What is a Community Manager?

06.04.2011 Richard von Kaufmann // Concepting Director // co-founder

What is a Community Manager?A Community Manager guides communities towards smooth and effective collaboration.

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Linking the communities togetherCommunity Managers are often recruited to manage the interactions between organizations, partners and customers.

However, the same needs apply to closed-communities involving different departments and organizations.

Partners

Business / organization

Customers

Community Manager lives here

RULES

GUIDANCE

SUPPORT

Key Roles of the Community Manager• Evangelist — motivates users to participate

• Guide — sets the usage guidelines and guides participation

• Moderator — makes sure users behave appropriately

• Councilor — listens to user concerns

• Mobilizer — initiates and schedules content creation

• Content Manager — organizes content to be useful and relevant

Community Rules• Setting the right usage rules for

collaboration tools is crucial

• New users learn the rules through observing how the community is already using the space.

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The usage rules are set by the initial “champion users”.

Driving the Community Forward

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• Observe: be aware of issues being addressed

• Check: keep an active eye on activity

• Steer: show people the way forward

• Accelerate: be enthusiastic and promote activity

• Brake: moderate behavior

The Evangelist• Comfortable using social media

• Enthusiastic about collaborative ways of working online

• Works with early “champion users” to set usage rules

The Guide• Observes behaviour and endeavours to

provide help before it is requested

• Makes suggestions on how to use the tools better

• Seeks help from higher-level support when necessary

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The Moderator

• Keeps discussion active and productive — like a chairperson would in a normal real-life meeting

• Makes sure users are behaving appropriately

• Give positive feedback in public and negative in private

The Content Manager• Initiates and coordinates the collecting

of information

• Schedules content creation

• Manages content to make it useful to users

• Note: In a large organization this work would be done by a dedicated “Content Manager”

Appointing a Community Manager • It is normal and often good practice to give the role of Community Manager to

someone in the Communications Department

• The Community Manager’s role, however, is not necessarily suitable to people who are used to, or prefer, orderly approval processes

• Therefore the role of Community Manager should be considered on case-by-case basis and not automatically be given a Communications Manager

• Most importantly the Community Manager should be comfortable with using social me and enthusiastic about its potential

• Personal usage of social media is an added bonus but not essential

• Larger organizations should consider having a Chief Community Manager

Social Media GuidelinesEducate users on basic participation guidelines:

• representing self

• seeking permissions

• avoiding offence

• giving credit

• asking questions

• use a smiley when you mean it

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Thanks!Richard von KaufmannConcepting Director, co-founder+358 45 11 222 73richard@zipipop.com