Comments on: Cultivating the Community Managers

By: Footprints (11.11.09) | Chris Deary

Footprints (11.11.09) | Chris Deary — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:29:54 +0000

[...] Cultivating the Community Managers [...]

By: links for 2009-11-04 « Sarah Hartley

links for 2009-11-04 « Sarah Hartley — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:03:34 +0000

[...] Cultivating the Community Managers They are restless, isolated, frustrated, and unsatisfied. They are getting more support and recognition for their work externally than they do within their own organizations. They are looking for really rewarding challenges and an environment where they can do innovative and ground-breaking work. They are in organizations that still view them as their social media or community outpost but they are not ready to think about social media or community as a business strategy that incorporates more of the organization – effectively leaving them in the desert with no water. (tags: socialmedia business community blogs socialnetworking management) [...]

By: quqabita

quqabita — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:05:22 +0000

You just nailed it. Rachel Happe. I agree with you and most comments above. It is a serious threat to the profession.

By: Rachel Happe

Rachel Happe — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:28:36 +0000

The value of a community manager is one of the toughest discussions out there right now. When done really well, much of the work is ‘hidden’ from view – we wrote about this in The Iceberg Effect – see: http://community-roundtable.com/2009/08/the-iceberg-effect-of-community-management. Community managers directly affect the amount of engagement but it’s hard to see/report on.

It might be useful to do a diary of activities for a week or a month of how many members you emailed/spoke to/responded to/etc, how much content you contributed, and the like and pair that against activity. Change your level of activity for a week or longer and see how that affects community activity (although it’s usually somewhat lagging so a week may not be long enough to see direct impact).

We compare month-over-month the content and activities we do vs. the activity generated across a number of channels and look for trends.

And, yes – I think many people expect community managers to ’solve all the Internet problems’ and of course, it doesn’t work that way… online issues come up because there are issues with the product/service/relationship.

Thanks for the great comments!

By: Benoît Faverial

Benoît Faverial — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:54:37 +0000

The biggest challenge ? Modifications in the business processes & decision making due to a Community Manager.

As Community Management spreaded out from internet & geeks culture, we have to face now the challenges of evangelizing companies who don’t really know what “Customer Relation 2.0″ or “Buzz” mean.
What I hear from french colleagues right now is that kind of problems : finding ways to make exec & top management understand that hiring a Community Manager is not a magic wand to solve “all the Internet problems”. Companies have to shift the way they think & decide. And this battle is a really tough one

By: Barbara O'Connell

Barbara O'Connell — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:27:14 +0000

I’ve unofficially been a community manager for years, but always had trouble convincing management that this is a worthy full-time job. I would love to enter an organization that truly values its significance. I would love tips on how to effect this change or what training will better position folks like me to turn this into a full-time gig.

By: Rachel Happe

Rachel Happe — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:29:01 +0000

Hi Angela -

Thanks for the comment – I think you are right on that a lot of the strain comes from unarticulated expectations. Because the role is unfamiliar to many organizations, they don’t have established expectations (either formal or informal). We’re happy to see people like you and other leaders in the space talking about it more because I think that’s what starts to give others a realistic concept of what community management can be – and what some of the issues are.

By: Angela Connor

Angela Connor — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:58:57 +0000

I know what this burnout feels like first hand and have spoken to many others who feel used and abused and misunderstood. I think companies need to first and foremost work diligently to determine their needs. Once they do that, they can provide real expectations. And if they don’t know what those expectations are or what they should be, be honest and start a dialogue. Community managers are resourceful and innovative. Tap into that!

By: Rachel Happe

Rachel Happe — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:30:16 +0000

Thanks Rachel for sharing your perspective – it is up to us as community managers to better articulate what the role means, what community management is capable of, and why it is important. But as you suggest, it’s a two way street – others need to be open to hearing and changing in order to really take advantage of the opportunity. You have been instrumental in leading the conversation so please keep at it!

By: Rachel Makool

Rachel Makool — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:33:56 +0000

Rachel,
Really well written! I completely agree with your observations. Having led a team of Community professionals, I see many of them feeling disheartened about the lack of great opportunities for Community leadership in companies right now. Some of them have moved on to different positions just so they have a job. My more senior team members were hoping for Director positions that are few and hard to find.

I also see and hear about great strategic people who are put in lower level positions and asked to manage it all…strategy, feedback and moderation of forums. They are expected to be change agents in companies that really aren’t ready to embrace thinking differently about how to work with customers. Many companies are still holding on to the notion that Community is a way to cut down on Customer Support costs without understanding how to think of it strategically and holistically for the business.

I do believe that many of us need to show leadership in this area and continue to have conversations with executives and others about the value of engagement with customers. People shouldn’t give up yet especially during a tough economic climate. It’s posts like this that lead the way!