You Know Online Community, But Is It Enough?

I remember when I first became a community manager. I was very green when it came to…well…all things that related to online communities. I didn’t belong to an online community, I wasn’t at all familiar with what one was, and I sure didn’t know what it meant to manage one. As a matter of fact, my first role in the CM world wasn’t actually managing a community. My organization’s community model, at the time that I joined the team, was a Community of Practice (CoP) model. 36 separate CoPs managed by volunteer councils. It was my job (along with my fellow team members) to manage the volunteers who managed the communities. Making sure they collected speaker agreements for webinars, ensuring that they were delivering on the content they committed to, helping them find new council members when terms were up, and mediating when there was tension among council members. 2 years after I joined that team, our community model changed from having volunteer-led communities of practice to having one integrated online community that required dedicated staff to manage it. I learned all I could about moderation, metrics, managing online communities as a whole – all the things that, I thought, took to be a successful community manager. But was that enough?I’ve been in the community management space for a total of 5 years and have gone from working as part of a team to manage an online community to now managing the online community program. In all my learning and development to be the best community manager I can be, I quickly realized that there were other skills I needed to develop outside of managing an online community.I was lacking some incredibly important business skills.My director (who was then, my manager) was big on empowering the team to get work done and learn new skills. One year, she left the development of the operational plan to the team. Sweet! And also, a big learning lesson. My inputs to that plan were a disaster and every time she would send it back for edits there were more red lines than the previous edit. I never thought I would get over that hump. I then realized that I needed to skill up in ways that I hadn’t previously thought about.There are some things in your professional life you pick up along the way. Networking, how to explain what you do in 20 seconds or less, how to submit your expenses. For everything else, there’s professional development. My organization does a phenomenal job at supporting employee professional development when they seek it out. And I took full advantage of it. From building business plans to effective meeting facilitation, I sought out every opportunity that I could to further develop my business skills. Why? Because running an online community isn’t just about moderation and programming. You need to build an operational plan. If you want more resources, you need to know how to build a business case. If you want to educate the rest of your organization on the benefits of community, you need to know how to build a presentation that fits your audience and what they will need to know. To think you only need to know how to manage an online community is a missed opportunity on any community manager’s part. You may not be managing the program, but you still have a responsibility to be ready to speak on community AND the business, especially if you are asked to explain value.Next up – BudgetsI hate building a budget. Ok, hate is a strong word. If I was asked if I would rather go climb Mount Everest with zero training (shout out to anyone who has successfully climbed Mount Everest – seriously, you’re the real MVP) or build the budget for next year, I would ask you to wish me well on my climb. But it was something I needed to learn to better understand how my program worked. It’s hellish and it’s a lot of numbers and sometimes they run together and just when you think you’re good, you find your totals are off and you have to start at the beginning to find out where the discrepancy is. But it not only helped me understand my program better, it helped me understand my organization better. Where are we spending our money and why and what can we expect to get support for based off the overall operational budget? Where can we partner with other business units to accomplish a goal when there might be a gap? Are there areas we are not spending wisely? Building the budget gave me a whole new perspective on how to build my program and where I may need to push for resources.The people side of thingsIt is quite an adventure learning to manage a bunch of different personalities within a community. Their expectations are all different. The way they communicate is all different. The way they interpret information is different. No one tells you how to go about navigating that and, at first, it was a little rough. Luckily, before I entered the world of online community management I worked in the call center. Actually, most of my working career was in customer service so I had not only grown a thick skin but was able to navigate the tough conversations and sometimes unrealistic expectations. However, not everyone has that opportunity. I always suggest to anyone that I speak to who is new to the organization to spend at least one hour in customer care listening to calls. I also encourage my team members to do it. I have even committed to going back and listening in because I believe that it’s important. The voice of your members doesn’t just show up in the online community or in an annual survey. They call in every day with questions, concerns, and a need for assistance. Listening to their needs and how their inquiries are addressed can help you build your knowledge of who your members are. Don’t be afraid to take it a step further. If your organization is lucky enough to have a customer care department, go through their training and take a few phone calls yourself. It’s the best way to learn how to handle the complexity of personalities that also show up in your online community.There are a lot of skills that we, as community managers, must develop to successfully run our programs. From effective presentations to creating business plans, it all supports the growth and success of your online community. The Community Roundtable has an awesome Community Skills Framework that breaks down what skills community managers need to be successful, grow healthy and vibrant communities, and move up in their careers. I urge you to check it out, find where your opportunities are, and explore ways you can close those knowledge gaps. It can only prove to be a benefit to your career, your community, and your organization.What skills have you developed during your time as a community manager? Where do you feel your opportunities lie? Let me know in the comments below!