Last week my blog post was already about storytelling, but more about the vision. Today it’s more about the benefits of this « technique/skill » in the context of a community. In fact, words are the link and the sociable binder of these communities, even more when they are virtual, the distance distending the physical link.

Even in its future, the community will continue through its history/story. « Champions » of your communities will share their experiences around them to their colleagues, the director of communities or community strategist will promote the community to his sponsors … Communities and often arise through a story where the founding leader outlined his vision of the community, its values, goals …

In this post I will focus on sharing experience in community thanks to the storytelling.

To begin with a concrete example of storytelling at NASA. If there are archives at NASA, nothing beats experience. Employees who managed the various problems, like the epic lunar, are now retired. But many things were improvised on the spot, because in the heat of the action as it happens rarely that was written on the paper. Of course, this is not recorded in the archives. Thus all the « tips and tricks » disappeared from the collective memory. Of the blow the NASA created a newspaper where its « seniors » tell the solutions that they brought to problems. It allows to manage a new type of dialogue within the Agency.

Lafarge has developed a program with its future retirees to provide their knowledge before they leave the company. As I already explained in other post, demography is an important factor in the implementation of strategy 2.0. If we often think of the generation Y, bringing new methods of work and practices of collaborative tools, you should not forget all the generation of the boomers which retires, whose informal knowledge is a tremendous resource which you should not lose. It is the opportunity to capitalize through new practices.

The transmission of knowledge through stories is something that you make every day without realizing it. Bug « minor », a colleague has already mentioned and you know how to react. A regular customer of your company who has « special requirements », you know them because there is great chances that it is known as the white wolf and that he is already the object of stories around the coffee machine.

In the same vein, the transmission of knowledge is even more powerful when done between peers. Shared experience with someone who encounters the same difficulties, in the same culture, doing the same job is much more credible than external individual. So a feedback is highly profitable for the community. Transmission of experiences, good practices and knowledge is not restricted to « experts » (thankfully). Tell the story form will allow your audience to remember it better.

How to best capitalize on this story in the form of feedback:

•  Podcast or vcaster for the benefit of the absent or distant
• Transcribe the story and summarize it
• Leave a space for dialogue so that everyone can enrich this feedback
• Link this story (attachment) to the documents which relate to it