Community operations is still unfamiliar to many people. Operations as a role is relatively young. Many people are not sure what operators do, what responsibilities they have, and who is suitable for the job.
Based on my experience, I will share what kind of people are suited to community operations and what skills are needed.
Interest comes first#
Even if many jobs do not match personal interests, I believe you need genuine interest if you want to do community operations. Interest gives you the motivation to continue.
Without any interest, you may soon regret it and quit.
Strong learning ability and motivation#
If you want to do community operations, you need strong learning ability and motivation. This applies to any job, but it is especially important if you have never done operations or worked in the industry of the community.
Through practice, reading, and communication, you learn operations knowledge and also learn about the industry, domain, or product.
But as the saying goes, each field has its own mountain. Without systematic learning, many things are hard to master. If the role is demanding, you must invest more time and effort.
Many operations roles are understaffed, and many open-source community operators do not have a technical background. If you want to operate an open-source community well, learning technical knowledge is still valuable.
Some might think that technical people are naturally better suited to community operations, or that developers can switch easily. That is not true. A technical background does not automatically make someone a good operator, but it is an advantage.
Big-picture thinking#
Some operators work for years yet remain “task doers” because they lack big-picture thinking and only focus on immediate or assigned tasks.
For community operations, you first need to understand the community’s stage of development. Then set long-term strategies and short-term goals for growth. You also need to know what is going well and what is not.
Think from the top down and break large goals into small goals and concrete tasks. All work should serve the big goal. You must be clear about why you are doing something rather than blindly completing tasks.
If leadership gives little freedom, you can still think bottom-up: push from small goals toward larger goals.
Self-motivation and reflection#
A qualified community operator needs strong self-motivation in work and learning.
Do what you believe is necessary instead of waiting for orders. In proactive work and learning, you gain more skills and experience.
But proactive work should not be blind. After finishing, you must reflect: did you hit goals, exceed budget, what methods worked, what mistakes were made?
Reflection guides future work and is essential.
Communication and expression#
Operations involves a lot of communication with users and stakeholders. A qualified operator must communicate clearly and express ideas well.
Some people assume everyone has these skills, but that is not true. We have all met people who cannot explain something clearly.
Community operations requires communication with many roles. Strong communication improves efficiency and helps you dig deeper into user needs.
Multi-threaded project management#
Community operations involves many tasks that often run in parallel. You must deliver them on time and with quality.
So you should manage each task as a project and develop the ability to manage multiple projects at once.
Copywriting#
Community operations requires copywriting skills. Good copy makes events more appealing and conversions more effective.
Personally, I write mostly event copy. I would not call it excellent, but it is solid.
These skills are basic requirements, but having them does not automatically make you an excellent operator.
Common misconceptions#
Many people have misconceptions about operations.
Misconception 1: Introverts cannot do community operations#
Some people think community operations requires constant socializing and even hosting events, so introverts cannot do it.
That is a misunderstanding.
Work and personality are not directly correlated. Introversion and extroversion are relative.
With more interactions, introverts can become more outgoing. In college, most people saw me as introverted, but I have been doing community operations for six years.
Misconception 2: Operations is just miscellaneous work#
Because operations involves many tasks and details, some people define it as “miscellaneous work.”
This is a misunderstanding. In reality, some operators do mostly miscellaneous tasks, but that does not mean the role itself is low value. Excellent operations can drive significant growth and conversion.
Misconception 3: Operators need to know everything, but not deeply#
Operations involves many skills: writing, video editing, design, event organization, hosting, data analysis, and more.
People who know a little of everything but nothing deeply are not competitive. If you stop at surface-level skills, you end up doing errands.
To become excellent, you need core competencies that make you hard to replace. In addition to broad skills, build one or more strengths: strong copywriting, data analysis, or event planning.
I will not expand on other misconceptions here.
This post reflects my personal experience. If there are mistakes or gaps, please correct me. If you want to switch into community operations, I hope this helps.
There is a comment system on this blog. You can log in with your GitHub account to leave a comment. I work in open-source community operations. I am far from an expert, but I would love to connect and discuss. My WeChat ID: zhaofawei26.