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Objectives and Stakeholder Relationships
Community Goals and Objectives
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It is important not to keep the community objectives to yourself. Every senior stakeholder might understand what the goal of the community is. However, you also need to take the time to ensure they understand what the objectives of the community are.
This ensures them to make a direct connection between the work you do and the value you create. You’re not just getting people to chat online; you’re getting people to share knowledge that increases customer satisfaction with the product. This supports the goal of the organization.
It is easy simply to agree a goal and work alone going forward. Do not do this. Proactively build positive relationships with your stakeholders. Keep them frequently updated with progress. Do not let them wonder if the community helps their departments, but make sure they know exactly how it helps. Reinforce this view at every opportunity.
[inlineTweet text=”Far too many communities are killed by stakeholders who do not understand exactly how the community benefits them”]. This is the most critical lesson to learn about community and value. Your work is not to maximize a random proxy metric of engagement (e.g. posts). Your work is to maximize the quantity of valuable behaviors.
This confusion is the reason why so many organizations ask for data on the level of activity or the number of members. Try to avoid providing this data. Instead, report on your member objectives. Are you seeing more valuable member behavior now? Report on whether the community has helped achieve goals. Always try to focus on value, not low-level metrics.
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- Establishing objectives is a collaborative, ongoing process with senior stakeholders.
- Once you have set objectives, only report on those objectives, not spurious engagement metrics.
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