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Train, develop and certify

Your community managers 

recruit and retain the best

Reduce ramp-up time for new-hires, and develop a team that allows you to work ON your business instead of IN your business.

If you have a Community Manager on your team that you'd like to develop and retain, or you're about to hire a CM that you'd like to train without re-inventing the wheel, this membership is for you.

Your team drives the success of your business. They're often your sales force as well as your best member retention tool. Investing in them = investing in your bottom line.

HERE'S WHAT YOU

MIGHT NOT KNOW

Today's workforce values purpose-driven work, being a part of something larger than themselves and developing professionally. These needs can be challenging to deliver on, whether you are a single or multi-location operator.

  • Recruit the best staff by offering membership to a professional certification and ongoing monthly training & development and a professional community of their own

    Today's labor market is tight. Attract the best talent to your team by offering them world-class training and professional development. Community Manager University will teach them role-specific skills that they can take with them to a future role....which will help you to retain them for as long as possible. They will also receive a certification for completing the core training modules, and ongoing recognition of their advancement through the Community Manager Success Path.
  • Retain your best staff as your team is recognized for their progression through Community Manager University

    Your team will be recognized through badges &. certificates, peer recognition AND notifications that go directly to you as they complete milestones. Community Manager University allows your team to develop without you building a custom program from scratch. We've done that work for you!
  • Dramatically reduce the TIME and COST it takes to onboard new staff

    If you're training your team from scratch, you're putting the brakes on the other work/projects/family that need your attention. You need to get your staff up to speed as quickly as possible to retain sales and service levels for your business and to get you back to your own work as quickly as possible. The group training approach to the Community Manager University platform allows us to deliver world-class content at a very affordable price. However, if you do the training yourself, multiple your hourly rate ($250/hour) by the weeks it takes for you to onboard your staff...and then assign a value to the time  you probably don't spend on providing ongoing professional development and community for your team.
  • Save some time to train your own secret sauce

    About 80% of the Coworking Community Manager role is fairly standard across spaces. But 20% of how they approach the role is YOUR secret sauce. We'll take care of the 80% without interfering with your ability to customize the role and do things YOUR way.
  • Community Managers are the heart and soul of the Coworking business

    They sell memberships and they retain members. Can you afford to NOT invest in them?

The 4 Ways we Tend to Under-serve our Team

#1 Way you under-serve your team

You plan to train your team beyond the basics but then life gets in the way

I know how this goes because it's happened to me many times.

You hire a new Community Manager. You think they might finally be THE ONE. You commit to training them on all aspects of the business. You promise yourself that you will not miss a weekly meeting. You'll spend an entire month in the office having her shadow you...you'll take them under your wing and make sure they deeply understands every aspect of the business.

And then....you have a fire to fight in your other business...you get distracted negotiating an important contract, you have family matters to attend to...

As long as your manager is making it through the basics of holding down the fort, you get distracted and let them figure the rest out on their own.

 

#2 Way you under-serve your team

You sell the opportunity to be a part of our business and the empowerment that comes with the role... 

...but you don't have the systems in place to provide an organized on-ramp and you don't really have the capacity for ongoing development...whether you have just one location or multiple locations.

I've been HERE before too! We commit to developing our team beyond the basics. We will be a business mentor. When our CM leaves us, they will be able to conquer the world. We will PERSONALLY equip them to solve world hunger. 

But we're entrepreneurs. We love new projects, growing the business and bright, shiny objects. We do not love sitting side by side behind the front desk with our team members for weeks getting into endless details and strategic discussions that go beyond what they need to know to get through the day and close tours.

So we fail at this commitment. We fail our team.

Don't beat yourself up. Just allow yourself to be realistic. Take the training and development off of your plate and make sure your team has access to training and development platform and peer community that does not succumb to....Squirrel!

#3 Way you under-serve your team

You're just not a teacher

Training and developing a team requires a specific skillset. In big companies, there are entire departments devoted to this. You wear many hats as an entrepreneur. Some you're good at, some you're not. Developing training materials for your team and spending time on ongoing development may not be your strength and frankly, you may just not really like it. 

Don't beat yourself up. But also don't leave a big gap that will impact your bottom line. Well-trained, engaged Community Managers will sell more memberships and retain more members.

#4 Way you under-serve your team

It's just not a good use of your time

Your primary hat as a "Startup CEO" is to grow the business. And maybe you're doing this while running another business or two...or holding down a full time job. You likely just don't have the time to train and develop your staff. And you don't yet have the scale to hire a training and development group. 

So outsource the training and development of your team to a professional team that has been in your shoes, intimately knows the Community Manager role, and wants to devote their days to making your team successful without you! 

"Community Manager University has exceeded my expectations! Whether you're new to the role or a seasoned CM, Community Manager University trainings deliver value. I've been able to hone my skills and be more confident as I support my coworking members. Being able to connect with other like-minded CM's from around the world offers a chance for feedback when needed and is a source of support and encouragement."

ALEX FROM TUCSON

 

Introducing the

This is the Community Manager training and development platform that reduces on-boarding time and develops your team, over time, across the five key role competencies of: community management, operations, sales, finance and leadership. 

Hi, I'm Jamie Russo and I am the CEO of Everything Coworking. I founded and ran two coworking spaces for a total of eight years- one in Chicago, one in Palo Alto, California. I was the President of the League of Extraordinary Coworking Spaces and the Executive Director of the Global Workspace Association for five years.

Through this unique combination of roles, I have a deep, first-hand experience in coworking as well as unparalleled access to industry knowledge, best practices, experience and leadership.

Through my Coworking Startup School and Coworking Flight Group program, I have helped dozens of people just like you realize their dream of launching a successful coworking space.

I created the Coworking Startup School because I have deep experience in the coworking industry and I also love to teach and coach. I'm extending that passion to the heart and soul of our coworking spaces - the Community Managers.

Community Manager University is the ONLY membership of its kind that…

1. Will train your team to manage your coworking space and help your business to attract and retain members while you are working on the strategic aspects of the business.
2. Provides monthly professional development trainings and a community of peers to increase job satisfaction and tenure in the role.
3. Eliminates the need for you to reinvent the wheel when it comes to training and developing your Community Manager team.
4. Give your team a clearer sense that they are part of a larger industry that has purpose and meaning.
5. Reduces the ramp-up period for new Community Managers and also grows your team's skills across the five core competencies of the role over time.

As a Member of Community Manager University, Here's what you'll Get Every Single Month:

1. A training library organized by content bucket and experience level:

Graduated learning across the 5 core competencies of the Coworking Community Manager role

 The training modules are organized by experience level and by the 5 aspects of the Community Manager role:

  1. Community Building
  2. Operations
  3. Sales/Marketing
  4. Finance
  5. Leadership

 

We have designed the stages of the Community Manager Success Path as:

  • Newly Minted:
    • He/She is new to the industry, might be juggling many new "hats." Might be new to marketing, handling social media, giving tours, and using industry-specific technology.
    • This is likely not the CM's first job, but they are totally new to many of the aspects of the role and need a lot of support at  this stage.
  • Rising Star:
    • He/She understands the industry enough to explain the basics to another person;
    • Can complete tasks by referencing training documentation and SOPs;
    • Needs some daily email/Slack/shadow support as they work through new tasks
    • Understands the basic marketing and operational aspects of the role;
    • Is getting to know the members
    • Can host simple member events and is learning how to prioritize their daily work.
  • Independent Rockstar: 
    • They have a firm grasp on the industry
    • Can handle all typical tasks independently.
    • The space owner or GM can go out of town for a few days and expect him/her to run the show.
    • They might still need to check in with the owner as new situations arise that he/she hasn't handled yet.
    • They're developing more confidence with members, going beyond basic interactions and creating connections among members.
    • They have developed a deeper understanding for how local business marketing works and drives leads.
    • They take ownership over weekly/monthly local marketing goals and content marketing. This includes social media, blog posts and newsletters.
    • They also take charge of weekly meetings, develop agendas creates reports to review.
    • They can also read and understand each line item of the coworking P&L (your call whether or not to give them access to yours).
  • Senior Community Manager: 
    • They have a deep understanding of the industry and the model - from the financial model to operations, to community building to personal leadership.
    • They can represent the company externally when the owner is not available.
    • They are very competent in all content marketing and local business marketing planning and execution (excluding PPC).
    • They can plan/execute/ evaluate the success/ROI of events.
    • They can manage subs and contractors to handle special projects.
    • They can manage more junior team members at the same location and can support a team member.
    • They can evaluate a monthly P&L and prepare comments for a weekly leadership team meeting.
    • They can be responsible for all variable expenses on the P&L.
  • General Manager:
    • He/She has full P&L responsibility at a location level; can manage marketing vendors at the location level including more strategic aspects such as website updates.
    • Partners with regional GM or owner to conduct annual planning for marketing, sales, operations, facilities.
    • Is responsible for setting annual location-level goals, managing weekly/monthly reporting and training team members to execute against the goals.
    • Can manage the location's event business - marketing, proposals, staffing, billing.
    • Can manage all team members at a location including staffing needs and hiring/firing decisions (with review/approval of leadership team/owner).
    • Manages on-boarding and training of all location-level team members. Is not directly involved in community building, but evaluates team's proficiency and supports their development.
  • Regional Manager:
    • Has GM responsibilities across multiple locations.
2. Monthly Action Guides

A step-by-step guide to help your team take action on core business drivers

Each month we build on the core content with a new, timely resources designed to walk your team step by step through a process that will help your business attract and retain members.

3. A Monthly Masterclass

A 30 to 60 minute action-oriented training session

...will cover a topic to help your manager further develop across one of the core competencies with the goal of providing professional development that can be applied directly to advancing your coworking business.

 

4. Live Support & Peer Network-Building

Monthly Q&A Session

Each month, your managers will have the opportunity to connect and learn from their peers. They can ask questions about the training content, get support on a challenge they're trying to solve and share wins. Again, you cover the secret sauce but we'll take the basics off of your plate.

Sign me up, Let's do This!

Unlimited Access to the Community Manager University:

  • Training modules organized by level and across the 5 core competencies of the CM role:
    - Training across the core competencies of the CM role: Community Building, Operations, Sales/Marketing, Finance, and Leadership.
  • Monthly Q&A Calls - build community, ask questions, learn how others are approaching various aspects of their role and business.
  • A 30 to 60-minute action-oriented training session - A deep-dive on a topic that is getting results for coworking businesses to attract and retain members.

Monthly CMU Membership

(month-to-month commitment)

$97/month

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Frequently Asked Questions

What people asked before signing up for Community Manager University

All of the above. The content is developed using the principles of graduated learning.

There's basic content for the "Newly Minted" community manager and the content and training modules cover more advanced topics as we move further down the success path through "Independent Rockstar," "Rising Star," "Senior Community Manager," and "General Manager."

Any team member can access content from each of the Community Manager Success Path levels.

As you develop as a brand, you will absolutely have your own way of doing things that and you will train your team to follow your approach. We 100% respect that and mention that aspect of training throughout our program.

Our content focuses on training and developing your team across the five core competencies of the CM role: Community Management, Operations, Sales, Finance and Leadership.

We bake the cake - you add the frosting.

The content is delivered via a learning management platform called Kajabi. Your team will get a link to access the training content in Community Manager University and their own unique login.

They can access the content using a web browser AND a mobile app. The content is all delivered in easily consumable chunks that your team can watch on a commute to work or during a short break at the front desk.

We have a support team that answers email questions. 

We also have a private Slack group for Community Manager University members where your team can access peer and expert support.

We can certainly not add your team members to the Slack group. 

I would ask you to consider the risk/reward benefits. It is 80% likely that your team will get tremendous value, increased job satisfaction and a sense of broader community out of being a part of the Slack group. There's a 20% risk that they share something or hear something that you'd prefer not to.

We totally understand that sometimes, a CM doesn't quite own their schedule. We record every Q&A call and add the recording to the platform for easy access.

You are not alone, my friend. Join us! You will definitely not be the only one in this boat. This training is for you...and if you get to the point that you're ready to hire a CM, you'll have a training program all ready to go!


The Coworking Community Manager University is PERFECT for you if…

  1. You want well-trained Community Managers who continues to learn and develop without costing you time that can use to work *on* your business.
  2. You want to attract and retain the best Community Management staff
  3. You wan to ensure that your team continues to grow and contribute more to the business even as you get busy and distracted and have less time to spend with them 1:1.
  4. You want to demonstrate to your team that you're investing in their development.
  5. You want your team to contribute to your business growth.

If you said “yes” to several of the statements above, I can’t wait to meet your team inside of Community Manager University.

Here’s what your team will get each month:

  • Training modules organized by level and across the 5 core competencies of the CM role:
    - Training across the core competencies of the CM role: Community Building, Operations, Sales/Marketing, Finance, and Leadership.
  • A 30 to 60-minute action-oriented training session - A deep-dive on a topic that is getting results for coworking businesses to attract and retain members. 
  • Monthly Best Practice/Q&A Calls - build community, ask questions, learn how others are approaching various aspects of their role and business. 

Monthly CMU Membership

(month-to-month commitment)

$97/month

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