The Community Roundtable

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

I don’t have the budget to add new staff to my community team but I’m going crazy.

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There is a good chance your online community is busier than ever. With millions of employees working that #suddentlyremote life, brands scrambling to handle service and support requests online, and a lot of people with free time on their hands, online community managers have a lot of work to do, and often the same (or fewer) resources than they did two months ago. A lot of online community managers are currently dealing with this pain point:

“I don’t have the budget to add new staff to my community team but I’m going crazy. Where should I prioritize my time to make sure my community continues to be effective?“

The good news is that communities with a community manager (that’s you!) are more effectively able to measure the value they create for their organizations. Use these three strategies to work smarter, and stay sane:

1.  Evaluate your time

Track where you are spending your time for a week or two and then segment it into major categories – engagement, measurement, evangelism, etc. so you can see your current allocation. Are you spending a lot of time on a bucket that doesn’t provide a tangible impact?

2. Compare your priorities

Look at how community managers in the most mature communities prioritize their responsibilities – and where that differs from average communities.

Mature communities:
• Advocate for the community internally
• Build a community roadmap
• Coach executives

What can you prioritize to help you get the most out of the time and resources you have, and work to build your internal network of supporters?

3.  Create a schedule

Putting out fires can eat up all of your time if you let it. Make sure it doesn’t by blocking your calendar so you can dedicate time to what is important – and make sure to protect that time.

Delegate what you can to community – SME’s, community advocates, and champions are all people who can help create value for community members while lightening your load at the same time. (This podcast has some great advice about using champion programs in your community.)

Our research also shows that regularly occurring programming helps members become more engaged and collaborative. Try using an editorial calendar to build out a cadence that works for you, and your community.

An unofficial fourth idea?

Hold space for the idea that growth happens in uncomfortable places. As an online community professional, you are in a unique position to help facilitate real, lasting change at your organization. It’s a big job, but I think you can do it. (And we’re here to help!)

Here are a few resources that might help:

  1. CMGR Self-Care – Advice for staying sane and avoiding burnout
  2. Conversations with Community Managers – These short (less than 30 minutes) episodes focus on the challenges community professionals have faced, and how they solved them.
  3. Online Community FAQs – Answers to our most commonly asked questions.

CCC Fun Fact #5: The demise of the lone wolf community manager?

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By Ted McEnroe, Head of Research, The Community Roundtable

It’s one of the unfortunate clichés of the history of community management – the image of an overworked, isolated, solo practitioner, a lone wolf community manager, working to keep the community moving forward while the rest of the organization spins unknowingly around him (or her).

But there are signs that times are changing.

Just 1-in-7 of those community professionals who completed the Community Careers and Compensation 2015 survey identified themselves as “lone wolves,” the only resource in their community program. And more than half of the respondents said there were 2 or more full-time community managers on staff in their organization.

It’s a remarkable statistic, and it deserves a couple of small asterisks. First, there is likely some self-selection here, as busy “lone wolves” might not have taken the time to complete the survey. Second, it should be pointed out that even if lone wolves are becoming less common in organizations, the idea of one community manager per community is still prevalent. The State of Community Management report, which looked at individual communities, as opposed to community programs, found that 7-in-10 communities had one full- or part-time community manager in charge.

 

Lone Wolf Community Manager

What should you make of this? That more and more organizations are seeing the opportunity in having the community team in place to ensure communities can take an important role in the organization. There’s still work to be done – but it’s a promising sign. And for now it looks like maybe the lone wolf community manager is going extinct.

See the community staffing data now by visiting communityroundtable.com/ccc2015 to download the Executive Summary, or contribute your data to the ongoing research and get the full report for free. Visit the.cr/ccc2015survey now!

Help – I’m a lone wolf community manager!

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By Shannon Abram, Relationship Manager at The Community Roundtable.

lone wolfOne of the most common frustrations we hear about from community managers is that they feel isolated from the rest of their company. Often, community managers sit on a communications or marketing team, sometimes they even reside inside an IT department – and all too often it is easy to feel like they are an island inside their organization.

Today I wanted to share some best practices for those lone wolf practitioners out there. It’s important to recognize and embrace your status as a one-person team and these strategies can help.

1. Take Time to Rest

This might seem counter-intuitive but social media professionals, especially lone wolves, must take time for themselves and disconnect from the community in order to recharge their batteries. To not take that much needed time could result in burnout. It is very healthy and very necessary to occasionally disconnect – and this time away from your community will result in both a fresh perspective when you return, and renewed energy for tackling challenges.

2. Set Up Processes to Monitor, Track Metrics and Share Your Successes

It is crucially important to keep track of community activitiy and share these findings with key stakeholders. Deciding on the metrics (which can be simple at first, especially for the lone wolf practitioner) that best reflect your objectives and then sharing those successes with executives and key lines of business is imperative. Do not be afraid to share those successes that align to organizational goals and help move the needle. The more you can show the community as being globally relevant and impactful the more your programs will gain increased internal traction and support.

3. Ask for Help

Just because you are the only person at your organization with the title “community manager” doesn’t mean you have to go it alone – asking for assistance from colleagues, executives and even outside experts can be a huge source of help for you and energy for your community. When developing new programs and projects, solicit community contributions from other staff members and be explicit about assigning ownership of tasks. Here we use the word “assign” purposely because when you ask people to do something specific, the likelihood of them saying “no” drops. Figure out what it is that people like (whether it is other staff or community members) and suggest something that matches those interests. This will increase their likelihood to participate and give you much needed help.

Are you a lone wolf community professional? How to do maximize your impact when operating solo? We’d love to hear your best practices and advice for other individual community contributors.

 

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Need community support but operate as a lone wolf at your organization? TheCR Network provides resources, expert advice and a network of community peers that is unparalleled in the industry. Learn how TheCR Network can help you go from lost lone wolf to lean, mean community management machine today!