What I Am Thankful For On My Online Communities
In the United States, today is Thanksgiving, a holiday where, among other things, we give thanks for the great people, things and opportunities that we have in our lives. In line with that, I’d like to share a few things that I am thankful for on my communities. This isn’t an all-inclusive list by any means, just a few things that came to mind.
Attention to Detail from My Staff
When you are on my staff, I want you to be detail oriented. I want you to care about getting a situation right and to be willing to put in the time to make sure that all situations are handled appropriately.
From how you remove content, to how you document it, to how you speak to members and participate in public. Details matter and while perfection may be unattainable, that does not mean that you give up the pursuit.
We all make mistakes, and part of that is being open to listening when I have to correct a situation that wasn’t handled completely as I would like. I am not of the mindset that I allow my staff members to handle something in a less than great way, just because they are volunteers or just because they are good people. No, we need to handle it correctly.
I am thankful that the great people that I have on my staff get this and do care about details. Attention to detail is one of the hallmarks of any well run community.
Members Who Understand the Community is Greater Than One Post
I am so appreciative of members who understand the greater context of community contributions. They understand that one post does not a community make. When they see several spam posts made within a short period of time, they understand that we have 10 spam posts out of 300,000 posts, we are not “overrun by spam.”
They don’t exaggerate. They focus on big picture issues. They know that when they make a post, it is about more than just this conversation with this one person, but about the quality of the community as a whole and the value presented to everyone who will view it. These are the members who will likely be invited to join the staff.
Contact Templates
Finally, I love contact templates. They allow me and my staff to have a consistent level of communication with our members, regardless of who is taking care of a given situation. They save time and clearly communicate any violations of our communities. They allow us to spend less time typing up messages and more time doing other things.
What are some of the things that you are thankful for?
