Ask most people what a community manager does and they say posting. Sit next to one for a week and you will see almost none of it. The work is quieter and considerably less glamorous.
The single highest-value thing a community manager does is connect two members who should know each other. It does not scale, it cannot be automated, and it is why people stay. Everything else in the role is downstream of somebody feeling recognised.
Do this: Introduce two members to each other every day this week, by name, in public, with a reason.
An unanswered question teaches everyone watching that asking is pointless. The damage is not to the person who asked, it is to the twenty who saw it sit there. This is why the answered-within-a-day number matters more than volume.
Do this: Search your community for questions with no replies. Answer or route every one you find, then set a reminder to repeat it weekly.
Tell us members, posters and who answers. We reply with the stage you are at and the one thing to change first.
Every room has unwritten rules. New members break them, feel stupid and leave. The job includes noticing those rules and making them visible, which nobody asks for and everybody benefits from.
Do this: Write the three unwritten rules of your community as three sentences and pin them. You will be surprised how hard the third one is.
Total members only rises, which is why it gets reported. A community manager who reports it is protecting themselves rather than informing anybody. Pick something that can fall and report that.
Do this: Replace total members in your next report with member-to-member reply share. Expect an uncomfortable conversation, and have it.
This is teaching material and our own reading of standard practice, not advice for your specific community. Check anything important with your own specialist before you act on it.
How many members, how many post, who answers questions. We reply with the stage you are at and the one thing to change. No call, no pitch.