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Have you ever seen, heard or participated in a drum circle? The basic idea is a self-organized percussion jam session where anyone can bring their favorite drum, join in and bang out whatever beat moves them and the collective clatter will become beautiful music.
How does this work? Sporadically.
One thing that helps is the fact that percussion relies on tempo and rhythm not key, melody and harmony. If the same group showed up with oboes, tubas, saxophones and a church organ the resulting racket might be a colossal train wreck.
When a drum circle works is when a few of its members actually have rhythm and drive the underlying tempo and beat pattern so the novices can follow along for the ride making their contributions.
As soon as those rhythmic leaders stop drumming, the circle falls apart and everyone usually does a final drum roll and waits for another rhythmic leader to start another pattern.
So what does this have to do with managing a Groupsite?
It is simple, if you want to keep the beat, you need to either set the agenda by defining your group’s purpose and goals as well as inviting a few members who have the ability to keep the beat (initiate meaningful discussions) so others can feel comfortable making their contributions on top of the underlying beat.