Connie Bensen

Many read my blog for the information that I share. And I love having this format to teach others about methods that I have found useful. It’s my nature to provide information & leadership.

For the second half of last year people were telling me that’s what they see me doing. Chris Brogan told me that in person at Blog World. Scott Hammond of Nattergalen has identified it too & requires his staff to read my blog.

Chris has taken education to a new level of creating a business around it. I’m excited for him on his venture! This year brings me many opportunities to speak & teach in person also (some are yet to be announced). I will be doing some workshops on community management & leadership.

I have learned so much online through webinars & online experiences. So it was a natural fit when Axel Schultz contacted me & asked if I’d join the faculty of his newly founded Social Media Academy. As you know I’m a proponent of working remote & I appreciate the ‘virtual’ format! The press releases are out & I’m excited about having another way to share my knowledge with others.

Thanks to Axel & Marita for inviting me to join in their adventure.

There is a free Webinar on Jan 21

This is part of a series focused on the hiring process for community managers. My goal is to provide information for both companies looking to hire & those interested in the role. Community management is going to be a key role & it’s easier to start with a good fit than have extract oneself from a bad situation. Bottom line: recruitment & training takes resources (time & money).

In the last post on the Interview Process I offered tips for both the Interviewer & the candidate. That started some interesting conversations. I predict that recruiting highly qualified community managers is going to be challenging.

In regard to that post, Richard Millington pointed out that the questions aren’t very helpful unless the Interviewer is really familiar with the role. He asked if a Community Manager really needs an interview?

Martin Reed added:

I think it is important to take their previous experience and achievements into account but you should still take the time to interview them or at least engage in a conversation to see if they are a right ‘fit’ – after all, would you still recruit the perfect community manager if you couldn’t stand speaking to them?

I do agree that there should be a formal interview process. That is important for both the employer & potential candidate. Both sides need to be open & explore the following:

• work habits
• company culture
• expectations for the position
• knowledge of social media tools & participation in social networks
• product knowledge & familiarity with customer segments
• communication skills
• ability to mediate & tactfully deal with people
• leadership skills – this can be a powerful position if utilized correctly
• creativity – brainstorming & execution
• open to experimentation & ability to learn from mistakes
• familiarity with analytics
• aspirations

Jeremiah Owyang has many posts on the role. Here are a couple that are helpful:

• Understanding the Role
• Should Startups have a Community Manager

If you would like assistance with any of the following, email me at mailto:conniebensen@gmail.com

• How a Community Manager can contribute to your business goals.
• Assistance with creating a job description that suits your organization’s needs.
• Reviewing & interviewing potential candidates
• Training based on organizational needs
• Exploring alternative options:
  • utilizing someone on staff
  • job sharing the position

What other factors should be considered in the recruitment process?

Annual performance reviews are a necessity and a part of every organization. If they’re not, then you really should make it so. My experience in a leadership role found me doing 25 each year. At first it was a challenge to provide constructive feedback to my staff & goal setting was even harder. After awhile the goal setting became my favorite part & the feedback was easier because I had my employees provide their accomplishments. So if you’re a community manager or supervising one I hope that you find this helpful.

Timeframe

The online world is changing so quickly that I think the traditional 6 month orientation & annual performance review should be shifted to a 3 month orientation & 6 month review. If that mixes up HR too much then do the 3 month intervals informally.

Performance Evaluation

As a Community Manager (or in any position really) keep track of your wins. Once a month take some time to log what’s went well & what didn’t. If you provide this to your supervisor it will provide you both with topics to discuss. In a perfect world there is ongoing communication & job coaching, but that doesn’t necessarily always happen. This should prevent surprises from either side.

Ideally if you’re submitting a monthly report of stat’s with feedback on what’s going well & suggestions of ideas then those reports would be excellent talking points.

Goal Setting

The Community Manager role is rarely listed as supervisory but it really is. You’re leading a whole community (both externally & internally). This means that if you’re truly engaged in your position then you should be setting goals on an ongoing basis and adjusting them as needed. I see that expectation in the job descriptions all the time. The type of person that fits this role is also very self motivated.

So goal setting should be a concerted effort with your supervisor. It is your job so take responsiblity for it’s direction. As a community manager you can influence your direction by providing your goals & then the goal setting can be a discussion of how they fit into the company’s mission.

I’m thinking that some are going to suggest that I’m a bit idealistic. I came to enjoy the process with my staff. Goals are so important. Without them how will improvements happen? Change is necessary so you may as well be a part of it or it’ll happen around you.

A quick note about the best advice given to me by my Director after my first year in a supervisory/leadership role. She said, "Choose the two activities that are the least successful & drop them." Every once in awhile I need to remind myself of that. My supervisors generally don’t have the problem of needing to find work for me, it’s more of helping me deal with the frustration of my self-inflicted "too much to do". So I hope that helps if you’re an over-achiever. I think it’s fairly typical of people in the community manager role. So that puts a totally different twist on goal setting, doesn’t it?

What are your thoughts on performance reviews & goal setting? Is it something that you find helpful? What’s your best advice? I’d love to hear it!

As a part of my Community Manager course I am having a discussion area. And with the awesome help of my sister http://communitystrategist.net is now a reality! I made the header.

At first I was going to have it closed to the public. But in the spirit of community it was a no-brainer that a portion should be open to all of you. A blog isn’t the ideal place to have discussions. And granted there are oodles of microblogging platforms, the forums interaction is nice. The Facebook group format is really not a good way to interact. They haven’t added any new features to support the groups & the growth of them.

So you’re welcome to join & share ideas at CommunityStrategist.net. You don’t need to be a community manager. If you’re interested in community building, networking, branding, using social media tools, marketing & PR in the web 2.0 world, etc you’re welcome! The more, the merrier!