Super Quick, Cheap, and Easy Collaborative Ideas

Your members want to collaborate more (after all, collaboration is the new association content.) Does that mean you have to buy an online community platform today? Or totally reinvent your conference? Nope! You can invite collaboration with something as simple, cheap, and easy as a single Google Doc.

Problem-Solving Collaboration

I tried an experiment during the Member Engagement Labs sponsored by Impexium and Billhighway. I wondered if participants would be interested in asking and answering questions between Labs. Using Matchbox’s Design Session template, I set up a Google Doc with three columns:

We introduced the Lab participants to the document during the first Lab and reminded them periodically about it. We had eight pages of terrific questions and answers by the third session. People dipped into the document when they had time and shared their insights on the topics they cared about most. Some questions had a handful of responses from different contributors.

Did all the participants take advantage of this particular opportunity to collaborate? Nope, but those who did found it engaging.

As the creator of this document, I found the asynchronous conversation fascinating and valuable. I used some of the questions as fodder for blog posts and wove them into the agenda for upcoming Labs.

Connection Collaboration

Recently, I joined a series of facilitators’ courses created by Chad Littlefield for my professional development. All 29 or so participants were invited to fill out an onboarding survey asking questions like:

• What is your favorite quote?

• What are 2-3 words your friends & family would use to describe you?

• Where are you in the world?

The survey responses were used to create profiles for each of us in a nicely designed Google Doc to which we were all given access. Chad invited us to read each other’s profiles and make comments as we wished. Soon, we were commenting on each other’s comments. Before the first session started, I already felt like I had a few new friends and many people I couldn’t wait to meet. Perhaps this method of connection collaboration could be adapted to other small groups in associations like committees and boards.

Incorporating more collaboration into your association doesn’t always require much time or resources. Even a Google Doc will do!