It seems 20% of the people on this forum (and in the wider PM community) deliver 80% of its content. More like 5% people producing 95% content. In that case, how do we know that our views and expertise aren't in the minority? Saving Changes...
Same comments as Aaron highlighted. Whenever, I feel I can contribute same valuable input, I try to provide it with a perspective from practical project work. Saving Changes...
Mansoor MustafaSenior PM| Government DepartmentRawalpindi Punjab, Pakistan
The rule applies to many thing in general. However, it does not mean that we are minority. How do you tell this? Are we supposed to be majority? Majority on what? Why? The website provides an opportunity to share the ideas and ask questions.The comments and questions are not necessary true or applicable.
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1 reply by Sante Delle-Vergini, PhD
Dec 12, 2017 3:10 PM
Sante Delle-Vergini, PhD
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Abolfazl: "Majority on what?" Majority of the members of this forum/website. No we are not suppose to be the majority or the minority, but if the majority were engaged, then we would be part of the majority of members who contribute content here. At the moment, we are part of the minority, and the question was how do we know our content is reflective on the wider PM community? It's not as easy as saying for example if 5% say "yes" to a poll, that the other 95% would most likely say yes also. In this example the 5% represent the minority of the members of this forum who contribute (in my opinion) 95% of the content. It's a guess, but I wonder sometimes for more critical issues, what the real consensus is. Another example, I did a poll where the majority of people voted that PMI exams should not be means tested and that prices should remain the same even for say someone in a third world country with brains/passion but low money. It was not surprising that most of the comments in the negative were from first world country members, and some comments in the positive were from let's say not first world countries. Is it just a coincidence that people with money feel that the price should remain the same, and people with perhaps less money feel the opposite? If say all members had input, and the majority feel it should be means tested, this might sway PMI to lower exam fees for these means tested individuals. At the moment however, with the minority who produce the majority of input, can skew the results, and therefore some serious decisions may be made (or not made) that would effect this majority because their opinions would not be reflected. Just an example.
Sante, I'd say this is pretty typical of forums/communities. There are those that wish to post, promote the community, be conversational, engage, etc. Then there are those who wish to just simply consume; learn from the discussions, utilize the templates, read the articles, etc.
Andrew, I would love to hear from the silent majority. Saving Changes...
I'd say that most of the members are busy people. With multiple projects at hand, they read what comes up. Not always replying to everything posted, they prioritize what they do.
Paul, probably so, it would be nice to find a way to engage them more. In one of my papers I was going to quote a poll result from this website, but then I thought that if only the very active members participate, and by active these individuals are usually at the top of their field, I am not sure this is representative of the PM population. Saving Changes...
I'm not sure where I fit in the categories, but I do find that there are times when I'm first to respond, and times when there are so many responses, already, that I either have nothing to add or I feel that what I have to add would just get lost. That's not a bad thing.
I wouldn't complain if there was an FAQ section for some of the questions that keep coming up. I understand why they keep coming up - who goes through more than two pages of questions to see if someone else has already asked it?
Aaron, the issue with FAQ is people wording questions slightly differently, some would interpret this to mean the same thing, and others something different. And who would moderate such a beast? ;-) But I am with you on the dynamics of posting. Saving Changes...
It is such a universal principle and applied to any and every situation. The only way is to grow the community so that the meaningful contributors are so many that the whole community is enriched.
Hirdesh, using the same model however would produce the same results even if the community grew. I feel the only way to "enrich" the content is to somehow engage the silent majority. Saving Changes...
The rule applies to many thing in general. However, it does not mean that we are minority. How do you tell this? Are we supposed to be majority? Majority on what? Why? The website provides an opportunity to share the ideas and ask questions.The comments and questions are not necessary true or applicable.
Abolfazl: "Majority on what?" Majority of the members of this forum/website. No we are not suppose to be the majority or the minority, but if the majority were engaged, then we would be part of the majority of members who contribute content here. At the moment, we are part of the minority, and the question was how do we know our content is reflective on the wider PM community? It's not as easy as saying for example if 5% say "yes" to a poll, that the other 95% would most likely say yes also. In this example the 5% represent the minority of the members of this forum who contribute (in my opinion) 95% of the content. It's a guess, but I wonder sometimes for more critical issues, what the real consensus is. Another example, I did a poll where the majority of people voted that PMI exams should not be means tested and that prices should remain the same even for say someone in a third world country with brains/passion but low money. It was not surprising that most of the comments in the negative were from first world country members, and some comments in the positive were from let's say not first world countries. Is it just a coincidence that people with money feel that the price should remain the same, and people with perhaps less money feel the opposite? If say all members had input, and the majority feel it should be means tested, this might sway PMI to lower exam fees for these means tested individuals. At the moment however, with the minority who produce the majority of input, can skew the results, and therefore some serious decisions may be made (or not made) that would effect this majority because their opinions would not be reflected. Just an example. Saving Changes...
Anish AbrahamPrivacy Program Manager| University of WashingtonAuburn, Wa, United States
I agree with Kiron, the actual contributors are likely 1%.
