The Community Operating System: A Framework for Building Safe, Scalable, and High-Performing Tech Communities

Transcript

1. Akure Mfonobong Umondia Community Manager,She Code Africa The Community Operating System: A Framework for Building Safe, Scalable, and High-Performing Tech Communities 2025
2. Akure When I say “Community Operating System”, what comes to mind?
3. It’s… • How a community is designed, built, managed, and scaled • The systems that drive member engagement, safety, retention, and culture • The processes, playbooks, templates, and workflows that keep operations smooth The backend system that makes your community run professionally.
4. Many communities struggle or die because they lack structure. Without a COS, communities operate on hope instead of systems. Messy Communication No defined member journey No clear structure, governance or rules Disorganized Channels Poor onboarding Zero Documentation Burnout from the community team No safety or conflict resolution system No metrics
5. Akure The 6 Core Pillars of a Community OS
6. 01 - Community Identity ❏ Vision, mission, and values (who you are) ❏ Member personas (who you serve) ❏ Community purpose and unique value Example: A DevOps community built for beginners in Africa Vision: Lower entry barriers for DevOps careers Persona: Entry-level techies, career switchers Bella, 27 year old aspiring DevOps engineer looking for mentorship, internship guidance, and access to real tech opportunities.
7. 02 - Community Infrastructure ❏ Platform choices (Slack, Discord, Circle, etc.) ❏ Channel naming & hierarchy ❏ Onboarding automation ❏ Documentation and playbooks Example: Discord automation that welcomes new members, assigns channels, sends onboarding guides. This is the architecture of your community and must be carefully thought through before execution.
8. 03 - Safety and Moderation ❏ Community rules & behavioural guidelines ❏ Moderation policies ❏ Conflict resolution workflows ❏ Member protection, DEI, and anti-harassment systems Example: You can introduce a tier-based disciplinary system (Warning → Restriction → Removal)
9. 04 - Engagement System ❏ Engagement calendar ❏ Programs and events ❏ Member recognition systems ❏ Data-driven engagement roadmap Example: Weekly #ScoreMeFridays, Monthly Clinics, Quarterly Community Hangouts, Member Spotlight, bots… etc. Engagement should be intentional, not random.
10. Engagement Pyramid Volunteers Contributors Active Responders Power Users & Leaders Passive Readers Move members up the pyramid through intentional programming.
11. 05 - Growth and Retention ❏ Member lifecycle mapping ❏ Value-driven touchpoints ❏ Nurturing power users and volunteers ❏ Feedback loops and continuous improvement Example: You can execute a ‘contributor Pathway’ that turns active members into mentors & chapter leads
12. 06 - Metrics and Reporting ❏ Engagement rate ❏ Retention rate (community, events etc.) ❏ Member satisfaction score ❏ Program performance ❏ Community health score (sentiment analysis) Example: 50% engagement rate = average messages + reactions + event participation.
13. Your Community Team Structure should have: Community Manager Moderators Program Leads Content Manager Events Lead Tech/Automati on Lead Every role regardless of whether it is volunteer or not, must have: Responsibilities, Tools, KPIs, SOPs and Escalation path.
14. To scale or grow sustainably, you need to learn to… ❏ Automate repetitive tasks (onboarding) ❏ Create templates for everything ❏ Delegate to volunteers ❏ Avoid micromanaging ❏ Use dashboards ❏ Work in sprints
15. How to Implement Your Community OS ❏ Audit your current community ❏ Build or refine your identity pillars (vision, personas, journey maps) ❏ Build or refine infrastructure ❏ Draft or update policies & playbooks ❏ Design engagement calendar and automate onboarding ❏ Set up dashboards & metrics ❏ Train your team and Iterate every quarter
16. In conclusion, Communities don’t grow by accident, they grow because they have: • Structure • Systems • Safety • Clear programs • Professional operations The Community Operating System gives you all the building blocks to run a world-class community.
17. Akure Q&A