A Community Ecosystem is the set of groups and initiatives that are interconnected with your Community’s domain.
A Community Ecosystem includes groups that are within your organization that are working in the same or related field, as well as groups outside your organization such as industry groups, other agencies, academic institutions, and professional associations. It also includes presence on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Why conduct an Ecosystem Analysis?
When creating a Community of Practice (CoP), focus on Value Creation. To ensure that your new Community will be a valuable one, it is important to conduct an Ecosystem Analysis which will help you understand what other groups or initiatives might already exist in your domain area and what gaps your community can potentially fill. This will help you avoid duplication and position your CoP in a way that adds value and attracts the right members.
An Ecosystem Analysis helps validate that:
There is a clear niche for your CoP
Your CoP provides an attractive value proposition
You are avoiding duplication
You know who might be a partner, collaborator, friend, or supporter
You know who might be a competitor
How do you conduct an Ecosystem Analysis?
You can take several steps to identify who else is “playing” in your space.
Desk research - this could be as simple as googling your domain area.
Talk to people in the domain area of the CoP, especially prospective members, and ask them where they usually go for information and what other groups they are part of.
Identify top experts in the field and ask them where they go for information and whether they know of other existing initiatives in your domain.
Talk to people in related professional associations and other agencies.
With this information, you can identify if somebody is already doing what you want to do, at which point ask yourself whether you really need to start your CoP at all.
You might identify somebody who is already doing what you want to do, but is not quite covering the topic in the way that you want to approach it, or is missing a niche area that you can fill. In this case, you could start a separate CoP or collaborate with an existing one to fill that gap.
Or you might discover that nobody is covering the domain you want to explore in a way that will resonate with your particular audience in which case you can create a new CoP of high value.
Whichever of these options you choose, conducting an analysis of your Community’s ecosystem will enable you to make an informed decision as to whether there is value in setting up a new CoP.
Blog » Conducting an Ecosystem Analysis
Conducting an Ecosystem Analysis
Summary:
Resources:
Ecosystem Analysis Template
What is a Community Ecosystem?
A Community Ecosystem is the set of groups and initiatives that are interconnected with your Community’s domain.
A Community Ecosystem includes groups that are within your organization that are working in the same or related field, as well as groups outside your organization such as industry groups, other agencies, academic institutions, and professional associations. It also includes presence on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Why conduct an Ecosystem Analysis?
When creating a Community of Practice (CoP), focus on Value Creation. To ensure that your new Community will be a valuable one, it is important to conduct an Ecosystem Analysis which will help you understand what other groups or initiatives might already exist in your domain area and what gaps your community can potentially fill. This will help you avoid duplication and position your CoP in a way that adds value and attracts the right members.
An Ecosystem Analysis helps validate that:
How do you conduct an Ecosystem Analysis?
You can take several steps to identify who else is “playing” in your space.
With this information, you can identify if somebody is already doing what you want to do, at which point ask yourself whether you really need to start your CoP at all.
You might identify somebody who is already doing what you want to do, but is not quite covering the topic in the way that you want to approach it, or is missing a niche area that you can fill. In this case, you could start a separate CoP or collaborate with an existing one to fill that gap.
Or you might discover that nobody is covering the domain you want to explore in a way that will resonate with your particular audience in which case you can create a new CoP of high value.
Whichever of these options you choose, conducting an analysis of your Community’s ecosystem will enable you to make an informed decision as to whether there is value in setting up a new CoP.
This article is part of the WBG Communities of Practice Toolkit licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The toolkit features practical resources to help you develop impactful Communities of Practice. 📖 Learn more about the Toolkit. ▶ Access the Toolkit.