Design to Thrive

1. Set up an advisory council

Creating an advisory council, an executive board, a leadership council, or a board of governors—whatever you call it—has been, in my experience, one of the most useful things that I've done in the networks and communities I maintain to help members feel like they have influence. Over time, I've learned that advisory councils or boards are worth every second of time you invest in them. Today, if I'm starting a large community that is going to have more than 60–70 people, I would rarely consider not using an advisory council.

But it wasn't always that way. Back in the late 1980s when listserv lists were the most popular means of communicating, the model for governing or managing a community was to have a single ...