Community Builders' Toolkit: Overall Description Organization
The
Community Development Toolkit is a comprehensive
set of tools for community leaders and community organizers to use as they
plan, start, grow, sustain and close communities of practice. The Toolkit
provides an overall approach to community development, a step-by-step guide for
community development, tips on specific community development issues, and a set
of workshops for community leaders and supporters.
The Toolkit is based on a well-grounded theory of community
development combined with the author's extensive on-the-ground experience
building communities. It is organized according to a lifecycle model of
community development, which reflects the stages of development of both natural
and intentional communities.
Learn as You Go
The Toolkit follows a learn-as-you-go approach to
community-building. It guides you in helping communities evolve along their
natural developmental path. The toolkit provides guides to help you identify
the issues your communities are likely to face as they develop, assess their
health, and design activities that will help them move forward. Since each
community develops in its own way, the toolkit provides an array of material on
each development stage to help you respond to the unique issues of each
community. As a community organizer or leader, you can use the toolkit to learn
abut how to support communities as they evolve.
Organization of the Toolkit
The toolkit contains two kinds of material
Tipsheets
The toolkit contains a set of about 50 tipsheets on the key
support activities for each stage. These are readable 2 to 3 page summaries of
experience on specific topics. Each tipsheet includes a brief description of
the issue or idea, examples, and advice on using it. Topics include: creating a
community development strategy, deciding what communities to build, selecting
community leaders, support team activities, identifying core values, managing
community boundaries, increasing members' participation, community health
check, assessing value, designing documentation systems, guiding a community
through growth, designing layout to support knowledge sharing.
Workshops
The toolkit includes sample agendas for 7 workshops at key
points in community development. Workshops typically include a detailed agenda,
talking points for leaders, slides, and handouts. Topics include:
Building awareness of communities of practice (1 hour & half day versions)
Creating a community development strategy
Developing a straw model of communities
Launching communities
Training community leaders
Measuring the value of communities of practice
Renewing communities
These tipsheets, tools, and workshops are organized into two sections:
Communities in the Organization
This section is written for a community support team. It
contains resources to develop an overall community strategy, teach community
leaders, build organizational support for communities, assess the value of
communities, and shepherd the community development process.
Community Development
This section is for community leaders to help them prepare,
launch and develop their communities. It helps them understand practical
day-to-day aspects of community leadership, such as how to recruit members,
design effective community meetings, hold virtual community events, organize
materials, and develop best practices.
Acquiring the Toolkit
The Toolkit is based on a well-grounded theory of community
development combined with the author's extensive on-the-ground experience
building communities. It is organized according to a lifecycle model of
community development, which reflects the stages of development of both natural
and intentional communities.
Benefits
The toolkit helps you to:
Create a common framework for community building in your organization
Provide a resource for those supporting communities in your organization
Educate community leaders
Access the practical experience of one of the world's leading experts on
developing communities of practice.
Services
A toolkit license includes a two-day orientation to the
toolkit (excluding travel expenses). Since the workshop format does not work
for everyone, orientation can be delivered in whatever format works for your
organization.
Cost
There is a one-time fee that is paid for worldwide rights to use of the toolkit within
your organization. It includes initial contracting and licensing, basic setup
for access to the Toolkit, and a one-day orientation workshop. Please call or email for the specific cost.
signature
Richard McDermott
712 Allen Drive, Longmont, Colorado 80503 USA
phone 303-545-6030
e-mail Richard@McDermottConsulting.com
