social media jobs - Cultivating Community2024-03-28T09:03:28Zhttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/feed/tag/social%2Bmedia%2BjobsThe 10 Principles Of Professional Community Managementhttps://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/the-10-principles-of-professional-community-management2013-04-29T16:00:00.000Z2013-04-29T16:00:00.000ZRichard Millingtonhttps://cultivate.ning.com/community/RichardMillington<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2208152?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p><span class="font-size-3">We've reached the era of the professional community manager.</span></p><p><span class="font-size-3">Those that run communities for organizations will be expected to know what they’re doing, not learn on the job.</span></p><p><span class="font-size-3">I like <a rel="nofollow" href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/07/naive-or-professional.html">Seth's definition here</a>. Professionals have deep and broad knowledge of their sector. They know the theory behind their work. They know the case studies of success and failure. They test, measure and adapt. They work to understand what is/isn't working (and why).</span></p><p><span class="font-size-3">In communities, professionals will be expected to excel in key skills. They will be expected to guide their organization through the community development process. They will be expected to prove their value numerically. </span></p><p><span class="font-size-3">Successful amateurs will still thrive, but organizations will want the reliability of the proven professionals. As part of FeverBee’s Professional Community Management Course, we have developed our 10 principles of professional community management.</span></p><p><span class="font-size-3">We’re happy to share them with Ning:</span></p><ol><li><span class="font-size-3">Professional Community Managers <em>build a strong sense of community</em> amongst a specific group of individuals.</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3">Professional Community Managers <em>work from proven templates</em> to develop their community through the community development process (they are proactive, not reactive).</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3">Professional Community Managers <em>excel at building relationships</em> both with and between members.</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3">Professional Community Managers <em>master their data and use their data</em> to optimize every activity and stage of the membership life-cycle.</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3">Professional Community Managers <em>have deep knowledge</em> of technology, sociology, social-psychology, anthropology, network science, psychology, group dynamics and community development.</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3">Professional Community Managers <em>build internal and external systems to scale their communities</em> without incurring a large financial burden.</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3">Professional Community Managers <em>integrate the community</em> with the organization's systems.</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3">Professional Community Managers <em>excel at stimulating and sustaining</em> high levels of participation per member.</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3">Professional Community Managers <em>excel at conflict resolution</em> and work from proven techniques to resolve potentially detrimental disputes.</span></li><li><span class="font-size-3">Professional Community Managers <em>deliver a clear ROI</em> to their employers (not fuzzy statements concerning <i>engagement)</i>.</span></li></ol><p><span class="font-size-3">These 10 principles might change over the next few years, but I think we've made a good start. If you're hiring a community manager, does this sound like the type of person you would like to hire?</span></p><p> </p><p>(<i>Image: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/generationbass/4827013488/">Pen, Diary and Glasses</a>, a Creative Commons <a rel="nofollow" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en">Attribution (2.0)</a> image from generationbass's photostream</i>)</p></div>