Grooming/Interacting With Your Moderators

[Beatle Aimee]

I have a new moderator who's new to moderating forums (she's been on other forums however), and I was making subboards for a board she moderates, and since I had to go somewhere I asked her if she wanted to move the posts to the subboards (for practice) and she did good, except one or two misplaced threads. Not only did she learn to move threads, I didn't have to keep mom waiting

I like giving moderators a chance to do things on my forum.

[carry]

Well I have 216 members at the moment, and I have given all my staff custom names and their own groups, so I can set each powers individually, also they do not show off as "staff"... I have given myself a custom title as well. I have 4 categories and plan on having one admin in each, and 2 moderators for each as well.
When they make a decision then of course I back them up on the board, even if I may not agree with it, and talk to them in private about it.
Its a discussion board about the death penalty and other political topics and so things do get heated at times. While I am opposed to it, I make sure that my moderators come from both sides of the fence, so the members know it is not moderated from once stance only. I choose my moderators by gut, see how they post, if they welcome new members, etc... and add them slowly, one by one.

[carry]

I think sending out mass emails is not so good, at least not once a month. My plan is that I will check on my members who has not logged on or posted within half a year (so every 6 months) and then send them an email if they are still interested in the forum. If they do not post or log on within a week (not sure if I go for posting or logging on... most likely posting) I will send them one more email telling them I delete their account, but if they should wish to come back at a later time, they are welcome to sign on up again.
I do not have an all open board, some areas are closed, some - like the main debate about the death penalty and the news - are open.

[lordparadise]

I'm a global moderator on a board that's high in post count (80,000 posts) but with only twenty members. Being the highest level member aside from the admin, I feel I have a lot of responsibility, but there's a bit of pressure as well. For example, I can be banned for a limited time for not finishing certain projects. Now, the deadlines are manageable, but I recently got banned for a couple days on account of not finishing one. In that time, I lost my position of 2nd highest post count to a notorious spammer.

Now, I believe my admin's fair, and he's my friend, but after reading some of the posts on this thread I'd like to know what you think about this.

[myke]

lordparadise said:

I'm a global moderator on a board that's high in post count (80,000 posts) but with only twenty members. Being the highest level member aside from the admin, I feel I have a lot of responsibility, but there's a bit of pressure as well. For example, I can be banned for a limited time for not finishing certain projects. Now, the deadlines are manageable, but I recently got banned for a couple days on account of not finishing one. In that time, I lost my position of 2nd highest post count to a notorious spammer.

Now, I believe my admin's fair, and he's my friend, but after reading some of the posts on this thread I'd like to know what you think about this.

My personal opinion is the admin of that forum really needs to come here and read some of these threads. That is no way to run a forum, again, in my opinion.

Admins need to realize that their staff are members like everyone else. The moderators should view the forum as a hobby, something fun to do in their free time. Moderating on a forum shouldn't feel like a second job, even if there is work to be done. All hobbies require work, but again it should be fun.

Banning someone for several days for not completing a project seems to be a poor administration policy. I don't know what your plans are, but most people would not stick around long with policies like that, at the very least they wouldn't want to remain as staff if they enjoyed the forum.

[lordparadise]

myke said:

lordparadise said:

I'm a global moderator on a board that's high in post count (80,000 posts) but with only twenty members. Being the highest level member aside from the admin, I feel I have a lot of responsibility, but there's a bit of pressure as well. For example, I can be banned for a limited time for not finishing certain projects. Now, the deadlines are manageable, but I recently got banned for a couple days on account of not finishing one. In that time, I lost my position of 2nd highest post count to a notorious spammer.

Now, I believe my admin's fair, and he's my friend, but after reading some of the posts on this thread I'd like to know what you think about this.

My personal opinion is the admin of that forum really needs to come here and read some of these threads. That is no way to run a forum, again, in my opinion.

Admins need to realize that their staff are members like everyone else. The moderators should view the forum as a hobby, something fun to do in their free time. Moderating on a forum shouldn't feel like a second job, even if there is work to be done. All hobbies require work, but again it should be fun.

Banning someone for several days for not completing a project seems to be a poor administration policy. I don't know what your plans are, but most people would not stick around long with policies like that, at the very least they wouldn't want to remain as staff if they enjoyed the forum.

I do enjoy the forum, and my jobs. There aren't even a lot of things I have to do, but I am expected to be punctual with my given assignments. In this case, it was a fanfiction that I was assigned to do, the final chapter actually, and I was three weeks over the deadline. I admit, I wouldn't have done it for another while were it not for the ban threat.

Also, like I said, it's a small-scale board, and I was able to keep in touch through other means throughout the couple days when I finished up the work.

[myke]

lordparadise said:

myke said:

My personal opinion is the admin of that forum really needs to come here and read some of these threads. That is no way to run a forum, again, in my opinion.

Admins need to realize that their staff are members like everyone else. The moderators should view the forum as a hobby, something fun to do in their free time. Moderating on a forum shouldn't feel like a second job, even if there is work to be done. All hobbies require work, but again it should be fun.

Banning someone for several days for not completing a project seems to be a poor administration policy. I don't know what your plans are, but most people would not stick around long with policies like that, at the very least they wouldn't want to remain as staff if they enjoyed the forum.

I do enjoy the forum, and my jobs. There aren't even a lot of things I have to do, but I am expected to be punctual with my given assignments. In this case, it was a fanfiction that I was assigned to do, the final chapter actually, and I was three weeks over the deadline. I admit, I wouldn't have done it for another while were it not for the ban threat.

Also, like I said, it's a small-scale board, and I was able to keep in touch through other means throughout the couple days when I finished up the work.

My thinking is, the fan fiction would be an additional content to the forum, something more to give the members a reason to visit the forum, which subsequently can lead to more activity of the forum. Unless the admin is paying you for this fan fiction, you should be allowed to submit it when you like. It sounds like the admin is EXPECTING you to drive the forum in content without pay, and will punish you if you do not.

This isn't proper admin etiquette I don't think. An admin should keep his staff happy if he expects good output from them. All to often do people thing it's such an honor to be a moderator or global moderator, and while many of the times it's true, people forget that it should be an honor to the admin to have good, dedicated staff.

There's something about this whole situation you're not one hundred percent happy with, as you've come here to gather other peoples' opinions on it.

On my forum, there are a few moderators, and their duty is to help drive individual boards of topics that I'm either not really into, but others are, and to help police the forum from the occasional spammer. At no time have I ever told them they have a date to get something done, or they will be banned. If I did, I don't think I'd keep my staff very long. They accepted the position as the genuinely like the forum, and want to help it grow.

Also, many of my moderators are busy in life, and it's not uncommon for at any given time to have one of them away for a week or so due to multiple reasons. If I punished them for not putting my forum over their real lives, again, I wouldn't have staff very long.

They are volunteers, just as you are.

[Raven]

I'm actually like the ideas in this thread. I wish I had one moderator per section, driving unique content in threads and giving boards an activity boost, but I'm not that lucky. I really do most of the work myself and a moderator stopped coming to my forum, so he's about to get demoted.

I believe moderators should be treated with freedom always. They are spending their time on your forum and especially if they're doing a good job. If I had 9 people on my forum who worked as hard as I do for my forum, it would be super active. So when you get good staff members, value them. They should be allowed to express their opinions and beliefs at all times. There should always be a good combination of member and staff member in all members/staff on a forum. Meaning stress the rules when there is a need to, but have fun and don't ruin it for others. It's also good to have a staff board and brainstorm ideas and such to get content moving and activity running throughout your board.

[carry]

I fully agree with you here, good staff has to be appreciated, and one of my mods even crawled out of her bed yesterday, just to let me know she is sick...
Another helped me with designing a logo and buttons, so yes I do have a great team there.
Although one has not shown up and not posted much... about him I am wondering as he does not reply to emails either...
The idea with staff pro section came to me because it means less to monitor for all of us, I expect them to read the new threads and posts in their area.... but not everyone can manage to read the whole board, and so this makes it easier for the individual. I also have given them full power over their area, so they can act on their own without having to ask me about every little decision.

[Kmylove]

Definitely I should be a negative example in this matter... When starting off the forum I've appointed as staff members two of my friends, one of whom I knew to have an experience at being global mod. I didn't have (and still don't have) any special rules for them, they don't have to be logged in for a specific time or start a certain number of threads, they just had to help out with keeping the place neat and help me out with ideas to make the place better. My G mods also have very large powers on the boards, they can do almost all the things I can do, because I really trusted them.
However, one of them never logs in any longer, and the other one left after a huge argument we had. Definitely choosing friends as staff is not the good way because you risk loosing the staff after each argument you have with them.
Now I am the only one that staffs the board, so at times I am happy it's not too active, as I don't have time to stick around all day and take care of tinghs.
Also, so far I didn't think it was necessary to have any regular mods. Maybe I'll get those when the board expands.
Right now I have a weird policy about recruiting the staff. The new g mod will be the first person to reach a certain number of posts, or to win a competition a certain number of times. Not too much of a good idea either... I hope I come up with the best solution in the end, and with a wider staff

[vorpalblade]

i've known my staff for 4 years now. i know their strengths and weaknesses and have been able to assign them jobs within my new forum to reflect these.
they are happy with my leadership skills, and i run a voting system on certain decisions.

[gimel]

my moderators are already active members of my forum. they post and patrol regarless of whether i log on or not, in fact, the recent issue in my forum that was resolved with a mods help before i even got online is proof of this.
but as an additional incentive, i have several different levels of mods and gmods, each with more powers as you move up in levels, and i give them a promotion that way for doing a good job. that and a thanks anytime i see they did something to help out does wonders, because ive never had any problems with them and they always seem to appreciate it anytime i promote them in that way.

[tlrlml]

My board is quiet new. Being a role-playing board It will be requiring a few moderators to run. I have taken an approach to the question of who/when to promote in a by members basis.

Knowing the number of moderators I will eventually need compared to how many members I actually have to police/entertain i only place what I need. I never take someone who hasn't shown an approprite activity level for my needs or aptitude for the rules.

I also try to balance my lack of intimate knowledge with anyone who should become moderator by strictly scaling there abilities until I feel I can trust them. To establish that much needed trust, I try to maintain contact as much as possible without intruding on there 'personal' space.

This seems to be working with my moderator levels so far.

[gimel]

vorpalblade said:

i've known my staff for 4 years now. i know their strengths and weaknesses and have been able to assign them jobs within my new forum to reflect these.
they are happy with my leadership skills, and i run a voting system on certain decisions.

yea, i often ask my staff about things, because i like getting their opinion. i often base decisions on what they think needs to be done too. after all, why have a staff if you arent going to let them help run it
it works out quite well, and so far i dont think weve disagreed on much either.

[.::Rebecca::.]

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.

This is what caused a dispute with my site and another or more I should say, this one admin practically dragged me into a dispute! I was a moderator on her board. One of the other moderators made a comment to me. I didn't really like it because I was being falsely accused. What the moderator said was very out of line. I deleted the post and contacted her through private message, trying to work it out privately. I was surprised the next to to see a PM from the admin. The admin completely took her side without bothering to hear my side of it. In fact, she told me she would have done the same thing. I was really upset by it because she said she was basically willing to falsely accuse me of such a thing and then blamed it on me that the whole thing happened and it became a big mess.

If you're a staff member on the board, you should hear BOTH sides of it. I'm glad I deleted that staff members post because it looked like the admin might have done something out of line, too. As if this user didn't already before it happened. The whole thing was very inconvenient and out of line.

A dispute between moderators is one of the hardest thing, but this can usually come from assigning people you don't know. If I were the staff member, I'd tell my moderators to keep the dispute off the board if possible. If needed, I'd try to help, but non of the other moderators need to know about the dispute. It doesn't mean it should be announced in the staff only room or whatever. Just try to talk it out privately and don't drag your members into it. That's one of the worst things you could do to a board.