Understand Shifting Motivations
this could be dwindling your engagement and growth efforts 🤷🏽♀️
While learning this week, I came across something and I got to share a brief thought on that.
Consider today’s letter a little more on that.
When managing communities, you need to constantly remind yourself that you’re dealing with human beings and that means you need to lead with empathy - put yourself in your members' shoes and imagine what you would do.
This reminder is necessary at different points as you lead but the point I’m digging into today is motivation - the reason why they joined.
We all experience the initial excitement when you discover a new community whose purpose truly connects with you. You get to join for a reason but over time your priorities shift and you either ghost or leave the community. This experience is true for your community members as well! They can go from “I want to network with ‘like-minded’ persons” to “I want to contribute my knowledge while networking”.
Life happens, people evolve, goals change, priorities shift- and while some people would have to leave because they are on a completely different path from what you offer, you have to look out for those who still stick around.
To build a healthy and thriving community, you need to stay attuned to these shifts. Regularly check in with your members to know where they stand per time and in turn provide a better and more valuable experience for them.
When you check in, you’d know where to give more attention, you’d be able to refine your programs to meet their needs and you’d not have to worry about participation ‘cause now you’re meeting them where they are. This can be done through surveys, feedback forms, or casual conversations.
This is something I do quarterly with an alumni community I oversee for a non-profit. The major thing we do is share resources and support members in their career journey and so at the beginning of every quarter, I make it a custom to ask them where they are on their journey. This goes a long way in helping us identify emerging trends, challenges, and desired resources.
Depending on the type of community you manage, you will choose a schedule that works best for you; monthly, quarterly, or yearly. If you already take surveys and feedback, you can simply incorporate questions that point to their motivations and interests. This way you know that you have something to always work with.
Finally, when making these adjustments, it's equally important that you keep your community's core mission top of mind. Some members may have requests or interests that fall outside your community's scope, and in those instances, you need to carefully draw the line and be open to your members about your approach.
I hope you find this helpful!
If and when you give this a shot, I’d be glad to hear how it works for you.
If this is something you do or have done before, you can share in the comments
👀 Check these out!
On monetizing your community- recurring pricing or lifetime pricing? Find out more!
On welcoming new members - read this
Here’s a new community podcast I’m listening to. It is by Mighty Networks. Check out People Magic
Till next time, I appreciate you.