Hey everyone - we're back with another Concept Thursday 👋

In today's edition, I'd like to show you how to optimize communication in your community.

Because one of the key factors in the success of an online community is the ability of members to communicate through different communication channels. For your community to thrive, members must be able to share information and ideas easily.

But here's the trick. You can't simply create as many new communication channels as you can and hope this will magically increase the communication between members.

It doesn't work like that. Instead, you need to offer a couple of appropriate and diversified options that suit your members' needs. Concretely, this means that:

You must enable both asynchronous ( & delayed) and synchronous (& real-time) communication.

For the past two years, I've been hanging in dozens of Discord servers and analyzing the communication channels that work well and those that don't.

So in this edition, I'll go through four basic communication channels you MUST implement today to make sure your members communicate clearly.

Let's get into it!

1. Discord Channels

Create Discord channels, but don't create new ones just for the sake of it.

You need to concentrate activity in as small an area as possible.

Because maybe it's something you've noticed as well, but people do not contribute to communities they don't feel will succeed or are empty. With only a few channels, the community feels more active, and it will encourage communication.

I would go even further. Delete all the inactive channels in your Discord. 

By having only a few (but active) channels, you'll facilitate the chance for members to bump into each other and remove the problem of choice from the person — making it easier for them to be active in the community.

2. Notion Documents

Create a "Wiki" on Notion with all the "essentials" of your community.

For engagement to skyrocket, new members need to access in a few clicks what your community is all about, why they should join, and how they can get involved. 

A "Wiki" is the perfect example of a tremendous asynchronous communication channel. The "Why," "How," and "What" of your community is something anyone should access easily at any time.

So make sure to create a clear wiki and spread the link.

3. Community Calls

Weekly community calls let you optimize solely for genuine engagement.

They are a great synchronous (and real-time) communication channel and ensure an easy way for community members to hear the latest news about the community.

Some people don't have much time and can't keep up with all the news. By doing a weekly call at the same hour each week, you create a habit for your member and increase the likelihood of your members participating and being useful for 1h/week.

4. Newsletter

Finally, a weekly newsletter will give you a way to recap everything that happened in the community and let members keep up with the news at their own pace.

A perfect example of this is the "TL;DR" newsletter by Friends With Benefits.

It sums up every week the latest news of the community and let the opportunity for members who haven't been involved for a long time to have a quick grasp of what they missed.

PS: Don't mistake creating a newsletter about the latest news in the space here. This newsletter is for YOUR members only and should talk about your community's latest news.

That's a wrap!

If you’re unsure about where to focus your communication effort, here are the four things I would recommend you to do first.

If you implement these four communication channels in your community, you’ll ensure every member can keep up with the latest news at their own pace, resulting in more engagement and efficient work.

So again, make sure to have:

1. Discord Channels (only active ones)

2. A clear Wiki with all the essentials (you can do it on Notion)

3. Weekly Community Calls (at the same time each week)

4. Newsletter (that recaps all the things that happened in YOUR community)

I hope this will help you improve the communication in your community!

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