Grooming/Interacting With Your Moderators

[myke]

First, I would like to point out that you should NEVER give staff positions to anyone you do not know, and completely trust. There are a couple of topics that over this that I highly suggest reading. [Choosing Staff For Your ProBoard] - [How Should I Staff My Forum]

Now, if you have read those topics, and have newly appointed staff, or staff on a more active forum, read on...

A common complaint I've been hearing recently is peoples' moderators, global moderators, co-admins have been stepping down, leaving them feeling forced to appoint less qualified people as staff. The first thing you have to remember that your moderators are members on your forum as well. They are there on your ProBoard just like your members, the only difference is they can now police the forum with moderator powers, and are viewed as having seniority over the regular members.

With that said, the last thing you want to do is treat your staff like they are employees. Requiring them to be logged into your ProBoard for a set amount of hours per day/week will not make a happy moderator. Unless you are paying them to moderate your ProBoard, they are volunteers who have real life responsibilities, be it school, work, family, etc. Obviously if they had very little time to be online, you would not have selected them to be staff in the first place, so let them come and go as they please. Being a volunteer moderator should be as fun as being a regular member, and by now we all realize that a forum must be fun since we're trying to get people to spend their free time on our forums.

Continuing further into the fact that moderators are still members, don't prohibit your staff from having a personality. If you tell them they cannot express their own opinions on subjects like politics, religion, etc. then the fun factor will be reduced, and a moderator/member is less likely to be productive and active if they are not having fun. There is a different between respectfully expressing an opinion, and stating an opinion like it is fact because one happens to be a staff member. Let your staff know the difference, but let them keep their personality.

Sometimes a moderator will have to get between members when policing the forum. If an argument breaks out, or if someone is simply violating the rules, the moderator will have to make a judgment call with action, be it locking a thread, or verbally warning a member(s). Under no circumstance should you as the admin publicly disagree with that moderator, as it will only drop their power of authority in the members' eyes. If you disagree with the moderator, you should discuss it with him in private, not override his decision, or call him on his decision in public.

Further more, if a member contacts you privately complaining against a moderator, you should always tell them you'll look into it. Do not agree with them and say you will punish the moderator, as that will only open a door irrelevant complaints for anyone who has a personal grudge against a moderator.

When promoting a member to moderator, keep in mind that it may be a big adjustment going from being one of the regular members to a moderator with authority. The new moderator may not feel absolutely comfortable issuing verbal warnings or instructions to other members, especially if those members have been on the forum longer then the moderator. These long time members may try to intimidate the moderator, or push him to see how far he can be pushed. In cases like this, it is best for you, the admin, to step in and back the moderator up. It is important for the community to know that the moderator has the admin as a back-up.

.........................

Now, on the other side of the coin, a moderator is more then a mere policemen on a forum. A moderator can be a nice driving force on a ProBoard. It is my opinion that a moderator should try to help promote activity on a forum, so as long as they are happy to do so, and this should be discussed before promotion. As you can note from viewing ProBoards Support, the moderators here do far more then just police this forum. The moderators here help members who have questions, participate in general discussions in an entertaining way that encourages others to participate, and make group decisions on what is best for the forum as a whole. Include your moderators in all decisions for your forum. If they feel, and have a say so in the overall aspect of your forum, they will feel and will belong more, and will likely keep an active interest in that forum, which is not only good for your and your members, but for your forum as well.

These are just a few things to help keep your staff happy, and to show your staff respect.

Please feel free to discuss other way in which you have found to keep your staff active and productive.

[kelendria]

I don't seem to have much luck wirth Moderators & staff in general.
I've ALWAYS had people I've trusted so that's not an issue.
I very often see active staff on alot on other people's boards, but I can't get mine to do anything when I'm not there.
Interesting points there about having personal lives, they don't have to visit your forum or feel obliged in any way, I think sometimes I forget that.
I actually don't think, apart from one G Mod I had, anyone's ever felt comfortable about being staff, why do they say 'yes'?!
I've also always included my Mods in my decision & have never flamed a member or staff in public.
I know they don't have to but they don't help me promote either, what am I doing wrong? I'll take some of your points into consideration, maybe this will help.
I'm now running it by myself

[Blaze]

I usually pick my staff from members that are active and do good things on the forum. As always, I try to be nice to my staff and discus problems when they come forward. Sure, I have made a mistake sometimes, but that is what we learn from and make sure that a mistake will not be made again.

[Enchant]

I am very specific when picking my staff....first off, I do not pick my freinds, because they are my freinds... I do not pick a person because of post count, and so one...I choose staff on several things... I pick them for quality posting, good board ethics, activity and most of all inititive...I like to see people take pride in the forum and start new threads....The staff I pick are people that contribute to the forum above and beyond..they show true dedication...so that is why they are chosen...

as for the interaction of staff...I am very intereactive with my staff... I think I have the best staff around...my staff baord is as busy as my busiest board...I deligate task for them to choose from...I give them input into how the forum is run....we vote on the nominees of promotion any additions to the forum and so on..and I pretty much let them do thier things...
And I always let them know that they are appreciated....

[pcdude]

One of the things that works well for me in terms of keeping my staff active is involving them in the decision making process at all times. Whenever a change to our forum is being considered, be it adding or removing a board, a change in the colors or the overall design, removal of a member, etc., I make it a point to get every staff members opinion before any action is taken. I find that this makes the staff feel important, wanted, and needed. Another thing that works well for me is allowing my staff plenty of freedom to do their job. I make it clear that if they feel they need to take action, they can, and they don't need to consult me first. I talked with them once at the very beginning to discuss punishments and such so as to establish some uniformity in our decision making-in other words, so that the punishment for an infraction is the same no matter which staff member handles it. Other than this initial discussion though, I've never gotten in the way. I have always made it a point though to make sure they know that I stand behind them, and that while I don't require them to consult me, they can any time they wish. I find that this makes it more like a partnership between myself and my staff. One last thing that I do is I always stress that our forum is not a workplace. It's a place for helping others and for having some fun. I always joke with them that if the're losing sleep they're taking things too seriously! ;D

[HoudiniDerek]

My co-admin and I have very little reason to have extra moderators. Our forum is relatively new and specialized, so there are not a gaggle of members yet, nor an extremely high post count. We have a few hardcore members and some others with an interest in the topic who come by and post every now and then.

I think as we grow, we will need others and a lot of the advice the rest of you gave, we have been doing. In fact, we have an open moderator position that has very limited powers that we test out on potential staff when we have to be gone for a few days. We let them know that we trust them and would like to see how they do in a given situation and that if they are competent, that they might indeed retain those powers and become a moderator when the time is needed if they feel they can or want too.

I think this helps make them feel that they are special, without forcing them into accepting if asked. It is a trial run...kind of like a driver's permit. I know other forums give quizzes and the like too.

[bagheera]

I am the owner/co-owner. I promoted one of my friends to elite admin, but not because she was my friend. She was friendly, helpful, had the second-highest point count. She always welcomed new members and created new threads, basically she helped me keep the forum alive! She really deserved it, so she became an admin, then the elite admin.
I promoted at a steady rate as we grew, not all at once. I chose two admins (I knew neither) who were very active, they have since become inactive (busy with school), but I'm bugging them via email until they post.
I have two moderators, both of whom are my friends, because they were also active, contributing members. One helps the others and me mod the girls' board (which is huge, 7300 posts), the other is our only guy on staff (and until recently, the only guy on the whole forum) who takes care of the 70-post guys' board.

[Artemis]

I am one of three administrators on my forum. One of them is simply a coding administrator who needs full access to the coding area, but the other two, my friend and I, are full time administrators.

I do most of the work behind the scenes, one could say. I change themes, add features, and most importantly, I am the deciding factor in choosing new staff.

I look for, in staff, the kind of personality that would help the forum run the way it is supposed to, properly, smoothly, and efficiently. We have nearly 100 active members, so one would expect a lot of choices. That's not how it is. At the moment, my forum has three administrators, three global moderators, three moderators, and two other board moderators. They were hard to choose, I'll admit. I spent a long time deciding which of the members would be the best for the forum; members that wouldn't be intimidated by older members, and ones that wouldn't be afraid to uphold the rules.

After they were made staff, nothing really changed as to how they were looked upon. Of course, they were a new entity as staff; upon gaining moderator-ship, no one was sure what would be 'lock-worthy' material, or what would deserve a warning. However, nothing seemed to change, as they could still talk in a thread with plenty of personality, and other members would talk to them as though they were regular members as well.

I like to promote an equality of sorts; I don't want people to be afraid to talk to me or any of the other staff because they are intimidated, and for the most part, it is working. The staff joke around with everyone else like they are no different. However, they are strict when they need to be, and regular members respect the fact that they have more power than they do.

If I have an issue with any of the staff, I usually send them a message letting them know what I feel. Usually they do a great job however, and I can leave them to do their work. On another forum of mine that has over 42,000 posts, it is hard to keep track of all the moderator actions, so I make sure to choose people I can trust. That is the most important thing, to always, without fail, choose someone you could trust at any cost.

[Ímþ®óvîšâ†ó®]

myke said:

First, I would like to point out that you should NEVER give staff positions to anyone you do not know, and completely trust. There are a couple of topics that over this that I highly suggest reading. [Choosing Staff For Your ProBoard] - [How Should I Staff My Forum]

Now, if you have read those topics, and have newly appointed staff, or staff on a more active forum, read on...

A common complaint I've been hearing recently is peoples' moderators, global moderators, co-admins have been stepping down, leaving them feeling forced to appoint less qualified people as staff. The first thing you have to remember that your moderators are members on your forum as well. They are there on your ProBoard just like your members, the only difference is they can now police the forum with moderator powers, and are viewed as having seniority over the regular members.

With that said, the last thing you want to do is treat your staff like they are employees. Requiring them to be logged into your ProBoard for a set amount of hours per day/week will not make a happy moderator. Unless you are paying them to moderate your ProBoard, they are volunteers who have real life responsibilities, be it school, work, family, etc. Obviously if they had very little time to be online, you would not have selected them to be staff in the first place, so let them come and go as they please. Being a volunteer moderator should be as fun as being a regular member, and by now we all realize that a forum must be fun since we're trying to get people to spend their free time on our forums.

Continuing further into the fact that moderators are still members, don't prohibit your staff from having a personality. If you tell them they cannot express their own opinions on subjects like politics, religion, etc. then the fun factor will be reduced, and a moderator/member is less likely to be productive and active if they are not having fun. There is a different between respectfully expressing an opinion, and stating an opinion like it is fact because one happens to be a staff member. Let your staff know the difference, but let them keep their personality.

Sometimes a moderator will have to get between members when policing the forum. If an argument breaks out, or if someone is simply violating the rules, the moderator will have to make a judgment call with action, be it locking a thread, or verbally warning a member(s). Under no circumstance should you as the admin publicly disagree with that moderator, as it will only drop their power of authority in the members' eyes. If you disagree with the moderator, you should discuss it with him in private, not override his decision, or call him on his decision in public.

Further more, if a member contacts you privately complaining against a moderator, you should always tell them you'll look into it. Do not agree with them and say you will punish the moderator, as that will only open a door irrelevant complaints for anyone who has a personal grudge against a moderator.

When promoting a member to moderator, keep in mind that it may be a big adjustment going from being one of the regular members to a moderator with authority. The new moderator may not feel absolutely comfortable issuing verbal warnings or instructions to other members, especially if those members have been on the forum longer then the moderator. These long time members may try to intimidate the moderator, or push him to see how far he can be pushed. In cases like this, it is best for you, the admin, to step in and back the moderator up. It is important for the community to know that the moderator has the admin as a back-up.

.........................

Now, on the other side of the coin, a moderator is more then a mere policemen on a forum. A moderator can be a nice driving force on a ProBoard. It is my opinion that a moderator should try to help promote activity on a forum, so as long as they are happy to do so, and this should be discussed before promotion. As you can note from viewing ProBoards Support, the moderators here do far more then just police this forum. The moderators here help members who have questions, participate in general discussions in an entertaining way that encourages others to participate, and make group decisions on what is best for the forum as a whole. Include your moderators in all decisions for your forum. If they feel, and have a say so in the overall aspect of your forum, they will feel and will belong more, and will likely keep an active interest in that forum, which is not only good for your and your members, but for your forum as well.

These are just a few things to help keep your staff happy, and to show your staff respect.

Please feel free to discuss other way in which you have found to keep your staff active and productive.

Man, I'm actually glad I found this subject lol

On my forum I have quite a few staff (not very much because I know which ones will do the job more effectively), that seem to no longer come online anymore (I interact with them when they come online quite frequently), and I had a system whereby if they or rather all the members, didn't come online for over a month, then their account will be locked and if they wanted it unlocked then they'd pm my second-in command (who happens to be on at a similiar rate to me), to request their account to be unlocked before they logon. I recently modified that particular rule to increase the leniancy to 3 MONTHS with an added twist, that if they KNEW that they'll be away (be it on vacation or not) over a year, they MUST let me know or their account wouldn't be saved - which I think is fair enough in my opinion and is SUPPOSED to help sustain activity

Members have currently abused it by attempting to force me to lock/delete their accounts, because they believed that I "wouldn't do that" to them. I hate it when that happens

Could anyone tell me what I could be doing wrong?

...and if there's a solution to rectify this problem, please tell me. I'll listen to what you have to say if it'll be somewhat helpful that is.

Thanks

~*Improvisator*~

[pcdude]

I think your taking the wrong approach. Instead of setting deadlines and telling your members they have to logon within that period of time, you should focus more on your content. If you have stuff that people want to talk about, you won't have to force them to be active. Also, I think that you'd do better to keep these kinds of things between you and your staff. I find that it works better if the members don't know what your policy is on inactivity. The folks who are interested in your forum, and who want to continue to be a member will logon frequently just to make sure that their account doesn't become inactive. Then, the folks who don't logon can be pruned. If they are interested enough in your forum, they'll register again.

Also, unless you have at least 100 members I wouldn't worry about inactive members too much. If you don't have at least that many members you probably don't have enough to warrant worrying about inactive members. Also, when you have more members your member count doesn't take as big a hit when you prune inactive accounts.

[(¯`•Stormraven•._)]

yes but u dont know if you can fully trust them until u assign them

[Daydream]

improvisator said:

Members have currently abused it by attempting to force me to lock/delete their accounts, because they believed that I "wouldn't do that" to them. I hate it when that happens

Could anyone tell me what I could be doing wrong?

...and if there's a solution to rectify this problem, please tell me. I'll listen to what you have to say if it'll be somewhat helpful that is.

Thanks

~*Improvisator*~

By putting yourself in this position you leave yourself open for what comes. I know some forums that delete members because they haven't posted in a month and what you are doing is similar.

If you feel they are inactive ( I am referring to your staff) then make a decision and demote them if they fail to come up to forum standards.

I am right now in the process of deciding on a new moderator as one of the ones I have failed to comply with what we had discussed in a few emails.

I currently run my forum with myself as admin and three moderators ( one of which will be a new hire). I expect them to log in at least 2-3 times a week or more if they can and contribute to the forum with topics and policing. I expect them to act maturely and responsibly not takes sides and come to me if something causes them to feel a higher authority is needed. I don't post that much but they know I support them and know that I trust them to act in the forums best interest.

I know none of my mods personally but I feel they are loyal to me and the forum. That is all you can ask.

[pcdude]

jean said:

improvisator said:

Members have currently abused it by attempting to force me to lock/delete their accounts, because they believed that I "wouldn't do that" to them. I hate it when that happens

Could anyone tell me what I could be doing wrong?

...and if there's a solution to rectify this problem, please tell me. I'll listen to what you have to say if it'll be somewhat helpful that is.

Thanks

~*Improvisator*~

By putting yourself in this position you leave yourself open for what comes. I know some forums that delete members because they haven't posted in a month and what you are doing is similar.

If you feel they are inactive ( I am referring to your staff) then make a decision and demote them if they fail to come up to forum standards.

I am right now in the process of deciding on a new moderator as one of the ones I have failed to comply with what we had discussed in a few emails.

I currently run my forum with myself as admin and three moderators ( one of which will be a new hire). I expect them to log in at least 2-3 times a week or more if they can and contribute to the forum with topics and policing. I expect them to act maturely and responsibly not takes sides and come to me if something causes them to feel a higher authority is needed. I don't post that much but they know I support them and know that I trust them to act in the forums best interest.

I know none of my mods personally but I feel they are loyal to me and the forum. That is all you can ask.

I agree with what your saying here. I think that part of the responsibility of being a moderator/administrator is showing up and being active. I just demoted a mod because I haven't seen her since the day she became a mod-over a month ago! In my opinion, she wasn't on nearly frequently enough to be an effective moderator. I think alot of people take staff positions becuase they want the power that comes with it. I don't think they give a moments thought to the responsibilities of being a staff member, and whether they can fulfill those responsibilities.

[Gamoc]

kelendria said:

I don't seem to have much luck wirth Moderators & staff in general.
I've ALWAYS had people I've trusted so that's not an issue.
I very often see active staff on alot on other people's boards, but I can't get mine to do anything when I'm not there.
Interesting points there about having personal lives, they don't have to visit your forum or feel obliged in any way, I think sometimes I forget that.
I actually don't think, apart from one G Mod I had, anyone's ever felt comfortable about being staff, why do they say 'yes'?!
I've also always included my Mods in my decision & have never flamed a member or staff in public.
I know they don't have to but they don't help me promote either, what am I doing wrong? I'll take some of your points into consideration, maybe this will help.
I'm now running it by myself

The only problem i have had is people stealing peoples accounts. I only know htis because two posts come at the same time from two dif ips.

[myke]

pikablu said:

kelendria said:

I don't seem to have much luck wirth Moderators & staff in general.
I've ALWAYS had people I've trusted so that's not an issue.
I very often see active staff on alot on other people's boards, but I can't get mine to do anything when I'm not there.
Interesting points there about having personal lives, they don't have to visit your forum or feel obliged in any way, I think sometimes I forget that.
I actually don't think, apart from one G Mod I had, anyone's ever felt comfortable about being staff, why do they say 'yes'?!
I've also always included my Mods in my decision & have never flamed a member or staff in public.
I know they don't have to but they don't help me promote either, what am I doing wrong? I'll take some of your points into consideration, maybe this will help.
I'm now running it by myself

The only problem i have had is people stealing peoples accounts. I only know htis because two posts come at the same time from two dif ips.

Then you should read this topic, and make sure your staff is using passwords like described in that thread.