With the benefit of hindsight – looking back to when CIMAsphere launched in July 2009 – it’s clear that predicting the success of a group on an online community like this is more of an art than a science. Some common group building blocks are reliable predictors though. One such building block centres on the etiquette of being a good host.

From day one, the manager of what is now our largest group (with over 1,530 members and 129 discussion topics) – the management level study group – had all the party tricks of the good host down pat. Wait, why am I comparing parties with study groups? As social gatherings, they’re not as different as you might think. To understand this, let’s take a look at what happened...

When the group was set up, the first thing Gerard Eaton – a CIMA student from Northern Ireland - did was send out the equivalent of a party flyer; for what good’s a party when nobody’s heard about it? So he put out some notices and invites about the launch of the group in the busiest discussusions taking place at that time in the management level and how to study discussion boards.

The flyer also directed them to the location (aka the group webpage), and before he sent the message out Gerard made sure there was a discussion post inside the group, spelling out what it was about in a bit more detail. This first post about ‘The purpose of this group’ was equivalent to the personal message in the party invite, where you get notice of the theme, dress code, and entertainment line-up for proceedings, so people know what to expect and no-one turns up under the mistaken impression it was something else entirely :-)

For those who were interested enough to make that journey, and accepted the invite, Gerard laid out a few other things for them upon arrival. Frankly, not to do so risked people turning up and then making a swift exit. When you arrive at a party, you don’t expect also to have to bring all the trimmings do you?

Instead they found Gerard had already started a few other introductory discussions about the exams papers in management level, which were easy to chip in on and reply to. In turn, this also prompted others to ask their own questions and start their own discussions.

Best of all, there was a nice, relaxed discussion thread where people could ‘Introduce themselves to the group’. It’s a no brainer. Gerard said a little bit about himself, and many of the first arrivals responded. Thanks to this ice-breaker, a basic level of familiarity among the first group members was established.

When others arrived later, it was clear the group had already got going and that there were options to choose from; they could just say ‘hi’ and get to know people or get into the other, more specific conversations. It wasn’t going to be one of those dreadful parties where no-one mingled much, filled with awkward silences.

And what’s the best thing about a well-planned and well-hosted party, from the organiser’s point of view? After things have really got going the host can relax and blend in, make the most of it like everyone else, and they can even get others to help them. A good party takes on a life of its own. A successful group will be no different.

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This is the second in a new series of posts celebrating the members and students running successful groups on CIMAsphere

See also:
Group manager of the month: Kelly Parkhurst