You’re Not Alone – Build Your Team

Do you feel like you are constantly working alone within organization? According to the Community Roundtable’s State of Community Management 2019 Report thirty-four percent of community managers are a “team of one.” The report included for-profit and non-profit communities. I would expect this number is even higher within non-profits.The report also showed that fifty percent of community managers have recently struggled with burnout. I would expect this is much higher within associations where community managers are acting as a “team of one.” What can you do to avoid burnout and increase productivity in your community as a “team of one?”Engage the entire organizationThe organization’s community is the ORGANIZATION’s community – not yours. Everyone from volunteers to customer service to your executive team needs to be aware and engaged in the well-being of the community. How do you get buy-in from other departments? Show them how the community can make their lives easier. I recently pulled a report with the most active discussions for the year with recommends and manually added “following” subscriptions to our Marketing and Continuing Education Departments. They realized how our community could provide market insight to create and market new products. They want to begin content marketing within the community. Share community analytics with department directors. Show them how valuable the conversations are, and they will want to be involved and rally their member contacts to create content. Having course instructors share (limited) content with the community is invaluable and keeps the community engaged. Members, the organization, and your community all benefit from this collaborative effort. Brainstorm ways you can bring other departments to have a vested stake in the community.Staff trainingMost platforms receive regular updates. If you are managing a Higher Logic platform you are seeing a significant number of updates. I admit, I could do a better job of communicating changes on a more regular basis. But I find scheduling a “lunch and learn” every few months is a great way to address changes in the platform. These “lunch and learns” are recorded by our HR department and I share the PowerPoint as well on our internal learning portal so staff that can’t attend or may be hired later can have access to these trainings. With that being said, don’t expect your staff to attend trainings or watch videos. Make yourself available when they need you. When they have questions schedule a one-on-one with them and go over things relevant to their position. Ask questions and know what other staff use cases are. It seems daunting but is the only way to empower your staff. They don’t know what they don’t know. Show them functionality you think would be relevant to their goals. Show them how it makes their job easier.Define your job descriptionAs a community manager you are responsible for content creation, market analysis, user experience, and nurturing the community. Your job is not managing rosters or answering every community platform question that staff receive. Empower your staff so they can handle these questions and requests on their own. When I started staff perceived every community question or request received to be directed at me for me to handle. We have 600 committees on our platform. I can’t manage all those committee rosters to give them access to their committee groups. I’ve been fortunate to have a boss that understands this, but others may not. I’ve participated in a few webinars lately that suggest writing your own job description and bringing it to HR. If you have an organization that doesn’t appreciate or acknowledge what your role is, write your own job description so your organization knows what community managers actually do. They will be shocked with the value you are adding to membership and your organization.Build a team of champions For me, moderation is the biggest cause of burnout. Our open forums are on full moderation. None of the posts in our five open forums get approved unless I approve them. It’s stressful! I monitor posts around the clock. But I truly believe it is the only way to handle our type of community. You need a team behind you. It’s not staff. It’s member volunteers that are just as passionate about the community as you are who will look at the flagged posts and respond in a timely manner. We recently established an “Editorial Board” these members suggest re-writes of posts and occasionally contact members personally when there has been a violation. Our community would not have grown without this solid group. I would also have burnout a long time ago without their support. Find leaders in your organization who are willing to tackle this task and trust their instincts.ConclusionBeing a community manager alone is not ideal, but it is the norm at this point for associations until organizations begin to realize the importance of a community manager or a community team. But your membership appreciates you. Gain strength from the difference you make to members and join other community manager groups. If you have a Higher Logic platform, I highly recommend HUG. Community by Association, CMX, and FeverBee are also great groups to join so you know you are not alone.