Community vision and strategy

roxy_r

Hello everyone,

It’s been a while since we’ve talked about what the overarching vision should be for our community, and while our community is in a good place at the moment, it’s always a good idea to set ambitious goals to make sure we’re the best we can be.

I've been doing a lot of thinking and research about this in the last few months to try and get all the ideas and thoughts we have seen together and unify it behind a vision for community. I would love to run you though where we are now, hear your thoughts and and see how we can bring it to life.

We have always been in the business of connecting people. We do that in two ways; through providing the actual mobile service to our members phones but also through our forum, social channels and pioneers where we try and connect with our members but also have our members connect with each other whether it is asking a question, collaborating on a project or just having a nice conversation.

As you might imagine, the part that excites me and everyone in the community team more is the second one, connecting with our members and providing a space for our members to connect with each other in a way that makes sense to them.

I believe there will be no surprises when I will say that our end ambition is for giffgaff to be known for its community as much as it is known for having no contracts. I would like us to take being ‘run by you’ to the next level and put a bit more focus on how we create the best environment we can. An environment where everyone feels welcomed regardless of who they are, there is always a conversation you can be a part of and have loads of opportunities to get involved and collaborate with other members as well as us. A place where giffgaff can be a state of mind as well as your mobile network.

So, considering all of that, we thought there are a few obvious areas that can help get us started on this journey:

Labs: We know we need to regroup and see what does Run by you mean in today’s world when it comes to product development and we know you are all keen on being a part of the conversation so I will open up a thread shortly where I can share some ideas and observations i’ve gathered so far and jump start a convo of what we can do about it.

-Social help: Another focus that came after seeing all your feedback on it over time - we are in the process of recruiting 2 social educators and Henna is putting together a plan for how could this work and what can we do to make the most out of our help model when it comes to social channels, so watch this space.

-Inclusion: If we truly want to make sure everyone feels welcomed then we should make sure we open up the conversation around how we get there and what are the things we need to change or improve on whether it is our website or our forum. You met Uzma already and she will be the one to lead the conversation and ask for your thoughts.

-Social purpose: We have always believed in the power of people and doing mobile differently. There is more to us than just the service we provide. Now is the time to regroup, pull it all together and reignite this flame for us and our members. Ria will be speaking to you soon about that.

These are 4 chunky projects that we will be focusing on this year but there will be other bits that will pop up alongside them, like: Helper’s Toolbox, general improvements to our forum, increase the knowledge our helpers have around refurbished, charity nomination improvements, Knowledge base-ways of working after migration, helping the loyalty team gain insights into what Payback means for our members and how can we improve it and anything else that might pop up along the way. Did I miss anything here?

Hope all of this makes sense and gives you an idea of what we are up to. The next step is for us to open up threads about the various topics and start brainstorming and planning with you on how do we make all of that happen and what is the best way to involve everyone that is interested. So if you already have some thoughts on any of those and are ready to share, you will get a chance very soon.

This is a very condensed version of the vision, I did not include all other details as the thread would have been massive. There are so many thoughts, ideas and research we have done that I am happy to share with you to give you even more context.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on all of this,
Roxy

ray2

roxy_r That's a lot to take in, but also a good insight to where the community is hopefully heading.

I will be honest and say i am sceptical around the statement of making the community and "run by you" as you know well from previous post/threads that have been left to dwindle and die.

But i am ever the optomist and would love to see this work and followed through to the end.

Labs i hope is put to bed and something different is put together that is more member friendly,simple and easy to navigate.I look forward to the discussion opening up soon.

One question around inclusion is there a chance buddies can be brought back to help new members have that 1-1 until they find their feet,if i remember rightly there was a lot of positive feedback and an increase of new members staying with giffgaff because they had a go to buddy?

Just a few thoughts for now,i'm sure i will be back with more (edit to add a Thankyou)

blackfive460

roxy_r Did I miss anything here?

Well, yes, I think you did!

You missed mentioning the one thing that to a great extent makes the Community what it is and that one thing is, to some of us at any rate, not something that makes the Community as good a place than it could be.

I'm sure there will be a few reading this who are well ahead of me...

Just consider for a moment what drives much of what we see here?
I'm sure that there are aplenty of reasons why people get involved here but much of the activity we see is driven by payback.

I'm well aware that Payback 2.0 (or are we up to Payback 2.5 by now?) was designed to drive people toward quality posting but, from what I see, it hasn't been particularly successful in that regard.

So Roxy, if the intention is to make the Community a better place for everyone, I really think that aspect needs to be included in any conversation we might have.

Oh, and while I'm on, can you get someone to admit that Labs was a big mistake.? Perhaps even the person who was responsible for it in the first place? I'd love to see that! 😀

shabazmoqsud

roxy_r your post is great, but i just want to highlight something that many members are upset about, you talk about inclusion and feeling welcomed well with the recent decision that giffgaff has made to increase pay as you go rates and not increase data for lower goodybags is that what is called inclusion i think not given that many members are leaving for better deals elsewhere. its sad really when giffgaff have forgotten there original ethos in that giffgaff was a pay as go network catered for people on pay as you go now it seems to me that pay as you is being driven out and giffgaff is now a network of goodybag bundles where low pay as go users now are being forcefully tempted to buy goodybags when in reality they dont need to.

m0dcm

blackfive460 Payback will always be a nice addition to members that really enjoy using the Community, I for one didn't really start using it till my partner cane onboard, but now I'm on it quite a bit, helping where I can, although I've made a few mistakes, I've made quite a few new friends to. roxy_r I'll drop you a DM later if I remember once my 14 month old daughter is in bed, no rush to answer back, I've had a lot on my plate these last couple of weeks and, the next 6 weeks to with an upcoming operation.... I'm actually looking forward to it!
ray2 You are right, a lot to take in and I'm looking forward to the future, some users don't see that it's "Run by you/The members" and I can see where this is going to be a hard task to get it back on track, but it may just work if we all help to? Saying that I think we already so 🤣

Dave

dtuxcomp

roxy_r Thanks for the update, it's great to have a glimpse of some of the plans for the future of giffgaff, I joined purely because it saved me a lot of money, but I've stayed for years because of the community, I'm still saving money too 🙂

As always I will watch with great interest to see what's next 🙂

traelkom

roxy_r very confusing.

roxy_r

ray2 One question around inclusion is there a chance buddies can be brought back to help new members have that 1-1 until they find their feet,if i remember rightly there was a lot of positive feedback and an increase of new members staying with giffgaff because they had a go to buddy?

Interesting thought there ray2 , I will share that with Uzma but make sure you mention it when her thread comes up.

blackfive460 oh yes! Payback 🙂
On that front, we have Amisha from our propositions and loyalty team leading a very thorough research into Payback overall, so not just the forum. We are a part of it of course and I think you make a great point in saying it does add to the creation of the environment we are talking about especially on mutuality.
I will add that in there just to make sure we have everything in one place.

shabazmoqsud thanks for that, we did share that feeling with the folks working on the tariffs as soon as we saw the posts on the goodybag refresh thread, but when we talk about inclusion in this context, is more around how do we make sure the environment we are creating on the community is welcoming and inclusive for anyone to be a part of, regardless of interests or ability.
There have been a lot of conversations on the community around this topic and we want to make sure we get together and do something to make it better.

bluemoonbaz

ray2 One question around inclusion is there a chance buddies can be brought back to help new members have that 1-1 until they find their feet,if i remember rightly there was a lot of positive feedback and an increase of new members staying with giffgaff because they had a go to buddy?

100% agree, it was a great scheme and one I hope gets a re-run

kath72

roxy_r

shabazmoqsud thanks for that, we did share that feeling with the folks working on the tariffs as soon as we saw the posts on the goodybag refresh thread, but when we talk about inclusion in this context, is more around how do we make sure the environment we are creating on the community is welcoming and inclusive for anyone to be a part of, regardless of interests or ability.

I think shabazmoqsud has a really good point here. Roxy you say inclusive of interests and ability ... but by forcing those who cannot afford 25p a minute and whose usage does not warrant a goodybag off the network it make the community open only to those with the ‘ability’ to pay higher charges.

Or they may choose to move their provider and stay in the community, probably activating a new sim which they use very little in order to get their payback, because as blackfive460 said that seems to be a significant driver of the community these days. In which case we end up with a ‘community’ who don’t use the network

blackfive460

roxy_r blackfive460 oh yes! Payback 🙂
On that front, we have Amisha from our propositions and loyalty team leading a very thorough research into Payback overall, so not just the forum. We are a part of it of course and I think you make a great point in saying it does add to the creation of the environment we are talking about especially on mutuality.
I will add that in there just to make sure we have everything in one place.

Glad to hear it's on the radar.

As well as being a driver for content, it's also worth considering that it may also be driving new people to get involved for the wrong reasons; simply for the money in other words.

As to driving the content that we see, thinking about it, it may not simply be the actual money doing that. It may be the perception that posting anything equals money driving things and that indicates a lack of education and may result, not just in driving pointless posting but may produce sense of dissatisfaction when the poster's efforts don't produce the reward they expected.

Without a doubt it is a very complex issue and will be extremely hard to get right!

roxy_r

Sure m0dcm, I'll keep an eye out for it. 🙂

m0dcm I can see where this is going to be a hard task to get it back on track,

It will be a big task but it is the right thing to do. I'll try and open up the thread for it tomorrow and then we can have a look at where we start.

roxy_r

kath72 , yes, the point made is a valid one which is why we did put it forward to the right team and we will continue to make sure that they have all the feedback that you all provide every single day.

What we are talking about here is what is strictly in the power and remit of the community team to implement and deliver on. This is something that we can achieve together, something that is in our power to change and make a difference on. There are things we can do to make sure that everyone can be a part of our community and feel like they can get involved in everything we do on the forum.

kath72

roxy_r

absolutely ... but if people aren’t here we can’t include them !

so In terms of inclusivity it would be really good to see the tags / divides previously discussed, especially in GD ... if people could access content they are interested in easily it would be a much more inclusive place. Since the loss of stickied threads anything i consider interesting gets shoved down very rapidly by good morning / favourite etc etc threads
@jesi23 has given up with the creative writing and I’ve given up with the home made threads as a result

roxy_r

Yep kath72, that could be a good way of playing to people's interests and make it easier to access the topics they are interested in. I also think this could be something that can incorporate initiatives like the one put forward in the Mental health awareness thread and anything we can do on our website around accessibility.

frenchielove

kath72 totally agree with that and very sadly missed by members too

riajoy

Thanks @roxy_r I will be posting a thread about Social Purpose next week. I'm really looking forward to chatting about next steps with everyone.

m0dcm

roxy_r Accessibility of the site is good, but, besides myself being registered blind, I know there are others that you guys have spoken to also about this, and it could be better? I did start a thread about raising awareness of Hydrocephalus, but this feel on deaf eyes? Only a handful of members who answered the thread didn't know about it, and I'm an advocate of both the RNIB and Shine Wales and UK to get both my conditions known to others who are suffering with them or someone is pregnant and they have just found out their child has Hydrocephalus and Spina bifida.
It would be awesome if we can get these on board to... I know there are members like myself.

As you say it's a social thing....

Dave

shabazmoqsud

m0dcm OMG you made such a good point here much agreed. on a side note you said you had posted about RNIB and Hydrocephalus but i cant find that discussion

as i would like to take part in that topic as i too suffer from Hydrocephalus have done so since birth

bill48er

giffgaff and the community has come a long way and moved on from those early days of 10 years ago.
Then providing a cheap PAYGO alternative to the major players piggybacking on the surplus capacity within the O2 network.
The giffgaff mutual giving run-by-you ethos was ground breaking at the time.
Customers helping each other with technical support and coming forward with ideas for improving and expanding the original offer.
So much has changed within the industry and giffgaff in the past 10 years that the forum has also grown in such a way that it now has a separate life of its own, just look at the number of sub-forums there are and the requests for more.
We have H&S bulging with repetitive questions answered with cut'n'paste answers because a good FAQ section is hard to find, lost in a sea of social interaction.
An ideas section where new ideas that improve the offer is now longer the useful tool it was.
We have outgrown the need of a bespoke "ideas" or "labs" section in the format that was originally conceived.
It is time to come up with a format that will identify problem areas and a way in which the community can be engaged in finding solutions.
"Contribute" is an obvious place for doing this kind of thing, but not in the current format as most current posting contribute very little and would be better sitting in H&S, GD or Tips & Guides.
So lets not hark back to the good old day of "ideas", moan about "Labs" or even waste time thinking of a new name for a a sub forum for Labs 3.
It's time to come up with new approach -now there's an idea!

roxy_r

Great points there bill48er , you're spot on. To get this right we would have to look at what is happening today and build our solution around that. There will be loads of ideas, I am sure and I would like us to take it step by step so we do not get overwhelmed with all aspects of collaboration and co-creation.

blackfive460, from my experience talking to some of you over the years, it seems that payback is not the main motivation but it is a nice way to show appreciation. But I am sure that this might not be apply to everyone and this is where the complexity comes in, as you say. But we have started on this journey, looking at all the feedback we got from you and what we have seen happening and hopefully we can find the right way to put it all together.

m0dcm

shabazmoqsud Hi There, much the same as myself.... Here's the thread see you over there 😃
https://community.giffgaff.com/d/33067544-hydrocephalus-any-members

Dave

blackfive460

roxy_r blackfive460, from my experience talking to some of you over the years, it seems that payback is not the main motivation but it is a nice way to show appreciation. But I am sure that this might not be apply to everyone and this is where the complexity comes in, as you say.

Certainly For some of us, payback isn't really much of a driver but I get a strong impression that we are in a rather small minority.
Having said that, it was payback that originally sparked my interest in the Community (offering free money to a Yorkshireman will work every time...) but that was a long time ago and motivation changes as the years go by.

I think if payback is going to work as well as it can, the answer is education. That is something that seems lacking on the subject of how best to engage with the Community and what kind of content will earn a satisfactory reward. More importantly, what kind of content will not be beneficial to the Community or in terms of the reward.

If that kind of information were highly visible and could become common knowledge then there's a chance that people will only post when they've got something to useful say, not believe that 100 'Thanks for the info' posts every month will do the trick and learn to use reactions instead.

Well, I can dream can't I?