Managing an online support group can be hard work, but it can be fun and very enjoyable at the same time. Your group should be a labor of love, not something that you have created to make money from. This last lesson will help you by offering management hints and tips for your group.

How Big Is Too Big?

You may recall that in Lesson 1 we discussed the number of members and the activity level of the group. That is how you will be measuring the size of your group and deciding if it is too big for you. You will need to consider many things including your group's topic, number of members, comfort level of members, and the number of active members.

After looking at the above you need to evaluate how much time you are spending 'managing' the group versus how much time you are spending interacting with the group members. The best is to need to spend as little time as possible managing, however this does not mean that you should ever neglect your responsibilities just so you can interact more often. Optimally you should be spending about 30% to 40% of your time managing the group.

This includes promoting your group, recruiting new members, approving new members if needed, enforcing the group's rules, and updating or adding to your group's associations. Other management duties include scheduling and participating in chats if that is available on your group, adding to your group's resources, and answering member and prospective member questions and concerns.

Sounds like a lot of work doesn't it? If your group is really big because you either have a lot of members, or your members are very active, it can be a lot of work. How to manage the increased workload and still have time for your group will be discussed further in Section 5.

It is not just your workload as a group owner/manager that can tell you if your group is too big. Your members should be able to discuss the size of the group, and how comfortable they feel with the current number of members and the activity level of the group. There are a few ways you can measure the general comfort level of the group.

First, see how the group in general reacts to new members. Are they mostly warm and welcoming, or do very few members acknowledge or welcome new members? Does the group in general get very quiet or inactive when a new member joins the group, or is there little change? This should be your first and biggest clue about the size of your group and the comfort level of your members.

If you are having a problem measuring the comfort level of the group, don't hesitate to ask. Your group is nothing without the members, and you need to let them know that their input is needed and that they 'make' the group, not you. If your members are telling you through their actions, or by answering your question, that the group is too big, it is time to stop accepting new members. You can always accept new members later, but you must listen to and follow what your members need now.