Presentation by Joyce Davis as given on November 30th in Amsterdam for Social Connections IV, the IBM Connections user group event

1. Joyce Davis, Community Manager
Twitter: @jadintx
Community: http://ibm.co/ics-community
7
Seven Habits of a Successful Community Manager
IBM Collaboration Solutions & Social Business
Presented at Social Connections IV in Amsterdam
November 30, 2012

2. (Joyce explained her Dutch ancestry)

3. Seven Habits of a Successful Community Manager

4. 7
Seven Habits of a Successful Community Manager

6. Fairness
Integrity
Honesty
Human dignity

7. Once upon a time, there was a
girl named Dorothy...

8. Dorothy Gale
Corporate Planner
Yellow Brick Road Enterprises
Kansas, US
Working on an agenda for our next Emerald City project!
“Dorothy worked in corporate planning for Yellow Brick
Road Enterprises. One day, Dorothy's manager Glinda
came up to her desk and announced, ‘Dorothy, we need
our employees to work better together. And we need to
interact more effectively with our customers. We want to
gather their feedback on how to improve our yellow brick
roads. We've heard that social business will solve all our
problems -- and that we need a community manager.
We've decided that you're good at herding munchkins,
so you've been promoted to community manager!’”

9. Dorothy Gale
Community Manager
Corporate Planner
Yellow Brick Road Enterprises
Kansas, US Global
Glinda just promoted me to community manager!
“Dorothy was flabbergasted! She didn't know where to
start. She was familiar with social media, and she loved
the new software they had just installed at their company
called IBM Connections 4. She decided she had only
one thing to do. Go see the wizard!”

10. The Wizard
of Oz
“Dorothy explained her problem to the wizard, who
responded by handing her a small black bag. ‘In this bag
you will find everything you need to be a successful
community manager,’ he said confidently (and with a
slight Australian accent). ‘Go forth and grow your
community!’ Dorothy thanked the wizard and headed
home. As she walked along the yellow brick road, she
peered into the bag….”
[In the bag is contained the objects that represent each
of the 7 habits discussed on the following slides.]

11. The Wizard
of Oz
“Dorothy explained her problem to the wizard, who
responded by handing her a small black bag. ‘In this bag
you will find everything you need to be a successful
community manager,’ he said confidently (and with a
slight Australian accent). ‘Go forth and grow your
community!’ Dorothy thanked the wizard and headed
home. As she walked along the yellow brick road, she
peered into the bag….”
[In the bag is contained the objects that represent each
of the 7 habits discussed on the following slides.]

12. 1. Be Proactive What can you control?

13. 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

14. 2. Begin with the end in mind What’s your mission?

15. 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

16. 3. Put first things first Do you know your community?

17. 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

18. 4. Win-win What do you reward?

19. 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

20. 5. Seek first to
understand, then be
understood
Are you listening to your
community?

21. 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

22. 6. Synergize
Is the whole greater than the sum
of its parts?

23. 6. Synergize
• Embrace different points and 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

24. 7. Sharpen the saw How can you improve?

25. 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)

26. 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

27. 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

28. ...Dorothy faithfully practiced the habits of
successful community managers that the
wizard had so wisely offered her. She
thrived in her role as a community manager,
and most importantly, the yellow brick road
community lived happily ever after.
The end.

29. 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/

31. Don’t miss later today....
The Secret Art of Building Online Communities through
Connections (Pun intended!) – Luis Suarez (IBM)