This is Part 3 in a series of articles on community management best practices…
Although supporting a community offers many benefits to an organization, to imply that there are no risks to the organization or community manager would be disingenuous. When handled poorly, engaging with a community can lead to major growing pains, raging headaches, and total meltdowns. In this article, I’ll discuss how to prevent the headaches before they happen.
If your organization decides to invest in and grow a community, not knowing whyyou are supporting a community and what results you expect is a huge problem. Humans—some more than others—are social creatures, so the appeal of being part of a community can be strong. However, that does not excuse your organization from responsible business practices. Undertaking any sort of large initiative without understanding the business reasons for doing so, or criteria and metrics for success, is irresponsible and not sustainable.
