Applying Agile Product Management Principles to Community Management
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Shannon Emery
\\xa0manages both the external customer-facing and internal employee communities at Higher Logic. With so many tasks to manage and two distinct communities to nurture, how is a community professional to focus?
Patrick and Shannon\\u2019s conversation is about just that \\u2013\\u2013 the strategies and resources that she relies on to stay focused and successfully manage both communities.\\xa0These strategies include:
- Leaning on dotted-line team members for support and subject-matter expertise (4:19)
- Adapting the principles of agile product management to her workflow (20:13)
- Asking about the bigger picture before accepting new tasks or projects (20:29)
Our Podcast is Made Possible By\\u2026
If you enjoy our show, please know that it\\u2019s only possible with the generous support of our sponsor:\\xa0Discourse.
Big Quotes
On transparency in workplace communities (10:30):\\xa0\\u201cIf an employee asks a particularly difficult question [in the internal community], let\\u2019s talk about it. Let\\u2019s be transparent. Otherwise, why do we have a community? \\u2026 Just because somebody questions something doesn\\u2019t mean [that] it\\u2019s negative [or] something that we [can\\u2019t] address for everybody. \\u2026 I always say that if one person has posted it, there are a bunch of people who have the same question, so let\\u2019s make sure we\\u2019re being responsive.\\u201d \\u2013@llamasayswhat
The benefits of applying agile methodologies to your workflow (30:30): \\u201c[The agile process has helped me] when an executive comes by and [asks for] something. I can say, \\u2018I really appreciate that, but let me see how it fits in this week\\u2019s workload.\\u2019 That way, I can actually get it done, and I\\u2019m not trying to struggle to put something together real quick just because somebody asked for it. It\\u2019s more of, \\u2018Let\\u2019s take the appropriate amount of time and do this the right way.\\u2019 Because as the company scales, as the customer base grows, you have to be able to scale these initiatives. Sometimes people get really excited about something small [but they haven\\u2019t thought about how to scale it to the community].\\u201d \\u2013@llamasayswhat
About Shannon Emery
Shannon Emery\\xa0is a community manager for\\xa0Higher Logic, a provider of customer and member cloud-based engagement platforms. She\\u2019s responsible for their internal staff and external client communities. Prior to that, she was senior community manager for\\xa0Blackbaud.
Related Links
- Sponsor:\\xa0Discourse, civilized discussion for teams, customers, fans, and communities
- Shannon Emery on Twitter
- Higher Logic
- HUG, the Higher Logic User Group
- Blackbaud
- Lindsay Starke on Community Signal
- Howard Rheingold on Community Signal
- Super Forum, Higher Logic\\u2019s annual conference
- Tweet from Anna Rose Iovine, encouraging you to document your 2020 accomplishments
Transcript
Your Thoughts
If you have any thoughts on this episode that you\\u2019d like to share, please leave me a comment,\\xa0send me an email\\xa0or a\\xa0tweet. If you enjoy the show, we would be so grateful if you spread the word and supported\\xa0Community Signal on Patreon.
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