20 May
This article appeared on the Elium‘ Sphère. It was written by Hélène to provide a summary on the role of the community manager. The article generated a lot of engagement. So we decided to share it here too. The article has even been completed with one section by Jean -Luc Abelin, Knowledge Manager at LafargeHolcim Group.
The community manager’s first mission is to stimulate exchanges, boost conversations and facilitate networking.
Thanks to the @ mention, the community manager addresses users based on their interest or expertise. S/He draws their attention to content or promotes networking around content.
The community manager (=CM) ensures the quality of these exchanges and shared content.
If the host is himself an expert of the subject matter (which is not a must), s/he answers and comments on shared content. At times, some comments might require some form of moderation. S/He must notify contributors who post irrelevant or off-topic content using private message and/or comments, depending on what feels more appropriate.
The community manager is also and above all a contributor and has to set example!
S/he posts carefully selected content, reference materials, topics to explore, … not shying away to comment on them, thus highlighting their relevance to the community. S/he does not hesitate to boost the contribution dynamics when posting activity slows down.
The CM is a guide and tutor.
His/her reach goes beyond the content, he masters the tool where s/he shares knowledge and functional skills with the users. With the help of Knowledge plaza’s team, s/he sets up all necessary support to facilitate the user adoption such as training, video, guides, tutorials, webinars, etc. Showcasing relevant advanced features to empower and support users advance in their daily endeavours is a crucial mission.
The CM is the gatekeeper of his community content.
Maintaining a community also means taking care of content consistency, quality and freshness. In order to do just that, deleting obsolete content, re/organising or maintaining tags is part of the “gardening” that is needed. That way, the interest of the community will remain strong and the search results will remain relevant.
The last role of the community manager is to evaluate and measure the vitality of its community.
Regular monitoring of online activity is good, but data analysis and statistics are better. Volume and frequency of contributions and views, most popular content, active contributors are all key indicators that measure the impact of a community.
