Community best practices. Presented by Joyce Davis on January 28, 2013 at IBM Connect, a social business conference held in Orlando, FL.

1. Joyce Davis, Community Manager
Twitter: @jadintx
Community: http://ibm.co/ics-community
User Groups: http://socialbizUG.org
January 28, 2013
Friday, January 25, 13
7
Seven Habits of a Successful Community Manager
IBM Collaboration Solutions & Social Business

2. Friday, January 25, 13

3. Fairness
Integrity
Honesty
Human dignity
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4. Once upon a time...
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5. Dorothy Gale
Corporate Planner
Yellow Brick Road Enterprises
Kansas, US
Working on an agenda for our next Emerald City project!
Friday, January 25, 13

6. Dorothy Gale
Community Manager
Corporate Planner
Yellow Brick Road Enterprises
Kansas, US Global
Glinda just promoted me to community manager!
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7. The Wizard
of Oz
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8. The Wizard
of Oz
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9. 1. Be Proactive What can you control?
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10. 1. Be proactive
• Get personally involved and invested in
the community
• Focus energy on the things you can control
• Acknowledge mistakes
• Provide easy opportunities for members to contribute
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11. 2. Begin with the end in mind What’s your mission?
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12. 2. Begin with the end in mind
• Create a mission statement for the
community with the help of members
• Define a community charter, complete with roles and responsibilities
• Have an on-boarding and
enablement process
• Have mentors who help orient As a member of the community:
new members •Build business relationships
•Receive recognition and visibility
•Gain technical knowledge
•Stay up-to-date
•Influence IBM’s products and strategy
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13. 3. Put first things first Do you know your community?
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14. 3. Put first things first
• Developing relationships with community
members is the single most important role as
a community manager
• Communicating with members is more
important than the collaboration tool or
social channel being used
• Take advantage of face-to-face events to
build relationships
• Recognize community members publicly
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15. 4. Win-win What do you reward?
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16. 4. Win-win
• Align rewards with the value systems
of the community (reward collaboration
not competition)
• Don't force people to collaborate a certain way or in a certain place; go to
where they are and explore ways improve the community
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17. 5. Seek first to
understand, then be
understood
Are you listening to your
community?
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18. 5. Seek first to understand, then be understood
• Listen to the community; consider focus groups,
polls or surveys to gather feedback
• Before prescribing solutions, be sure you fully
understand concerns
• Focus on engagement, not just broadcasts
• Respond on a timely basis
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19. 6. Synergize
Is the whole greater than the sum
of its parts?
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20. 6. Synergize
• Embrace different points of view
• Let different talents shine
• Establish leaders / advocates for different
areas of the community (forums, social media
channels)
• Ensure fresh and engaging community content by
encouraging contributions from various sources
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21. 7. Sharpen the saw How can you improve?
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22. 7. Sharpen the saw
• Measure success; ensure you're measuring
the right thing (e.g., engagement vs. followers)
• Periodically review the community charter
• Don't be afraid to make changes (including to the community charter)
• Be careful about burn out. Have trusted partners and community members
who can cover for you when you need a break.
• Explore ways that you can strengthen your skills as a community manager
(#cmgr, Community Roundtable)
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23. The 7 Habits
1.Be proactive
2.Begin with the end in mind
3.Put first things first
4.Win-win
5.Seek first to understand, then be understood
6.Synergize
7.Sharpen the saw
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24. 7
The 7 Habits
1.Be proactive
2.Begin with the end in mind
3.Put first things first
4.Win-win
5.Seek first to understand, then be understood
6.Synergize
7.Sharpen the saw
Friday, January 25, 13

25. ...and the community lived
happily ever after.
The End
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26. Resources
• The 2012 State of Community Management - Best Practices from Community, Social Media, & Social Business
Practitioners
http://community-roundtable.com/socm-2012/
• Digital Habitats; stewarding technology for communities, by Etienne Wenger, Nancy White, John D. Smith
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0982503601?
ie=UTF8&tag=fullcircleassoci&linkCode=xm2&creativeASIN=0982503601
• BP304--The Way of the Social Dragon: Ten Key Strategies for Building a Thriving Social Community in Your Organization,
included in this .zip file:
https://greenhouse.lotus.com/files/app?lang=en_US#/file/5a4e5393-6f1f-4278-a1a1-947d750e1a39
• IBM Connections wiki
http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/lcwiki.nsf/
• IBM Connections Media Gallery
http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/lcwiki.nsf/xpViewCategories.xsp?lookupName=Video%20Gallery
• Installing the IBM Connections Files Plug-in for Lotus Notes
http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/lcwiki.nsf/dx/Installing_the_IBM_Lotus_Connections_Files_plug-in_for_Lotus_Notes_lc3
• IBM Mobile Apps
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/solutions/mobile-enterprise/mobile-apps/
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