The Community Roundtable

Empowering global community leaders with research-backed resources, training, and tools.

Getting the New Member Experience Right

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Our research has shown that robust new online community member welcome programs have an outsized impact on long-term engagement. It makes sense – having someone welcome you, give you some ground rules on behaviors, give you a tour of the community, etc., makes new members more comfortable, and you’re more likely to dip a toe in a new community if you have ideas for how to do it.

One of the hardest things to remember is that while the new member process can seem boring and rote to the person conducting it, to the new member it’s all brand new. Luckily, automation has come a long way in the last few years, allowing even the smallest community team (we see you, lone wolves) to have a big impact on the way new members start their community journey with you.

In this short case study, Camilo Lemos, Community Manager at Autodesk shares how the Autodesk Community team has increased engagement and ensured proficient and effective onboarding interactions through enhanced new member programs in their online community program.

Download the Autodesk case study.

community case study

Introducing: Community Case Studies from TheCR Network

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The number one request we get from community practitioners is to hear the stories of other people, facing the same challenges they are. And it’s not just anecdotal – our research has shown that while every community is different, data proves that communities with different use cases face similar challenges and use the same community management strategies, operations and tactics to achieve success.

Luckily, working with our members in TheCR Network gives us a front row seat to some amazing community stories – and now we’re going to share them with you!

I’m excited to announce our new series: Community Case Studies from TheCR Network. Nothing makes us happier than seeing our members succeed – and we want to share those successes with you. Added bonus – as our members tell their community stories they are also sharing how they achieved specific successes – and passing along best practices, research-backed tactics, and techniques you can implement in your community today. Each member success story will share their challenge, their goal and the outcome – a true insider look at how some of the world’s top organizations are implementing community programs.

We kick off the series with Getting the New Member Experience Right, a case study shared by member Camilo Lemos, Community Manager at Autodesk. Camilo outlines how the Autodesk community team took on redesigning its entire Customer Support Community, a peer-to-peer platform built over 30 years ago to support their software technology/web applications customers. Definitely, a must-read for anyone facing the redesign of an existing community or looking to improve a support community that is already up and running.

Download your copy of Getting the New Member Experience Right here.

Best Practices for Community Moderation, or Why Patience is a Virtue

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superheroPolicies, guidelines, and governance provide the framework and boundaries for your community, but moderation is where those policies are turned into day-to-day management. Direct moderation is the day-to-day interaction and management that signals to members what gets attention—both good and bad—from the organization. Successful community management requires not just a day-to-day awareness of the activity in your community but also the seamless application of tools and strategies to maximize engagement and minimize disruption.

Moderating doesn’t mean eliminating conflict. In fact, vibrant and productive communities depend on differences of opinion between members to create discussion, generate new ideas and develop innovative solutions. But that vibrancy is dependent on the community’s ability to maintain a respectful tone, and it’s the moderator’s job to thread that needle – fostering discussion and even dissention while maintaining the proper tone. In The Community Manager Handbook we shared best practices for effective community moderation, so when you see a conflict developing:

• Step up your monitoring – spend time understanding the conflict before you get involved

• Give it space – often conflicts will resolve themselves, or the community will help mediate

• Model behavior – it can sometimes be helpful to rephrase opinions of others in a more emotionally neutral tone that allows people to focus on the content of the comment vs. the tone.

• Get personal – in some cases, a personal outreach, especially a phone call, will both help you understand the conflict and perhaps create a space for resolution

• Don’t take it personally – Remember, your role is to create a safe space for people to share, not to arbitrate decisions. Getting personally invested in conflict is a great way to generate distrust and burn out.

superheroesMike Pascucci, Manager of Social Media and Community at Autodesk shared this powerful tip: “Remove emotion from the decision making process as a moderator. Look at every piece of content for what it is.” He also noted that being proactive also creates positive momentum. “Reactive management is by its nature defensive. Proactive gets you seen as a thought leader in the space—and that gives your internal teams comfort, and creates a circle of trust with both internal employees and external communities.”

If you’re tasked with moderating an online community check out The Community Manager Handbook’s section on moderation best practices. You’ll find three good moderation rules of thumb, a sample engagement ladder and more expert advice from our Community Superheroes.

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Want to connect with community professionals around the world? Join our Facebook group!

All Things in Moderation – Best Practices for Successful Community Moderation

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superheroBy Shannon Abram, Relationship Manager at The Community Roundtable.

Please forgive the pun, I couldn’t help it! In all seriousness, policies, guidelines and governance provide the framework and boundaries for your community, but moderation is where those policies are turned into day-to-day management. Direct moderation is the day-to-day interaction and management that signals to members what gets attention—both good and bad—from the organization. Successful community management requires not just a day-to-day awareness of the activity in your community but also the seamless application of tools and strategies to maximize engagement and minimize disruption.

Moderating doesn’t mean eliminating conflict. In fact, vibrant and productive communities depend on differences of opinion between members to create discussion, generate new ideas and develop innovative solutions. But that vibrancy is dependent on the community’s ability to maintain a respectful tone, and it’s the moderator’s job to thread that needle – fostering discussion and even dissention while maintaining the proper tone. In The Community Manager Handbook we shared best practices for effective community moderation, so when you see a conflict developing:

• Step up your monitoring – spend time understanding the conflict before you get involved

• Give it space – often conflicts will resolve themselves, or the community will help mediate

• Model behavior – it can sometimes be helpful to rephrase opinions of others in a more emotionally neutral tone that allows people to focus on the content of the comment vs. the tone.

• Get personal – in some cases, a personal outreach, especially a phone call, will both help you understand the conflict and perhaps create a space for resolution

• Don’t take it personally – Remember, your role is to create a safe space for people to share, not to arbitrate decisions. Getting personally invested in conflict is a great way to generate distrust and burn out.

superheroesMike Pascucci, Manager of Social Media and Community at Autodesk shared this powerful tip: “Remove emotion from the decision making process as a moderator. Look at every piece of content for what it is.” He also noted that being proactive also creates positive momentum. “Reactive management is by its nature defensive. Proactive gets you seen as a thought leader in the space—and that gives your internal teams comfort, and creates a circle of trust with both internal employees and external communities.”

If you’re tasked with moderating an online community check out The Community Manager Handbook’s section on moderation best practices. You’ll find three good moderation rules of thumb, a sample engagement ladder and more expert advice from our Community Superheroes.

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Want to connect with community professionals around the world? Join our Facebook group!