governance Archives

Help Community Programs Scale

December 12, 2022 By Jim Storer

The Policies & Governance competency of the Community Maturity Model™ details operational guidelines for successful online community programs. Policies refer to how a community interacts and can be divided into two areas: Terms of service – How a community is managed in legal terms and Guidelines – Articulate what behaviors are expected and why, plainly. Governance is how the community team is structured, operates within an organization, and supports community-related activities across the organization.

Most organizations could support multiple communities with myriad use cases. The most common include:

General employee communities for knowledge sharing and collaboration
Customer support communities for providing fast, inexpensive, always-on access to answers to product and service questions.
Membership communities for groups like students, patients, alumni, or association audiences

In 2021, we saw the emergence of the “Center of Excellence’’ (CoE) approach, where community work is decentralized, but supported with a host of resources. While responses from this year’s data suggest CoEs are falling out of favor, digging deeper shows a different perspective.

Comparing the data from respondents who reported “one community” vs. “a network of communities” at their organization, we found a dramatic increase in CoEs once a network exists (i.e., once they’re past the initial use case). Also interesting, 17% of respondents (8% in networked communities) reported only ad hoc/informal governance. Question: Who’s in charge of the communities there? If this is you, please contact us. We want to feature you in a case study.

Interested in Growing Your Community? Become an Enabler!

On a related note, those with a network of communities are more likely to help communities programs scale by providing enabling resources to their organization than those with a single community. When comparing total data on community resources from 2021 to 2022 there isn’t much to report. Comparing responses from individual communities vs. a network of communities tells a different story (see pg. 45 of the 2022 SOCM or the image above).

It’s interesting to note: 30% of community managers representing a single community provide none of the resources mentioned in the survey, which likely results in a less strategic initiative. For those who want to grow beyond a single community, get out there and coach/evangelize.

Want to help community programs scale? Start a center of excellence?

Check out this short interview with Claudia Teixeira, Senior Knowledge and Learning Consultant at the World Bank Group.

Claudia and Anne Mbugua discuss what a center of excellence entails, the path to centers of excellence at the World Bank Group, and advice for implementing a center of excellence at your organization. Listen now.

Get more community ideas and advice in the 13th annual 2022 State of Community Management report:

Dos and Don’ts for Happy and Healthy Community Moderation

November 13, 2017 By Jerry Green

We all know that a community manager’s to-do list can be daunting, if not paralyzing, at times. But what about a community moderator? Community moderation can be just as demanding.

For several years, I was the one and only official member of the community “team” for a large company. Among my many responsibilities was community moderation, so I got a firsthand view of what went into successful moderation and balancing the community management workload.

And while I could have written a few hundred pieces of advice, I’ve narrowed it down to ten you need to have a happy and healthy community (and moderator).

DO welcome new members to the community.

This is especially important when launching a new community. Acknowledge new members, reiterate the purpose of the community and encourage them to participate. (Check this great new member case study.)

DO show members how to participate.

Give new members a list of three things to do. These can include: Read the guidelines for participating; like a post you value or enjoy; search for a topic of interest; respond to a post you can contribute to.

DO establish clear guidelines for participation.

Your guidelines should focus on encouraging the behavior you’d like members to exhibit in addition to discouraging the conduct that is prohibited. Be firm and consistent in applying the guidelines to all members.

Do be sure you understand the question or issue.

Before you respond to a member’s post, read the post again. Especially in a customer support community it’s important to show that you understand the question and are genuinely interested in assisting. Too often I see a member respond “That’s not what I was asking. Did you even read my post?”

DON’T be a robot.

Respond in a sincere, personal voice. Some community moderation platforms provide the functionality of selecting a prepopulated response. Avoid using “canned” responses unless volume necessitates it.

DO be empathetic.

Always remember that the member you’re responding to may be justly upset and they’re looking to you for assistance. You represent your brand in the community and sometimes the brand will have done something wrong and the consumer is looking to you for help.

DO leverage analytics to evaluate your community’s content.

Example: Check frequently searched terms to see what your members are looking for. Make sure those topics have appropriate content posted and tagged accordingly.

DO acknowledge and nurture your Super Users.

It’s amazing how much support a small group of passionate, dedicated advocates can contribute. A quick note of appreciation, thanks or congratulations can go a long way.

DO use key word filters to screen all posts.

Key word filters can be used to screen obvious issues like profanity but they can also be used to alert you of potential issues. I’ve used them to search for potentially volatile political discussions, product issues and dissatisfied clients.

DON’T feed the trolls.

Every community has them. They’re only there to stir the pot. Deal with them calmly and within the guidelines. Depending on their behavior you can ignore them, warn them or send them away. (Here’s another great post about conflict resolution in communities.)

Three ways to maintain a positive tone in your online community

November 7, 2017 By Jerry Green

For anyone who manages or moderates an online community, you know that sustaining a positive tone can sometimes be a challenge. Members view it as a safe place to provide feedback, vent their frustrations, and have their voice be heard. It’s not always pretty.

In a past life, I managed a large external support community. Given the nature of the subject matter and the rapid growth from a couple thousand to well over 100,000 members three years later, the tone early on wasn’t exactly a positive one. However, thanks to some savvy community peers and a long-term strategy, we were able to turn it around.

I’ve outlined three lessons I learned in the process that will help you keep your community helpful and not hostile.

1. Establish clear guidelines for participation.

This doesn’t just mean create a list of things users aren’t permitted to do. While you will want to include a list of prohibited behavior, more importantly, focus on sharing with users the behavior and participation they can do to contribute, add value and benefit. No one enjoys being told what not to do. Instead, show your membership how they can contribute and engage productively. Post a question. Answer a question. Give kudos and acknowledge good contributions from others. (Here’s another post with an example of good guidelines for participation.)

2. Demonstrate the tone you want members to mimic.

I’ve seen all too many examples of online communities where the members go rogue. The engagement, content and tone are nothing like what the brand originally intended. Often times this happens because the forum or group doesn’t have a community moderator. I would never recommend starting an online community, forum or group without moderation. Users tend to mimic the tone they experience so if you’re starting a new community be sure to “seed” the community with appropriately toned content prior to launch. If you’re coming into an established community that needs help with tone, in addition to reviewing and cleaning up toxic content be sure to create positive content and feature this content when possible. Be sure to acknowledge and recognize members who contribute the types of responses that mimic the tone you are trying to establish.

3. Firmly and consistently enforce the participation guidelines.

I mentioned earlier the need to establish clear guidelines for participation at the start. Equally important is fair and consistent enforcement of the guidelines. If you have a member going off the rails and you don’t guide them back in, then not only might that member continue to veer off the desired path but that behavior is being witnessed by other members who may see the conduct as acceptable. Community members tend to mimic the behavior they see. The sooner you rein in the offender the less chance you’ll have of others following suit.

Diligently following these three recommendations will help you create and maintain the welcoming, supportive environment online communities strive for. Remember to define appropriate participation, mimic the desired behavior and be consistent with enforcement of the guidelines.

Stakeholder engagement, governance and preschool

March 16, 2015 By Ted McEnroe

Narrowing the options can help your still developing governance efforts move forward more safely

By Ted McEnroe, The Community Roundtable

“What do you want for breakfast?” you ask your 4-year-old.

Answer A: “I don’t know.

Answer B: “Pie.” (Not a great answer at 7 a.m. – also “Candy.” Or “Mac and cheese.”)

Answer C: (Silence.)

Do that once and you realize that in order to get results, you need to limit choices.

“Do you want oatmeal or cereal for breakfast?”

Answer A: “Oatmeal.”

Answer B: “Cereal.”

Answer C: (Silence. I mean, hey, you’re still talking with a 4–year-old.)

There are lots of times in life when leaving the door too open with a question means you’re less likely to get a workable or appropriate answer – and all too often, no answer at all. One of those times is when you are engaging stakeholders in developing governance strategies for your community efforts.

Lauren Vargas, Head of Social Media and Community at Aetna knows this all too well, having made a career of developing governance systems for community efforts at a number of businesses. She has a number of recommendations for anyone taking on the challenge of engaging key stakeholders in developing community governance, not the least is to treat people like you would a 4-year-old – by smartly framing their options to give them the best opportunity to succeed.

“I’ve never had legal, compliance or HR tell me no because I have given them things they can easily adapt to,” she told us in interviews for The Community Manager Handbook: 20 Lessons from Community Superheroes. “They lend their expertise to that area and control it, but we manage their options.”

Framing good options, however, requires thorough preparation to understand stakeholders’ needs and their unique perspective on community before you draw up the possibilities. Lauren does informational sessions before beginning the community conversation, but still comes with an open mind and a determination to create a safe space for an honest exchange. Just as someone from legal or compliance may not understand your community approach, you may not fully appreciate their needs and concerns, either.

Another key – if you think these are one-and-done conversations, you’re making a big mistake. Regular contact keeps stakeholders engaged and builds trusting relationships that are critical in times of crisis. Make governance a regular part of the discussion, and work to create policies that are based on roles, not personalities.

But remember you are conversing with people, not robots, Lauren notes. “Don’t think it doesn’t help to bring cookies or ice cream into your legal or compliance team—they’re human, too.”

Want more insights into common community challenges from Lauren Vargas and 20 other experienced community professionals? Download the Community Manager Handbook: 20 Lessons from Community Superheroes now from The Community Roundtable.