Competence-Oriented Qualification in Digital Community Management

Digital communities are a crucial part of corporate communication – they enable networking, knowledge sharing, and professional development. Managing digital communities effectively requires qualified Digital Community Managers (DCM) with digital competences. The necessary competences are not standardized, and there are hardly any company-independent formal qualification programs. This article contributes to the advancement of the professionalization and qualification of DCMs by developing a didactic orientation framework for their competence-oriented qualification. The article follows the Design-Based Research paradigm and combines a systematic literature review and expert interviews. Six (preliminary) design principles for the creation of competence-oriented qualification measures were derived: 1) Creating optimal personal conditions, 2) orienting towards relevant competences, 3) adopting a constructivist and connectivist approach to learning, 4) including problem-solving and action orientation, 5) using simulation methods as digital formats that combine formal and informal learning, and 6) applying a competence-oriented selection and implementation of didactic-methodical design approaches.