A Community Manager (or sometimes referred to as a Client Services Manager) can make or break a workspace. They’re the person that keeps everything running smoothly, everyone getting along amiably, and they’re the ones that organize all the fun stuff. Oh, they’re also in charge of making sure the coffee’s always hot.
Although the Community Manager typically reports to the Center Manager, they bear a lot of responsibility and are accountable for all the goings, comings, and happenings in your center.
Have a new member? Have a visitor? Need printing paper? Need coffee? Organizing a party or event? Need to send out an email blast? Have to update social media? Need an extension cord? Gotta give someone notice that their invoice is past due? Need to get next month’s invoices ready to go out?
You name it. They do it. They fix it.
As you can probably imagine then, this job isn’t for everyone. So, where do you find the right person? More importantly, how do you make sure you pick out the right one for your shared workspace?
That’s what we at Workspace Strategies are here for. We’ll help you find the right fit, the one that will keep your workspace buzzing, with a healthy community, and happy clients. Our President, Karen Condi, has shared some traits that you should look for when interviewing for the Community Manager position.
Traits to Look For and Tips To Help You Find Them
- What’s your first impression? Is the candidate shy or do they have a strong presence from the get go? Your community manager should be a social butterfly, it should be someone that’s comfortable with meeting new people, isn’t shy to knock on doors, and naturally knows how to get conversations flowing.
- When looking for the ideal candidate, look for qualities that’d you’d often find in that one friend that throws the best parties and naturally knows how to have a good time, regardless of who is there and who isn’t. (Quick side note here: make sure the person you hire doesn’t promote any networking events…what’s cool about “networking”?. Encourage them to call your events a party, a member social, or a happy hour–it’ll bring the attendance up.)
- Of course, the one person that throws the best parties has to have some killer organizational skills. Your ideal candidate is also someone that knows how to handle administrative tasks and is pretty good at keeping his or herself organized; they need to be detail oriented and not afraid to take the lead when it comes to administering tasks.
- Last but certainly not least, customer service needs to be your candidate’s middle name. The perfect fit will be the person that is good at delivering good news and bad news; they will be patient with members, the won’t hesitate to call up someone and remind them their invoice is past due or when member fees will go up, and they’ll also be the first to want to celebrate a client’s success.
Final Thoughts
Your Community Manager is going to be everyone’s go-to person when they have good news or when they have bad news. Which is why it’s important that this person be someone that people naturally like to interact with at all times.
Ysel Hernandez, Client Services Manager at Lakeside Executive Suites, shared some words of wisdom with us.
“What makes a great Client Services Manager is the ability to think of each client’s company as if it were your own, that way you will be able to provide a level of service that will allow for that company to continue to grow at your center and beyond.”
We hope this helps and don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions, doubts, or need some extra tips to hiring your ideal Community Manager.
