The buzzword of culture within a company is a frequently debated and often examined topic. A corporate culture establishes and shapes a company future. Does the same exist for open source communities? Does a culture exist and does it shape their future?
A corporate culture is defined as a set of shared values and beliefs which are representative of a company and defines its employees’ actions and the corporate hiring processes. Often this culture is founded on the goals and structure of the company and centers around the target market and the company approach to customers. Does this relate to open source? Yes. Absolutely. An open source community also has a very distinct culture and one which must be carefully considered, thoughtfully prepared and an intricate part of the organization’s core.
Defining a community culture
How does one define community culture? Here are some reasons why an open source community should establish a culture and some ways in which they should be implemented. Let’s begin with the reason why open source organizations should establish a culture.
The reason for establishing a culture
First, a community culture is of utmost importance in providing the volunteers a sense of a common bond. Much like a mission or vision statement serves to provide the general public with a set of goals and objectives the project wants to accomplish, a community culture provides the vision, attitude and beliefs for the volunteers within the project. Think of the culture as the internal representation of the mission and vision in a way.
Every community has a culture
The reason a culture must exist is simple. The public image of the community is in reality the public’s view of a community’s culture. Therefore every community has a culture. If a culture always exists, then the next step is to make sure the culture properly captures the common beliefs and goals of the community in order to provide direction to its volunteers. By understanding a culture always exists the issue is not the establishing of a culture, but rather establishing the right culture. What does the right culture do for a community?
A community culture defines direction
When a strong and appropriate culture exists within a community the volunteers and contributors are able to focus on how that culture helps it accomplish its goals. The right culture should resonate within the heart of the community and give a sense of pride, a feeling of unity, and a strong singular focus.
A community culture gives satisfaction
Culture within an open source community have an opportunity to provide incredible satisfaction to its contributors. When volunteers are part of an organization where they agree with the goals and the culture they find a personal satisfaction in being a part of the organization.
A community culture attracts like-minded people
In a corporate environment the culture will dictate somewhat the hiring processes and how new employees are brought on board. In a community environment the “hiring” is most often replaced with “recruiting” where the process of new contributors and volunteers are found and brought into the community.
The ingredients of a strong community culture
A strong community culture includes a focus on the vision of the organization and how that vision is interpreted in the everyday activities of the community. But perhaps the single most important ingredient in a strong, healthy community culture is the people. The people provide the cohesive glue which hold the entire organization and culture together. The people together form the story of the community.
The thread
So there you have it, a very clear and concise thread which runs throughout a community. A thread made up of the people. A thread which traces a path through the history of the community and connects the founding vision to the current activities. This unique thread is the culture of the community and every community has one.