作者：Tara Brannigan

最近我询问了别人有关一家公司该如何支持他们的社区管理者（CM）的建议。尽管我不能说这是代替所有人的发言，但我还是列出了我认为能够有效支持你们的社区团队的5大建议。

1.公司价值

创造有关公司价值的一个公开列表，并通过公共活动去强化这些价值。我非常欣赏那些我过去曾效劳过的一些公司，他们都清楚地对外公开他们参与了游行，并且那些喜欢他们游戏的玩家都对此表示欢迎。他们积极地告诉公众自己是一家支持多样化的公司，并且反对各种恃强欺弱的作为。

提供有关公司价值的相关证据能够为公司与公众间的交流奠定基调。你的公司价值便是你开展业务并与客户交流的基础。如果你并不能提供明确的基础，你的产品，进程，后续交流都有可能变得前后矛盾。CM只是强制执行“社区规则”的话是一回事，而如果他们背后有着公司价值的支持的话又是另外一回事了。

2.给予支持

尽管处理恶习有时候是他们“工作的一部分”，但这将会产生真正的情感和心理影响，所以有时候社区管理者也需要得到额外的支持。如果有人在较长的一段时间里顶住压力去代表一支团队/一家公司，我们便可以问他们是怎么做的并判断他们是否需要支持。我看过许多社区管理者因为缺少支持架构而感到精疲力竭，更糟糕的是，当他们表示需要暂时休息或需要有人支持的时候反而遭到了贬低或其它负面的职业生涯影响。

CM(from gamasutra)

3.准备好介入并采取行动

如果你看到你的雇员个人遭受到攻击或其它糟糕的个体威胁时，你应该准备好以公司的身份介入其中。事先便设想好可能遇到这种情况，并按照自己所设想的方法行动。不过最好永远不要遇到这样的情况，但如果出现的话，你应该制定一个公司政策，并在必要的时候为了雇员而采取法律手段。

4.提供给他们所需要的工具

如果你不能提供给你的社区管理者他们所需要的工具去缓和并处理各种有问题的行为，那么当问题出现时你不仅会对他们造成伤害，同时也会对公司造成巨大的损失。你应该站在他们的角度去判断什么是最有价值的存在，并允许他们去做出如何完善这些工具的最明智的决定。

不要只是进行口头上的承诺，你应该付诸行动并制定相关预算。并将这部分工作看得与你的其它业务同等重要。

5.永远不要低估你的社区团队

我发现许多公司都忽视了这方面，而这真的很让人沮丧。如果总是不能正视你的社区团队所做的工作以及他们带给公司的价值，并不断开他们玩笑，他们便不敢去主动寻求所需要的支持。像“只是一整天在Twitter上闲逛”等玩笑会创造一个错误的理念，并且可能导致其他员工也看扁了这些社区管理者们。你应该将社区团队作为你们公司一个有价值的组成部分。作为领导者和管理者的你的话语是很有分量的：你应该确保不能传达给其他公司成员有关社区管理者价值的错误信息。

你应该将社区管理者当成是你们的公司中真正有价值的成员。

结语

这只是我关于一家公司该如何推动社区管理者的发展的看法。当然了，每种业务都有区别，所以你应该有效判断怎样的方法更适合自己的公司和个人去推动你们社区团队的发展。

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转发，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

5 Ways to Support Your Community Manager

by Tara Brannigan

I was recently asked for advice on what a company could do to make the lives of their Community Managers better. While I absolutely cannot claim to speak for everyone, I’ve put together a quick list of the top 5 considerations I think would provide significant value when thinking about and supporting your community team.

#1: Company Values

Have a strong, public list of company values, and reinforce those through public actions. I always appreciated a previous company that I worked for that made it very clear that they participate in pride parade, and that anyone who enjoyed their games was welcome. Making that public, making it clear that this was a company that supported diversity and wasn’t okay with bullying, etc was HUGE.

Providing clear evidence of company values sets the tone for the company’s communications to the public. Your company values are the foundation of how you do business and interact with your customers. If you’re not providing a clear foundation to build from, don’t be surprised if your product, progress, and subsequent communications are inconsistent. It’s one thing if a CM is just enforcing the ‘community rules’, it’s another when they’re supported by a set of company values that back them up.

#2: Have Their Back

Understand that while dealing with abuse is sometimes ‘part of the job’, that it can have a real emotional and psychological impact and that sometimes Community Managers need additional support. If someone has been taking the heat on behalf of the team/company/etc for an extended period of time, it can be as simple as asking how they’re doing and making sure that if they need support, they’ve got it. I’ve seen too many Community Managers burned out by a lack of support structure, and even worse, subjected to belittlement or other negative career implications when they state they need to step away for a bit, or just need someone to tag in for a moment.

#3: Be Prepared to Step in and Take Action

If you see your employee being personally attacked, doxxed, or otherwise personally threatened in a serious manner, be prepared as a company to step in from an authoritative standpoint. Have a plan for this situation well before you need to utilize it. Hopefully you never will, but it doesn’t hurt to have a corporate policy and be ready to take legal action if need be on behalf of your employee.

#4: Give Them the Tools They Need

If you’re not giving your Community Managers the tools they need to moderate and deal with problematic behavior, you’re doing not just them, but the company a huge disservice when things go awry. Work with them to identify what would be the most valuable from their perspective, and empower them to make intelligent decisions around how to improve those tools over time.

Don’t just pay lip service to this, assign a budget. Prioritize this work on par with the rest of your business.

#5: Never Devalue your Community Team

I’ve seen this at various companies and it’s extremely disheartening. If you’re actively, even ‘jokingly’ making fun of the work that your community team does, and the value they bring into the company, you are making it that much harder for them to seek support if and when they should need it. Joking that we just ‘hang out on Twitter all day’, etc can set the wrong tone, and in turn encourage the rest of your staff to devalue and/or resent your community managers. Treat your Community Team as a valued part of your business. What you say as a leader or manager matters: Make sure you’re not sending a negative message to the rest of the company about the value of your Community Managers.

TLDR;

Treat your Community Managers like real, valuable members of your business if you want to excel.

In Closing

This is just my look at what companies could be doing to make the lives of their Community Managers better. Every business is going to be a little bit different, so make sure you evaluate what works best for your organization and the individuals that make up your community team. The best way to do this is to involve them in the process!

Community Managers: What would you add to the list?（source：Gamasutra）