Free Printable to Celebrate #CMAD2020

Jeremiah Owyang, the originator of Community Manager Appreciation Day 10 years ago, announced at last year’s CMX Summit that this year’s theme is self care. He also revealed that we’re calling it Community Manager Advancement Day now. 

I was inspired by the theme, and I’m a planner junkie, so I thought it would be fun to put together a customized weekly planner page for my fellow community management professionals.

Appointments

There’s space to put appointments or scheduled events (or use the space for a to do list). We all know most community managers' schedules can be thrown into chaos at any moment, but might as well try, right?

Self Care

You know how they say to put your own oxygen mask on first, when you’re on an airplane? That’s why the first column is self-care suggestions. 

Notice that there’s a professional development task...that’s because Advancement is an important contributor to feelings of well-being. We all need to see progress in our lives in order to feel good. There’s also room to put your own ideas and check them off. 

Take a moment to make sure you’re healthy and fulfilled before you try to share that energy with your community or your organization (or your family).

Community Care

Your job is to foster a healthy and thriving community, and communities are comprised of people. That’s why the suggested community care tasks are focused on seeing, helping, and promoting your members.

See community members as people, not as engagement numbers in your dashboard, and you’ll see success.

Organization Care

If your community is tied to an organization (company, nonprofit, or other group), you should ensure that you spend some higher level time each week thinking about how the community relates to the wider mission.

Key tasks are focused on reviewing and sharing progress, and weaving the community throughout the organization. Do this on a consistent basis, and the community will be rightfully seen as a valuable resource.

Burnout Meter and Vibe Check

Self care also includes knowing when to get help and support. You can use this simple “gas gauge” to notice when you’re getting overwhelmed. There are a lot of great, experienced community managers out there who are willing to listen and lend advice for almost any situation. Now that this profession is reaching maturity, you can take advantage of tons of community management training resources!

The community vibe check is another way to keep tabs on your community atmosphere, all the way from “super chill” through “they’ve got pitchforks out.” Each community is different, but you’ll want to have some type of response ready if the vibe is going off course.

Highlight the best thing that happened each week, and at the end of the year, your report to the boss is ready to go. Plus you'll see the actual impact of your work, which makes the whole thing worthwhile.

It would be fun to crowdsource the next version of this planner page; please share your suggestions in the comments!

This printable is free to use and distribute.