Crowd Sourcing + Strata = Owner Engagement

Strata owner engagement is a serious problem for most strata corporations and I've blogged about the challenge before (see No Fault Strata Owner Apathy).


I feel that one of the causes is the lack of options for strata owners to express their views on issues and feel like it makes a difference.  After all, usually that only occurs at a formal strata meeting where the stakes are high, every vote counts and people become polarised around outcomes -rather than the issues.


So, giving owners other forums to explore issues and information and where they can express opinions can only improve things.  


Crowd Sourcing is (according to Wikipedia) a process that involves outsourcing tasks to a distributed group of people. This process can occur both online and offline, and the difference between crowdsourcing and ordinary outsourcing is that a task or problem is outsourced to an undefined public rather than a specific body, such as paid employees. WIth a few bass modifications I think it might be an option for strata corporations to get more and better strata owner engagement.


Some explanations and examples to get you thinking about how Crowd Sourcing could work include this article from This Big City that explores the pros and cons of Crowd Sourcing for urban planning feedback and this report on a real example of using Crowd Sourcing in a development context from Washington where a developer asked the community what kind of tenants they'd like in a vacant shop.


Imagine if your strata corporation used Crowd Sourcing to canvass important issues, plans and challenges with owners (asking for them to collaborate to find the better or the best outcome) before holding formal meetings to decide things?  It's not that hard to do, couldn't do any harm and would improve outcomes by engaging more opinions.


Francesco ...