I often tell people that nagging is a big part of community management. Yes, you could call it by some other nice names, “encouraging”, “managing”, “asking”, “requesting”, but the reality is that it can seem a lot like nagging. As community managers, we stay focused on what the community needs, and this often means that we need help from others to provide information, blog posts, technical details and more.
Yes, the term nagging seems a little harsh, and this is probably more like project management, but the end result is to get people to do something without making it seem like you are nagging, so here are a few tips:
- Provide context for what you need to help people understand why what you require is important.
- Manage your tasks like a project with a roadmap, and give people due dates and reminders.
- Offer to help if possible. Sometimes people are unfamiliar with community technology (blog software, wikis, mailing lists, etc.), and offering your help the first time to get them started can make them more comfortable and self-sufficient later.
- Have backup ideas and keep in mind that not everyone will deliver on time no matter how many times you ask / nag, so it can help to plan for a little extra knowing that not everything will be ready when you wanted it.
Additional Reading
Part of a series of community manager tips blog posts.
Photo by Flickr user Elliot Brown licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Most community managers keep a close watch on their online communities to be able to respond quickly, but really good community managers know when to respond right away and when to wait. If something is truly wrong, you should step in immediately to let people know you are working on fixing the issue, and when someone has an urgent or quick question, responding right away can help a community member get through an issue and back to being productive. However, there are many times when waiting and watching can be the best strategy.
The balance between listening and talking is a tricky one for many community managers, especially new ones. As community managers, we get excited when people participate, but if we start to jump into every conversation or reply to every thread it can be a little overbearing and can shut the conversation down too early. I try to listen first, and respond later to give more people a chance to participate.
For community managers, having excellent metrics is one of the best ways to show your progress and help justify your efforts to management when talking about budgets and staffing for the community. It provides an early warning system and diagnostics for potential community issues, which gives you time to make corrections before things get too bad.