Managing communities takes a lot and CMs are allowed to delegate, to make their workload lighter.
Check around your community, to know the active members, the superusers, the answer providers etc.
You will find some persons in your community who love to help and respond to enquiries. They keep the community flourishing and operational.
Roles that community members can take on comprise;
- Content posters – These members usually post content that is beneficial to the community. The content is either niche-based, general or trending. Content often stimulates conversations in the community and makes members active.
- Facilitators – These set of people like to introduce topics and manage activities. Facilitators usually exude charisma. People are usually drawn to those that can command attention and admiration.
- Ambassadors – Having these people tell others about how they love being in your community (and encouraging them to join), is excellent PR. Word of mouth is often honest with firsthand experience.
- Committee members – Seeking to make the experience of community members better, is a top skill. Such knowledge is needed to grow the community. The interests of the brand and members needs to be at the forefront.
- Power users – Community members who have a certain degree of knowledge, of how things work and proffer the best options are power users. Their wide reach and testing of processes saves the next person from a bad incident.
- Event organisers – That person who takes pride in making things run smoothly and fixing unforeseen hiccups in events, is priceless. Being proactive and having solutions at one’s fingertips is a superb skill.
- Moderators – Moderators are like assistant community managers. They establish order in the community and make sure rules are not broken, decorum is maintained and this allows the CM attend to pressing issues.
- Mentors – When someone asks for help concerning a particular thing or area, mentors who have experience reach out to such a person to guide them. Mentorship can be a great avenue for internal insights.
When there is harmony and smooth sailing in a community, it is usually a result of key people working together, to grow and develop the community.
Communities like this draw in new members, who see and want to be part of a thriving, successful community.
Making use of what you have as a community manager, not only makes your work lighter, but you make your members involved in things that concern the community. Community members have a say and decision-making power when they are involved and given leadership positions in their communities.