Community as a Service

When we talk about community in associations (or any organization, for that matter), we often lean heavily on what it enables and how it helps move strategies forward. This is incredibly important and in many cases is the crux of the value that we, as community practitioners, try to get others to understand. It’s part of the ROI that sometimes seems elusive to convince others of.There’s another piece of that value that I’m not sure we’re paying enough attention to. Recently, in my own association as we look to different ways of working, I’m getting lots of requests from other teams to understand more about moderation or fostering conversations in the online space. My team is seeing an increase of requests to advise versus simply post something within the online community for greater reach. Community not only enables strategies, but it enables new skills that are going to be essential to the way we do business. Enter community as a service.If you’ve read the State of Community Management research from The Community Roundtable over the past few years, this is not news to you. And it’s not always easy to relate to unless you see it in action. You might think of it as a “best case scenario” finding provided that the people in your organization really understand community and that you have the resources to support it. I’m here to tell you that they don’t need to fully understand community in order for them to understand what it enables and the value that community skills bring to everyday work – whether it be transformational or operational. You also may not realize that your community is already acting in that manner and you don’t even realize it. Here’s how to tell.People are asking for your help in different waysI think we’re used to the usual requests that we get for our online community. Someone has a piece of content or some information they want to get out and they come to you and say, “hey, I want to reach a broader audience. Can you put this up in the community?” This usually leads to another conversation in which you uncover that community may not be the best channel for what they’re trying to achieve and they’re back to square one.Associations will always be focused on meeting or exceeding the needs of their members and as those needs evolve, the way we work shifts to ensure that we are doing the right things at the right time for the right audience. That means people will start having different conversations with community managers in order to accomplish a goal. Instead of asking if an article can be posted in your community, you may be asked to sit down and have a conversation on the best ways to engage people in the online space around a topic. Or you may be asked to have a conversation around the best way to build a moderation strategy around comments that are being enabled as part of a new product. More thoughtful and strategic conversations will take place, shifting to a more collaborative way of working because, after all, isn’t that part of what community is meant to do?Colleagues are looking for community-driven skillsThis goes far beyond figuring out the best way of managing comments. When members engage with an association, they are looking for something more than just handing over their member dues each year in exchange for a few discounts. They’re looking for greater value and deeper engagement with your association than what you may have traditionally offered. That means that staff has to figure out other ways to provide meaningful connections to the association that extends the value of that membership.Community is built on the foundation of deep connections and is selfless in its approach to how people get that value. It’s not customer service, but customer centricity that is at the heart of how community brings people together and association staff can tap into those skills to influence member behavior and deepen loyalty. These skills will be integral to the future of work within associations. And associations are quickly realizing this.Community is built into organizational strategyWhile this blog is dedicated to those who work in the online community space, community value is not confined to the online space. Oftentimes I hear association executives state that community building is important for the life of the association. Why is that? It’s because associations ARE communities. The very nature of how they interact with their members and their purpose makes them communities with a different name. Whether people are gathering at a local chapter event, at your annual conference, or within the online space, your association is providing them a space to come together with a common interest/mission. It would be more alarming to know that community was not considered when building out an organization strategy than to know that it is. Community is becoming the new norm in organizations globally and is essential to operations and transformation. It keeps your customers at the center of the work that you do. Without that focus, associations will always miss the mark in product development, customer experience, and member value.Not so long ago I remembered hearing other community professionals talk about the challenges of getting people to understand the value of community. And while we still haven’t fully arrived, we are much farther along that we have been in the time that I’ve been in community management.As the value of community continues to reach into other parts of our associations and touch every aspect work, prepare to see demand for your time to increase and, hopefully, additional support and resources so that you can continue to carry community work forward. You are leading your association into the future, whether you realize it or not. And that’s value that no ROI calculator can fully demonstrate.How has community as a service surfaced in your association? What challenges have you faced? What are your successes? Tell us in the comments below!