How do you think about community strategy?

🗺 Strategy
1

I’ve been thinking about community strategy recently and how I feel that we could be doing better.

Let’s say you’re faced with coming up with a refreshed or new community strategy.

  • How do you go about it?
  • What questions do you ask?
  • What documentation do you create?
  • How do you ensure stakeholders are satisfied?
  • How far ahead do you plan?
  • How do you plan for emergent community?
  • What data or metrics really matter?
  • What support do you seek from other departments?
  • What resources, links, books (etc) do you use as guidance or inspiration?
  • What do you do when things don’t go according to plan?
2

The first thing is to understand what a good strategy is, and therefore what a bad strategy is. It’s with that in mind that I recommend Richard Rumelt’s book Good Strategy / Bad Strategy. McKinsey & Co have a good summary of the book in their article The perils of bad strategy.

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3

  • How do you go about it?
    I am always curious about implementing the new elements to the strategy. Also, I am not trying to rewrite everything from scratch but to test new hypotheses step by step.

  • What questions do you ask?
    What are our community goals? Is the old strategy not driving us there? How will the new plan change things?

  • What documentation do you create?
    I create an overall action plan breaking down the doable steps and community member journey map.

  • How do you ensure stakeholders are satisfied?
    Guiding them by asking questions so that they feel like significant players in developing a strategy, even though if they are not :sweat_smile:

  • How far ahead do you plan?
    3-6-12 months

  • How do you plan for emergent community?
    The same, but with the 1-2-3 months planning horizons to make quick adjustments as the community evolves.

  • What data or metrics really matter?
    NPS and community members’ feedback

  • What support do you seek from other departments?
    I am not seeking support, instead, I am trying to support them and explain how community wins will ensure their wins.

  • What resources, links, books (etc) do you use as guidance or inspiration?
    I am creating my own source taking knowledge from friends, Rosieland for sure :hugs:, CMX, Community Club, and everything I can only find great tips about communities!

  • What do you do when things don’t go according to plan?
    Find quick solutions if it’s a crucial part, and rethink the strategy if it’s going not according to plan but better for the community evolvement.

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