Connie Bensen

How many meetings have you sat through? Are some of them interminably long and you wonder why an email wasn’t just sent out? In my previous life I would drive 2 hrs one way for regional meetings that were four hours long. Sometimes it felt like that information could have been passed on in an email or two.

Working online has taught me a couple of things. Well really it’s only one: to be succinct! Long ago Jeremiah Owyang said he wouldn’t read my email if it was longer than a few bullet points. So the world has him to thank for my brevity in writing.

My newest skill is that I can call a team meeting and get everything accomplished in a half hour! For this I have my CEO, Aaron Newman, to thank. He’s not into meetings & we appreciate that. But they are a necessity for communication (especially considering my working remotely).

Then I happened up this article by Steve Roesler, Better Meetings, Better Leadership. I like the way he has divided meetings into 5 types based on the amount of participation expected. And he ties it into leadership skills. As a community leader stop & think about how you call meetings and what type are they? I’m putting my comments in parenthesis.

1. the Tell Mode – no participation is expected (umm send an email please)

2. the Sell Mode – in addition to telling, you want buy in (please take some time to make sure that the team is involved in the decision/policy! Then you won’t need to ask for buy in because they were part of creating the solution)

3. the Test Mode – you allow for some input (but this is sometimes met with apathy. Again make sure the team is involved in creating solutions)

4. the Consult Mode – you encourage participation & no decision has been made (note Steve comments that the leader listens. Aren’t these types of meetings more interesting to attend?)

5. the Join Mode – everyone arrives at a decision together (there’s nothing better than attending a meeting, participating, and feeling as if you’ve been heard & your input has been taken into account)

I see meetings as a place where we need to shift our organizations into being transparent and aspiring for the new culture that supports everyone being involved in social media and working with customers. The power shift is going to be away from the top down so will our meeting style need to reflect that?

If you’re leading meetings what type of message are you sending? And when you attend the various types of meetings, which type do you prefer?

There are many analogies about community building. Some say it’s like gardening. Planting seeds in fertile ground, then providing the seedlings with the things they need to flourish. As the garden grows it continually needs maintenance and ongoing support (water & fertilizer). Another is that a community is like a party where the community manager is the host.

I think that the community manager role is like parenting. Parenting has it’s challenges and there are no specific instructions. Each family has it’s own culture, routines, traditions and expectations. As a parent you wonder about things. My daughter is 20 and I’ve went thru many phases.

Here are the parallels that I see.

• a continual worry – are you doing the right thing by everyone?
• are you treating everyone fairly & not showing favoritism?
• are you encouraging everyone to spend time together & participate?
• are you giving the community space to grow independently?
• are you empowering them to be individuals? yet encouraging them to learn together?
• are you ensuring a happy, safe environment for everyone to participate in?
• are you introducing new ideas and encouraging the community to grow, thrive and contribute to it’s own success?

And I view my colleagues as my work family. And that’s just as important as the community/customers.

• are you encouraging your team to learn new things about social media?
• do you encourage them to work cross functionally and build on each other’s knowledge, share new ideas & grow the company together?
• are you sensitive to to other’s needs and support your colleagues when they need it?
• do you work to identify & break down barriers in a constructive way?
• are you introducing innovative ideas that better your workplace?

I’m sure that you can think of more! And if it sounds like the position is part social worker, psychologist and parent there’s probably a reason for that! Those of us that thrive on this type of work enjoy the challenges of working with people, leading, teaching and empowering others.

Do you agree with my analogy?