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The Importance of a Community Manager for a Successful Workation

A successful Workation retreat is so much more than just a group of remote workers turning up to a location and setting up shop for a few weeks or months. What makes the Workation special is the way it is integrated with the community and environment in which it is situated, and for that, you need a community manager.

Let’s take a closer look at the role of a Workation community manager based on the firsthand experiences of the community managers at Hubs Travel.

What Is the Purpose of a Workation Community Manager?

The community manager serves as a bridge between Workation participants and the host destination. They ensure that the Workation is a unique experience that is rooted in what makes the destination special. It can’t just be a gathering of professionals that could have happened almost anywhere. The community manager ensures that Workation participants can truly immerse themselves in the local community and culture.

The community manager also ensures that the local community gains the maximum benefit from the presence of international remote workers. This is not simply economically by working with local businesses, but also by facilitating connections to raise local aspirations and expose locals to new opportunities.

This is essential for the continued success of a Workation offer since benefits to the local community foster local support, which allows the Workation to improve and expand its offer, which provides better experiences for participants, which brings greater benefits to the local community. It is this kind of positive cycle that ensures a Workation offer thrives and grows.

Finally, the community manager also works to create an environment for Workation participants that allows them to balance professional productivity with relaxation and opportunities to unwind. They organize social events and tourist excursions so that participants don’t have to; they just need to choose what they are interested in and turn up.

This matters because when trying to balance work commitments with vacation activities, organization and administration can be a major time burner for people who don’t have a lot of time. Trying to juggle organization and logistics can turn a relaxing and invigorating Workation into a stressful experience. The community manager helps participants optimize their time and make more of their Workation experience.

Skills Needed for a Community Manager

If you are interested in becoming a community manager or looking for a great community manager for a Workation project, what are the essential skills and experience that the individual needs?

Strong Communication Skills

A community manager must be able to engage with both participants and members of the local community from different backgrounds and with different needs. This means they need to be approachable and professional, be a good listener with strong empathy, and be good at expressing themselves.

Event Coordination Experience

A community manager must be experienced at organizing events and activities that are likely to interest the target audience. This involves understanding participants and their needs, negotiating with local providers to secure services, and creating a welcoming atmosphere that encourages participants to take part while respecting boundaries and individual needs and preferences.

Problem-Solving Abilities

No matter how well-planned, challenges can always emerge during a Workation. An unexpected allergy might mean that accommodation needs to be rearranged at the last minute. Unseasonable weather conditions might mean that certain activities need to be canceled. Personality clashes between participants might lead to interpersonal issues that need to be smoothed over. The community manager needs to be good at analyzing and solving problems while keeping a cool head in a crisis.

Cultural Sensitivity

Workations tend to bring together groups of people from different parts of the world and with different cultural backgrounds and place them in a location with its own unique culture and customs. A community manager must be able to respect diversity and deal with different approaches with sensitivity and respect.

It helps if the community manager has firsthand experience of remote working, participating in Workation-style activities, and experience traveling so that they are in a good position to understand the needs of the participants.

Community Manager Responsibilities

What kind of responsibilities might a Workation community manager have in their job description?

Social media and marketing: The community manager may be responsible for sharing information about the Workation, including stories, case studies, and details of future Workation opportunities.
Bookings administration: The community manager could potentially be the first point of contact for those interested in making a booking. They need to knowledgeably share information about the offer and collect relevant information (booking dates, accommodation requirements, dietary considerations) to organize Workation logistics.
Negotiating with local businesses: The community manager may engage with local businesses and community members to build a Workation offer rooted in the local area, culture, and community.
Welcoming participants: The community manager is responsible for welcoming new participants on arrival and onboarding them into the Workations experience, familiarizing them with accommodation, coworking facilities, scheduled events, etc.
Organizing events and activities: The community manager will be responsible for organizing events and activities, including social events such as dinners, day trips to important places in the area, etc.
Hosting duties: In a sense, the community manager is the host of the Workation, and it is their responsibility to ensure that everyone feels welcome and comfortable and that their needs are met.
Troubleshooting and problem-solving: The community manager must be available to support participants facing challenges, such as unexpected events or problems with other participants.
Offboarding participants: The community manager will offboard participants, which includes gathering feedback and analyzing results to improve the Workation experience.

The job is much more complex than just these tasks, and community managers have to be diverse and adaptable, but these are the main tasks that might appear on a job description for a Workation community manager.

How Does the Community Manager Contribute to the Success of Workations?

A good community manager plays an integral role in the success of a Workation as they are the one who ensures the cohesion of the experience. For participants, they facilitate activities and engagement, smooth out problems, and curate an overall enjoyable experience. For the local community, they ensure that the presence of the Workation adds value to the local economy and community.

To do this successfully, what a community manager really needs to do is foster a sense of belonging within both the Workation and the local community. This creates the kind of advocates who come back repeatedly to participate and recommend the experience to their friends and colleagues.