I talk about Community activities and Management methods. But building a Community is more than that. Building a Community is understanding People. It’s seeing that different People join the Community for different reasons. The diversity they bring makes the Community lively. So we should welcome it. Also, people have personal Goals. Some are business-related; others are self-related. People want help with their Goals... Even when those Goals aren’t related to the Community’s common Goal. As Managers we should ask ourselves - how can we help our Community members best? I used to work with startup founders who relocated to my country. I handled selection and Community building after they arrived. I also helped with Company Registration, finding Apartments, and Business Development. I helped where I could, even if it wasn’t part of my role. Over time, I noticed that people who I could help became more active and our relationships grew stronger. Meanwhile, those I couldn’t help stayed more distant. That showed me a lot about what people want from their Communities. So I believe we should help people in our Community - It makes the Community Strong and builds personal relationships. I really liked how @Harvey Raybould did it in his community. He runs a community about finances, but he asked if people want help with any aspects of their lives. If you haven't already, check out his community

I see many Skool owners initiate contact with new members. But less encourage members to contact each other. The Community is strong when members organize activities for themselves… …without Manager’s involvement. It may sound unexpected, since we're the ones who organize activities. We make sure our Communities are lively. But we build community FOR the community. Not for ourselves. And we can be sure the Community is strong, when we are not needed every step of the way. 👇 Do your community members organize activities for themselves?

Every Community shares this hierarchy: There is NO hierarchy. Higher roles don’t mean superiority. The Manager is not the “owner” of the Community. The Managers do the dirty work - and get paid for it. But they don’t build the Community for themselves. They build it for the people in the Community. There is a certain online game. Since its launch, every new update is voted by its players. It needs 70% positive votes to pass. It’s a high bar that lets the game move in the direction the Community truly wants. The game has plenty of employees (moderators / managers), and it makes a lot of money. But they all do what the Community asks for. I believe that’s a perfect example. Personally, I’m the moderator of my Community. But I’m also learning Community management, same as everyone. And I’m happy to go where the Community goes. So, the direction should come from the Community - not only the Manager.

Since one of the main goals of “asking” is to understand our communities better, The answers should provide value to the manager. Our job is to improve our communities, so we need to ask what we actually want to know. If you want to improve community activities - ask community-related opinions. Ask separate questions regarding Value and Fun within the community. If you want to spark personal connection - ask personal questions. In the same way that we do different activities in our communities… A mix of different questions is necessary to fully understand them. My recommendation is to use all 3 types of questions: Questions about Value; Questions about Fun; Personal questions. P.S. In the middle of writing this post I realized I don’t have enough experience to provide specific accurate recommendations. It’s a bit crazy, but we’re learning 😂 Feel free to dig deeper into specifics with me in the comments! P.P.S. I plan to test implementing a rolling system in my community: One question about value, one about fun, one personal.

At this point, we all know that “Fun” is essential to any Community. But, the way we understand Fun might be different from how our members understand it. We need to realize that we do Fun for the Community, not for ourselves. And this goes for all activities in our communities: We do them for our members, not for ourselves. We should do what “The Community” wants, not what the manager wants. So the whole aspect of “asking” is not only to get engagement. But also to get to know your community better. If we start asking Real questions - not just engagement bait, then we start to Really understand our community. And then we can start doing what the Community wants. ➡️As always, tomorrow the ‘Manager’s perspective’ will follow, going more in detail how to implement this information.