Have you ever wondered why people are motivated to join an online community forum— I mean, what really motivates people to join? What's appealing about being part of an online community as opposed to an offline community? Different people will have different reasons for joining; everyone's got a story. But ultimately, I've found that there are 3 underlying human reasons why online communities are appealing to so many people.

One of the great things about being the Head of Community for a maker of online community software is an exposure to hundreds of communities. Another aspect of the role is also synthesizing ways to ensure success for new customers who launch a new community.

With most organizations implementing a mandatory work-from-home policy to comply with the global effort to reduce physical distancing, many managers are finding it difficult to adapt to a new way of management. Previously, managers could easily walk to their employees' desks, ask about their current workload and offer any assistance while monitoring the progress towards deliverables. Now, managers are finding themselves either in the dark as to what their team is up to, or they're feeling like they're micromanaging to the extreme. 

But let's get one thing straight: you will never be able to manage a remote team the same way that you did it in an office. That being said, you need to let go of all the habits that you've built up over the years and get ready to adopt a new way of thinking.

We are living in unprecedented times, with one third of the world population on lock down because of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. The Financial Post talks about India’s outsourcing industry buckling, with call centers scrambling to set up employees to work from home. And even as I write this, the effects are also being felt in North America, with over half of the US states in complete lockdown, as well as several Canadian provinces.

The support call center is under fire.

During times of unprecedented crisis many are at a loss in terms of how to respond. I was looking at some research from a PWC study, which noted before COVID-19, that 69% of leaders had faced a crisis situation in the last 5 years. Also pre-COVID-19, only 54% of companies had developed a crisis plan. What does this data tell us then?