FAIR Model for ERGs: Audience (Harvard Business School)
Are you serving your members… or performing for leadership?
We’ve talked about Resilience. We’ve talked about Formality.
This week, we’re stepping into another tension from the Harvard Business School article research: Audience.
Every ERG eventually feels this one. You’re planning a session, and someone asks, “Will leadership be attending?” And suddenly the conversation shifts again. Do we design this for the members who need belonging and support? Or do we design this to demonstrate measurable impact to executives?
It can feel like you’re being pulled in two directions at once. If we center the members too much, we might worry leadership won’t see the value. But if we center leadership too much, members might start to feel like they’re part of a showcase.
Instead of building tension in choosing one, choose both! Just sequence them intentionally. Design for members first. Then articulate the impact.
When members feel genuinely supported, engaged, and connected, the outcomes leadership cares about (retention, engagement, morale) follow naturally.
This is where Playful Work Design can support any ERG. When you design experiences that are meaningful to the people in the room, you don’t have to manufacture “impact.” It becomes visible on its own.
Before your next event, ask:
“If leadership weren’t watching, would this still matter to our members?”
If the answer is yes, you’re on solid ground.
Next week, we’ll talk about Identities and why “we’re all one group” is often the fastest way to fracture one.
Weekly Reset
Create your audience…tangibly.
Sketch them. Build them out of paper clips. Use sticky notes. LEGO. Whatever’s on your desk.
Who are you actually designing this for?
When we make our audience visible, we stop performing for a vague “leadership” and start designing for real humans.
As you continue building and refining your ERG, if you find yourself in need of programming or facilitation support, I’d be honored to partner with you. The work we do together is energizing, grounded in neuroscience, and designed to actually shift something and not just fill the calendar.
