The GigaOM Network

Monday, Feb 2, 2009 09:00 PST

Online Community Manager: What Does It Take to be Successful?

By Dawn Foster

Photo by semaphoria

This is the third in a series of online community manager posts over the past couple of weeks here on WebWorkerDaily. I’ve already talked about online community manager jobs and what community managers actually do, so I thought that we’d talk about what it takes to be successful as a community manager. There are skills to learn and work habits that are useful for community managers.

Here are just a few of the skills and habits that people have already mentioned in the comments of the previous posts.

Amber Naslund says, “it’s not a 9 to 5 gig, and it’s a hybrid of so many disciplines - communication, business development, online knowledge, customer or client service.”

Joe Manna says, “most successful community managers are those that come from a strong customer service background.”

Lex Friedman says, “If you like to listen and love acting on good ideas (regardless of their source!), you’re probably a good fit for the career path.”

I also have my own list of what it takes to manage an online community.

Patience to let others participate without dominating the conversation.
Networking with a wide variety of people and being able to call on the right ones at the right time.
Communication skills to get your point across clearly and concisely.
Facilitation to help people keep discussions moving in a positive direction.
Technical skills and an understanding of how your community software operates can help.
Marketing to make sure people know about your online community.
Self Motivation and the ability to work without much supervision.
Workaholic tendencies in a global environment where the community never sleeps.
Organization skills to keep track of the many activities without dropping too many balls.