Community Member Crisis Control (CMCC): A Systematic Framework for Managing Community Deceleration
Developed collaboratively by Alexandre Quach, Marine Clause, Thomas Simon, Amadou Diallo, and Laura Houssain
Originally published February 19, 2022 in the OpenSeriousGame ecosystem
The Challenge: When Community Engagement Drops
Every thriving community eventually faces a universal challenge: member deceleration. Whether it’s a learning community, transformation initiative, or collaborative network, engagement naturally fluctuates. Members slow down, step back, or sometimes actively oppose community activities.
Traditional approaches often treat these situations reactively—waiting until someone leaves to understand why, or applying one-size-fits-all retention strategies. The Community Member Crisis Control (CMCC) framework offers a systematic alternative: structured crisis management that turns member deceleration into opportunities for community strengthening.
Framework Overview: Beyond Simple Retention
CMCC recognizes that member disengagement isn’t binary (engaged vs. disengaged) but follows predictable patterns across four distinct levels. Rather than fighting every departure, the framework provides three strategic response options for each crisis type, enabling community leaders to choose approaches that strengthen rather than strain community dynamics.
Core Innovation: Strategic Choice Over Reactive Scrambling
The breakthrough insight behind CMCC is simple: not every member crisis requires the same response. Sometimes struggling to retain someone damages community health. Sometimes what appears to be a problem actually presents an opportunity for improvement. Sometimes the best strategy is damage control and graceful transition.
CMCC provides systematic decision-making frameworks rather than emergency reactions.
The Four Deceleration Levels
| Level | Status | Member Quote | Characteristics | Accessibility |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| D1-D2 🐢 | Slowdown | “I am less engaged than before or than usual” | • Decreased participation frequency • Reduced contribution quality • Still present and findable • Maintains community membership identity |
Available - Can be contacted and engaged |
| D3 🛑 | Stop | “I stopped engaging in Community activities. I am still here to be found” | • Complete cessation of active participation • Remains accessible and contactable • No hostility toward community • Open to future re-engagement |
Findable - Present but not participating |
| D4-D6 ✈️ | Away | “I am currently not here to be found” | • Actively unavailable or unreachable • Has physically or digitally removed themselves • May return when circumstances change • Not actively opposing community |
Unavailable - Cannot be easily reached |
| D7-D8 ✊ | Against | “I am not here to be found and I am against the Community I used to belong to” | • Active opposition to community goals or methods • May discourage others from participation • Potentially damaging to community reputation • Requires careful management to prevent escalation |
Hostile - Actively opposing community |
The Three Strategic Response Options
| Strategy | Approach | When to Use | Resource Level | Goal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🔧 Struggle | “Actions to counter, reverse or even remove the negative effects for the Community” | • High-value members with specific, addressable issues • Problems that could spread to other members • Situations where community has resources to invest |
High Investment | Retention & Problem Solving |
| 🔄 Accept and Use as Opportunity | “Turn the negative effects into positive effects for the Community” | • Departures that reveal systemic improvement opportunities • Situations where conflict can generate valuable insights • Members whose feedback could strengthen practices |
Medium Investment | Learning & Community Improvement |
| 🛡️ Accept and Prevent More Damage | “Damage control the negative effects to prevent its expansion in the Community” | • Resource constraints prevent intensive intervention • Fighting retention could harm other members • Clear misalignment between member needs and capabilities |
Low Investment | Community Protection & Graceful Transition |
Practical Implementation: The CMCC Decision Matrix
Assessment Process
Step 1: Level Identification Use observable behaviors to classify current deceleration level:
- Slowdown: Still participating but less frequently/intensely
- Stop: No participation but still reachable
- Away: Unreachable or deliberately absent
- Against: Active opposition or negative advocacy
Step 2: Cause Analysis
Determine whether deceleration is:
- By Circumstances: External factors, community issues, unclear processes
- By Own Initiative: Personal choice, strategic refocusing, life changes
Step 3: Strategy Selection Choose response approach based on:
- Available community resources
- Member’s historical contribution value
- Potential impact on other community members
- Likelihood of successful intervention
Complete CMCC Response Matrix
Level 1: Slowdown - Member Deceleration Management
| Type | Description | 🔧 Struggle | 🔄 Accept and Use as Opportunity | 🛡️ Accept and Prevent More Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| D1 Unskilled | “I am new to the current tasks on which I am engaged. That’s why I am slower and less active.” | 📚 Define a training program for member 🎯 Recenter activities around strengths and profiles |
❓ Create a FAQ 📢 Set up an event to share about difficulties |
📋 Prepare a list of necessary skills for future members ⬇️ Review objectives and lower expectations |
| D1 Not Feeling Legitimate | “I do not feel legitimate enough to perform what is demanded to me. I need more time to develop my legitimacy” | 📈 Set up a legitimacy path with small steps with checkpoints ✅ Officialize legitimacy 👥 Set up two-person teams (advanced + novice) |
📅 Create event about the Legitimacy path with inputs from members who do not feel legitimate 🤝 Introduce to possible mentors 👨🏫 Create a mentorship program |
🔄 Find someone else for the task ⬇️ Review objectives and lower expectations |
| D1 Down-scoped | “My current scope is less important than my previous scope, which is the main reason for slowing down” | ⬆️ Increase scope | 🔧 Propose to be a backup to another member 📋 Propose an activity by default in case of unplanned availability |
📊 Measure the satisfaction level of new scope and let go ⬇️ Review objectives and lower expectations 📝 Set up a backlog of unassigned tasks and topics |
| D1 Scattered | “Community activities are great! It is just too much for me to contribute in everything and I ended up doing less in each activity, even if I’m still in all topics” | 🎯 Reduce scope and invite to focus on one activity at a time. Inform other members of reduced scope 📅 Set up an agenda |
👥 Associate focused members to the scattered member in order to set up a team | 📏 Measure the level of scatter and collectively decide of a maximum 🔧 Set up backups on scattered member scope (without struggling on scatter level) ⬇️ Review objectives and lower expectations |
| D1 Unknown Cause | “I don’t really know why I am less engaged than I used to, but the fact is that I am.” | 🔍 Inquiry about the reason why | 📊 Set up a ritual to measure motivation for all members | ⬇️ Review objectives and lower expectations |
| D2 Focused | “I was doing too many different things in the Community. I still want to contribute and decided to refocus on less topics, and it takes times” | 📋 Reprioritize topics with member, clearing out most important from least important | 🎯 Set up a global reprioritization session to align the whole Community on main goals | 📢 Open call to other members for unattended topics |
| D2 Resting | “I invested too much of my time and energy in the Community, and even if I like it, I need to slowdown and take some rest.” | 💪 Try to motivate and find out new motivators for member 🎯 Propose to adjust scope of contribution to the most liked items 📅 Set up a date for a member return review |
🙏 Acknowledge publicly contribution of member, and officially thank for past contribution 💬 Discuss with member on an estimation process and capacity clarifying process for the Community, so that “forced rest” may less happen 📞 Call other members for help |
Level 2: Stop - Complete Disengagement Management
| Type | Description | 🔧 Struggle | 🔄 Accept and Use as Opportunity | 🛡️ Accept and Prevent More Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| D3 Empty-handed | “I want to contribute to the Community as I did before. I just don’t know what to do right here right now.” | 🗺️ Show Community Roadmap/priorities and propose a topic to handle 🔍 Identify what potential contributions can reuse the skill and experience ✨ Identify what potential contributions can be different to what he did before (a new experience) |
📞 Propose to other members to contact the empty-handed member, show them his availability 📝 Use the opportunity to set up a collective backlog of unassigned tasks and topics 🙏 Review together the possible tasks and if there is no match, thank publicly the person for the past contribution |
🙏 Review together the possible tasks and if there is no match, thank the person for the contribution 📅 Mark the person as available for the future and set up a meeting for later 🔄 Reassign scope to other members |
| D3 Lost | “I have lost my marks in the Community (people, habits, activities, …). It’s hard to follow or find opportunities to contribute now so I can’t do anything” | 📰 Update the member yourself with last news and topics | 📢 Propose to the Community the set up of a news system 📅 Propose an event for the Community of news sync 🤝 Introduce the lost member to a buddy who didn’t lose his marks. Buddy can provide a news wrapup and motivation |
🔄 Reassign scope to other members |
| D3 Distracted | “I like Community activities and goals. I’m just currently busy with other interesting topics right now” | 💬 Pitch the Community and its value in competition with the other activities ⚖️ Help the member self-organize to keep both Community activities and the other interesting topics ⬇️ Adjust (reduce) member Community activities (scope) to a sustainable contribution for the member |
🔗 Propose to integrate the other activities as a new stream in the Community (starting with an experience feedback, …) 📞 Set up the member as an official point of contact for other members on these other interesting topics 🎓 Create or grow the Community Alumni 📋 Clarify rules of membership and Create or grow the Community “friends” contact list |
🔄 Reassign scope to other members |
| D3 Confused after Self-recentering | “I was in the Community and now I do not really understand why I am still here, what the Community brings to me, the value of the Community for me.” | 🤔 Ask the member about his/her new personal interests and goals 💭 If the member is more “thinking driven”, help the member project him/herself in the Community (What future person will he/she be?) 🎯 Propose a new role that matches current personal goals ⚡ If the member is more “action driven”, propose one very small valuable action to perform soon to “start again” |
👁️ Ask the member to provide his/her freshly “external” viewpoint (with hindsight) on the Community activities 🤝 Organize a meeting between the member with people responsible for the progression paths inside the Community |
❓ (Optional: Share member feedback with others) and assess if any other members are currently in the same state |
Level 3: Away - Unavailable Member Management
| Type | Description | 🔧 Struggle | 🔄 Accept and Use as Opportunity | 🛡️ Accept and Prevent More Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| D5 Spot Incompatibility | “I globally like the Community, am aligned with its goals, and enjoy its activities. There is one thing/one person that pushed me away from it, and that is …” | 🔍 Identify the incompatibility point. If it is a person, try to manage the conflict. If it is something else, propose an activity where the incompatibility point does not happen. | 💬 If the incompatibility point is a specific person, who did not know his/her effect on the member: propose to discuss with the person to find improvement possibilities. | 🚫 If the identified incompatibility cannot be changed, use it entrance filtering process to avoid future identical issues |
| D5 Active Hurt | “The Community did me wrong, I would be ready to come back only if …” | 🤝 Enter the negotiation | 📜 Enrich the moral charter of the Community with a new point a new use case. | 🙏 Apologize and thank the member for its past contributions ❓ Ask remaining members if the identified problem applies to them |
| D5 Misaligned | “I respect the Community goals, but my own goals are different now” | 💬 Pitch the Community and its value in competition with the other activities | 🔗 Propose to integrate the other activities as a new stream in the Community (starting with an experience feedback, …) 📞 Set up the member as an official point of contact for other members on these other interesting topics 👥 Create or grow the Community “friends” contact list 🎯 Reclarify a workshop about current members goals and adjust Community accordingly |
🔄 Reassign scope to other members 🚪 Express to member that the door is still open if goals change again |
| D6 Passive Hurt | “The Community did me wrong, I don’t want anything to do with it anymore” | 📜 Enrich the moral charter of the Community with a new point a new use case. | 🙏 Apologize and thank the member for its past contributions ❓ Ask remaining members if the identified problem applies to them |
|
| D6 Ghost | cannot be joined | 📞 Change communication channel and try to reach | 🤝 If possible, ask ghost member relatives if everything is ok, if the person is fine, and express benevolence 💬 In your messages, express to the member that it is ok if he/she wants to leave, the Community just needs to know that he/she is well 🚫 Ban the ghost member |
📊 Establish a mood tracking process or an activity tracking process to identify future possible ghosts |
Level 4: Against - Opposition Management
| Type | Description | 🔧 Struggle | 🔄 Accept and Use as Opportunity | 🛡️ Accept and Prevent More Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| D7 Passive Protestor | “I am now against the Community goals and activities. Yet, I will not take actions. I just don’t want to be related to the Community anymore.” | 🙏 Publicly thank the member for the past contributions and the good relations with the Community | ||
| D8 Active Protestor | “For various reasons (it did me wrong, I disapprove of its ideals, goals or composition), I am active against the Community” | 🤝 Propose to the active protestor to lead the other protestor into a continuous improvement committee in which the Community will listen to their claims 🙏 Publicly thank the member for the past contributions and the good relations with the Community 📝 Collect the differences in vision to reinforce the alignment current members |
💬 Explain to current members the vision of the active protestor and let the Community decide which path they prefer |
Advanced Implementation Strategies
Community Health Indicators
Early Warning Systems:
- Regular engagement pattern monitoring
- Satisfaction surveys with deceleration risk assessment
- Peer observation training for community ambassadors
Intervention Timing:
- Address issues at Slowdown level before they progress
- Develop transition protocols for each deceleration level
- Create re-engagement pathways for Away members
Resource Allocation Framework
High-Investment Situations (Struggle Strategy):
- Core community contributors with temporary issues
- Systemic problems affecting multiple members
- Skills/expertise that’s difficult to replace
Medium-Investment Situations (Opportunity Strategy):
- Departures that highlight improvement opportunities
- Members whose feedback could benefit community evolution
- Situations where learning value exceeds retention cost
Low-Investment Situations (Damage Control Strategy):
- Clear misalignment with community purpose
- Resource constraints preventing intensive intervention
- Members whose retention could harm community culture
Integration with Broader Community Management
Connection to Other Frameworks
Transmission Communities: CMCC complements transmission community principles by ensuring knowledge sharing continues even as individual members cycle through engagement levels.
OpenSeriousGame Role System: Member deceleration often correlates with role transition needs—CMCC helps identify when someone needs different contribution pathways rather than retention in current roles.
Change Community Cycle: Different CCC phases create different deceleration patterns—CMCC provides phase-appropriate crisis management strategies.
Organizational Applications
Enterprise Learning Communities:
- Apply CMCC to manage expert network engagement fluctuations
- Use framework for cross-functional team member transitions
- Implement systematic approaches to knowledge retention during departures
Transformation Communities:
- Address change fatigue through structured deceleration management
- Convert resistance into improvement opportunities
- Maintain momentum during member transitions
Measurement and Success Indicators
Community Health Indicators
Early Warning Systems:
- Regular engagement pattern monitoring
- Satisfaction surveys with deceleration risk assessment
- Peer observation training for community ambassadors
Intervention Timing:
- Address issues at Slowdown level before they progress
- Develop transition protocols for each deceleration level
- Create re-engagement pathways for Away members
Resource Allocation Framework
High-Investment Situations (Struggle Strategy):
- Core community contributors with temporary issues
- Systemic problems affecting multiple members
- Skills/expertise that’s difficult to replace
Medium-Investment Situations (Opportunity Strategy):
- Departures that highlight improvement opportunities
- Members whose feedback could benefit community evolution
- Situations where learning value exceeds retention cost
Low-Investment Situations (Damage Control Strategy):
- Clear misalignment with community purpose
- Resource constraints preventing intensive intervention
- Members whose retention could harm community culture
Limitations and Considerations
Framework Constraints
Cultural Context Dependency:
- Different organizational cultures may require strategy adaptation
- What constitutes “appropriate intervention” varies by context
- Some communities may lack resources for comprehensive CMCC implementation
Leader Capability Requirements:
- Requires trained community facilitators who can assess situations objectively
- Demands emotional intelligence to navigate sensitive member situations
- Needs organizational support for non-retention strategies
Common Implementation Pitfalls
Over-Application of Struggle Strategies:
- Attempting to retain every departing member can exhaust community resources
- May create pressure that accelerates rather than prevents deceleration
Under-Utilization of Opportunity Strategies:
- Missing learning opportunities embedded in member departures
- Failing to convert criticism into systematic improvements
Inadequate Damage Control:
- Allowing negative sentiment to spread due to insufficient boundary management
- Not preparing remaining members for transitions
Call to Action for Community Leaders
The CMCC framework transforms community member crises from emergency situations into strategic opportunities. By providing systematic decision-making tools, it enables community leaders to respond thoughtfully rather than reactively to member disengagement.
Implementation Recommendations:
Start Small: Begin with one deceleration level and practice all three response strategies before expanding to the full framework.
Train Your Team: Ensure multiple community facilitators understand CMCC principles and can apply them consistently.
Document Everything: Track which strategies work best for different types of crises in your specific community context.
Integrate Gradually: Connect CMCC with your existing community management practices rather than replacing them entirely.
Measure Impact: Establish baseline metrics before implementation and track community health improvements over time.
The Broader Vision
CMCC represents a shift from reactive community management to systematic community resilience building. By accepting that member deceleration is natural and providing structured approaches to handle it, communities become more sustainable and less vulnerable to the inevitable fluctuations in individual engagement.
The framework embodies a key principle of healthy community development: not everyone needs to stay forever for the community to thrive. Sometimes the most valuable contribution someone can make is providing feedback through their departure process, or transitioning gracefully to make space for new members.
Questions for your community context:
- Which deceleration patterns do you observe most frequently?
- How might systematic crisis management improve your community’s resilience?
- What would change if member departures became learning opportunities rather than failures?
Ready to transform community crises into community strengths?
This framework emerged from collaborative work within the OpenSeriousGame ecosystem and represents collective intelligence applied to community management challenges. For additional community development resources and methodologies, explore the complete collection at quach.fr/frameworks.
Original documentation and detailed implementation matrices available at openseriousgames.org