your support costs, leads to higher technology implementation satisfaction levels and encourages participation and awareness of the communities (which Microsoft technically does support quite actively).
3. I think the MVP process is an effective one (though I admit I have never been involved in it) in that it rewards technical proficiency and helpful community contribution. I am not saying it’s perfect (nothing really is) but it’s better than many other systems I have seen and have yet to meet an MVP I didn’t really admire for their knowledge, skill, or contribution.
To the general comment that it doesn’t apply to non technical people I also agree.
Overall not sure where I stand with whether it should/shouldn’t apply to non technical. I <3 non technical contributors (which is where I spend most of my time contributing) but at the same time MVP's are expected to know a fair amount about the product (not the MCM level but certainly quite a bit) so… I find it difficult to say MVP is the right reward for non technical contributors.
I am super curious to understand what other people think though.
Lastly a point to all communities around reward structures…
Communities: You can reward contributions too! At the Toronto SharePoint User Group as a group we decided we would create the "Community Contributor of the Year" Award or something like that which could be voted by the community and acknowledge the amazing participation great members make.
Earlier when I talked about the non technical we could always band together and come up with interesting ways of voting and creating new structures for acknowledging awesome people (especially as we grow/mature as a community).
Hopefully this made sense – Just thought I would toss out some additional input as I am absolutely loving how much attention we have been bringing to the community recently. :)
Ditto Marc and Dave. Really awesome post. There really is a whole lot more going on out there than just the usual suspects. Because I have a very good relationship with Microsoft in my region, I don’t really want to complain – but I would like to see more focus on business users.
I’ve been told ad lib by countless people that Microsoft doesn’t put any focus on business user needs because it doesn’t sell licenses. I must respectfully disagree with that if it is true, because us business user evangelists get business users excited about their jobs and the technology and get them to use it every single day. This gets licenses renewed and upgraded in the long term because the people on the ground then refuse to live without it.
So my only little request would be to PLEASE PLEASE give more support for users, vendors, consultants and communities driving business user adoption. It is all about the techies 99% of the time, but there are over 100million non techies out there that are desperate for our help – and it’s near impossible to get community support in this space. I just don’t understand it.
IMHO.
@Veronique: 100% agree. Marc initially published this article on his blog, and I made a similar comment.
And a word of advice to anyone at Microsoft who is involved with SharePoint in any way — be aware of what is happening in the community! I am continually amazed to talk to regional marketing people who have never heard of SharePoint Saturday or SharePint, much less the major community portals and other online resources. I undertand its a bit like drinking from a firehose, but if you want to support the SharePoint community, get more involved in the SharePoint community and be aware of what is happening in the space.
Totally agree. Great points. I’ve participated in many of the SharePoint Saturdays and user groups in the Northeast and online. I’m always impressed and grateful for all of the partners and customers that donate their personal time to help the community and am always happy to do my small part to help.