Most community management gigs appear to 9 to 5 jobs, but are they? I work for a 24/7 social radio network and it certainly doesn’t shut down at 5:00 p.m. every day. Folks are still visiting each others’ chat rooms and talking in the forums and Yahoo Group. They still need me to wear my moderator hat. I’m also expect to provide a blog post or two over the weekend to keep the traffic flowing.
This is something all Community Managers need to think about – what happens to your community on the weekend. Do you just leave it and come back on Monday spending a frenzied day trying to catch up, or do you drop by here and there on the weekend just checking to make sure the joint hasn’t been taken over by trolls?
Even though my weekend time is family time, I still take an hour or so each day to check on the community. Someone might be having difficulty dealing with a situation, and I don’t want them to have to go through the frustration of waiting two or three days for a response. If I know I’ll be away from my laptop for a few days, someone else takes over.
Everyone knows how frustrating it can be to reach Customer Service personnel over the weekend. Rather than have a frustrated community, it’s probably in your best interest to make sure there’s some sort of presence during the non-business hours.
What happens to your community on the weekend?
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On the communities I manage, all areas with a help-related designation or likely to be problematic have subscriptions which automatically generate email if an item is posted; mail is reviewed daily and help requests receive a swift response. Additionally, I drop into the community once or twice over the weekend to see if the support user names I maintain have received any private messages. Like Deb, it is my feeling that timely response is key to the successful management of a community.
Star | @StarAasved
Community Manager, LiveWorld, Inc.
It keeps living of course! If you are operating a thriving community there are pieces and people larger than yourself that keep things moving and changing without your constant need to “touch” it. That said the police don’t take off Friday nights and either should a Community Manager. It is important to check in with the community to make sure you won’t be dealing with major fires come Monday.
Hi Deb, What a great topic for discussion.
The social web is very much alive, and as such, it doesn’t keep business hours. I think it’s really important to say out loud that a community management position isn’t a good fit for someone that’s interested in a finite schedule. That said, very much consider myself *part* of the community I’m building, so it’s not just being there off hours to take care of it, but it’s to participate in it, too.
I took my post because I believe in what my company is doing, and it’s personally fulfilling for me to be part of that, even when it doesn’t fit within “day job” parameters. There’s also an important element of team; I’m the community “person”, but I’m surrounded by people who understand the importance of making our customers happy, whenever that is (much like the reasons that customer service departments have evolved into round-the-clock operations). That means I have lots of other people around me willing to reach out to customers when they’re needed. We’ve got processes and workflow in place for the logistics to help us manage details (and we’re always refining that based on community feedback), but there’s just no substitute for human attention when it’s needed.
Thanks for all you do to support these increasingly important roles in the social media and business world.
Best,
Amber Naslund
Director of Community | Radian6
@AmberCadabra
Hi Deb, another great post. I think it’s important to define your team’s roles and responsbilities, how you will respond to issues (and in what timeframe), establish an escalation system and call for back up when needed.
I blogged about this topic recently in more detail for those interested – how to manage a community around the clock.
I too am passionate about my job and don’t mind jumping on of an evening and weekend (baby permitting!).
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