The not so little community work that often goes unnoticed

Big community magic in the little things

If you work in the community space, you have most likely experienced times where you might not have a lot on your to-do list yet the day gets away from you because of many community conversations, members asking for support, and other general daily community things that we often do that we forget about.

Simon Tomes brilliantly labels this as Community As Usual (CAU)

In fact, we often overbook ourselves with new projects and deadlines without first considering how CAU will play into our daily work schedule.

If we want to create enough space to think about big-picture ideas and strategies but also have the time to dedicate to our communities then we need a different way to approach this.

Step one: Find your averages

A good place to start is by looking into how many hours per day on average you spend on CAU. This fluctuates daily I am sure, but you should have a rough estimate of how many messages you respond to, how many posts need support, etc. Take that number and add an extra hour or two as a buffer.

Something we don’t give ourselves enough of is buffer time. Even if you don’t need it, it’s better to have it.

Step two: Be vocal with your team

Now that you have an estimated CAU time, you should be vocal about this with your team, especially if you need support. If you have a recurring check-in with your manager you could let them know about the current workload on your plate and how often you spend on a daily basis communicating with the community.

An example template of this is:

Hey ____,

During our next 1:1 I wanted to discuss my current bandwidth.

For context, I have these current tasks/projects [list them] and I am also spending on average [X] hours a day with community support. This includes but not limited to responding to member’s direct messages, helping with support inquries, etc.

Right now I am feeling pretty stretched thin and would love to discuss recieving support and possible re-scoping certain projects.

The truth is, because you ask for something doesn’t mean that you’ll get it. But, it is better to be vocal with your manager about your current workload so that they’re aware of some tasks that might go unseen which happens often in community work.

Step three: Celebrate the (CAU)se and effect

If you’re not necessarily looking for support, you should still let your team know about the behind-the-scenes community work that you’re doing. Too often we brush this work aside as ‘not important’ or ‘impactful’ when in reality these little moments end up being the reason why the communities that we work in are so strong.

What we do as community builders is often the glue work which means we ensure things stick and stay stuck. Without the glue, everything falls apart.

It is important to remember that things are ever-changing and this is especially true in the community world. There are a lot of factors such as your role, where you work, etc. that will cause certain areas to shift.

The important part is to just be aware of how CAU factors into your daily workflow and find a plan that works best for you and your team.