Staff Expectations & Responsibilities

[Enchant]

Generally, we know some of the reasons a person is selected to be staff. However, once you have selected a staff member or staff, what are your expectations of them? Are they only required to mod boards or do you feel that they should be responsible for contributing to other areas of the community as well? Do you feel that your staff members should be expected or even required to help promote the forum, be it promotional sigs on other sites, word of mouth...etc..? How about helping in the revamping of a forum? What about daily posting in threads and even starting new topic threads on boards? Do you think that these are the sole responsibility of the admin? What do you require of your staff and as staff what do you feel should be required of you?

[Candice]

After I make someone a staff member I tell them what I expect of them after giving them the powers I trust them with. Most of the time the staff members I pick, already have an idea of what they can do based upon the powers I give them.

I expect my staff members to not only help with advertising and accepting applications but I also expect them to be part of the site like a normal member which most of them do. The only thing that I don't allow them to have is complete control over everything. I'd like to know what their doing most of the time, so if they do make mistakes, it'll be easy for me to fix said mistakes.

[Mandi]

With my staff, at first i was a little cautious with giving them jobs as i didn't quite know how to handle splitting up jobs (i'm a control freak >.<) but slowly i learned that they had to help, so i had higher up staff accept bio's only if they were NPC's. I had them manage small threads and i also expected them to advertise the site whenever and where ever they could.

I also tried to make sure that they kept in contact with me, i added them to my msn and was able to talk to them about problems that were happening. They were on very often so that helped as well.

With posting my staff members loved doing it so there was never much of a push, unless everyone was going through a hectic moment in their life or their little muses ran away. If that happened though i just simply asked them to beef up threads in the general board.

[Kmylove]

Here is the first rule I have in my staff board:

1. A bit of activity is expected. You don't have to post like crazy, just log in daily and check up on stuff.

I've had experiences with making someone a staff member because they have had good contributions to the board, and afterwards they'd just stop posting or even logging in.

I have never been fond of the general idea that making new topics is the sole responsibility of an admin, so if I make someone a mod of "General Talk", as an example, I do expect them to be a bit active in that board not only when it comes to "forum police" but also when it comes to keeping the board active and supplying fresh topics.

Helping to promote the site isn't mandatory, but they are always welcome to help with this aspect if they can. However it's not something they could lose their position over, while lack of activity certainly is.

If I want to make any changes in the boards I generally tend to ask all the members, not just the staff, so I can't say I have any special expectations from them in this aspect.

To sum it up, my greatest expectation after appointing a staff member is that they keep being active, at least in the board they're appointed to.

[Jack]

Staff should try and be an all-rounder. Obviously if they have their own specific roles then they should come first, but I think generally staff should be trying to do as much as they can to help the development of the forum.

They should try and log in everyday to check up on new posts. They should be more active than a regular member and should post sensibly and professionally following the rules.

[HoudiniDerek]

I think that the main goal of the staff is to relieve the pressure off the admin. The admin tends to have things going on behind the scenes, especially with advertising the forum. I do not require staff to do anything more than moderate the boards or forum as a whole. To me, their job is to interact more with the community, especially in their boards.

Most of the staff tend to be active in their respective communities. If they are not, I ask why and will replace them if necessary. Granted, I offer the chance for the staff and members to advertise the forum in their signatures and profiles, but I do not require it. I know they have other interests as well and I would hate to make them think that they cannot have those outside interests. So far, it has not been a problem as most tend to advertise it to some degree...if only for a small amount of time. Or they tell friends that are interested too.

I think the staff should have responsibilities and they can differ among admins, but I do not want to make the expectations so high that a staff member would feel overwhelmed or uncomfortable with what I am asking.

[An Error Has Occured]

Oh man. I dont like staff that dont really do anything. Or they need your word before they even look at the admin panel. I like independant staff members that will use their powers for the good of the forum.

Some of my expectations:

1. Know the rules and regulations of the site.
2. Have expirence using admin/moderator powers.
3. Must be helpful to other members. No matter how frustrating it is.
4. Go the extra mile.
5. Maintain a good relationship with the forum owner. (me in this case.)
6. Must be trustworthy and dedicated.

Also, seeing that some members are responsible and such, but havent used the powers, I like to start them out as "Board Mods". So they can monitor and practice their skills on some boards. Then once they get more expirenced and trustworthy, I move them up to a normal mod, and so on.

[theislandlives]

For me, all staff have certain basic responsibilities. They have to, first and foremost, be friendly and welcoming to guests and new members. In my opinion, this is one of the most important ways in which staff are "role models" for the community of a forum. Then, I ask that they be fairly active, and help the admin out with what they are asked to do. Basically, my staff need to be able to contribute to the site in an above-average way.

In terms of advertising, I do expect that they'll do this, and I don't believe it should be the sole responsibility of the admin. If a person cares enough about a site to agree to be or want to be a staff member of any level, they should care enough about it to also make the effort to advertise it and get new members. However, advertising is one of the duties i'm most leniant with, and I don't necessarily require it. It is really time consuming, and if you do it for long periods of time, it can melt your brain a little bit. If all members of the staff are kind enough to do a small amount of advertising a week, it adds up to a lot, and makes it so that no one person feels the burden of having to do a huge amount of it.

[Gamoc]

My expectations of a staff member are to keep the board active and in control. They are required of nothing else unless I specifically ask them to. I would like them to advertise, yes, but it is completely optional that they advertise. The staff members are set as staff to keep rules under control, unless you hire them for graphics or code work, then they are usually not needed for much else. Some people say the staff must do other things for them, too, but that shouldn't be necessary.

[kelendria]

I try not to expect too much from my staff but I like them to come up with fresh topics every now & then, post regularly, help advertise us (though not essential) & check the forum (move topics, check for spamming etc)
I would hope I don't put too much pressure on my staff & we currently only have two, as we have less activity.
But staff in the past haven't really had to do much, because we've fortunately run really well.
I did have a staff room & a post on the forum saying who the staff were & the types of things they could do, so members wouldn't get upset if their topic was moved to another section.

[JenF]

At my forum we have a rota because there are things that need doing on a weekly basis and so we rotate who does what to ensure they don't get bored with the job.

I expect them to use their iniative and to treat all our members with respect.

[anime1993]

At my forum, I have high expectations for my staff. My major one is to keep the forum going and fun for everyone. Another important one for me is to enforce the rule and gie everyone a change when they brake one.

So when I promote a Staff, I send them a thread link which is in my staff room to tell them what all they are expected to do, and if they do not meet the requirment what will happen to their Staff Rank.

Some of my staffs become the head of their departments (e.g) Amber is the Head of the Modetor, and I find that easier on me because these heads are here to enforce and look after the staff. If they are cotch not doing their job, and their staff isn't living up to their expectations then I will immediately have a replacement of that Head, by one of its Good Report Staff.

Through this I get order on my site.

[wolfpup22]

I require them to follow the rules to a great detail. If one of my staff members breaks a major rule on purpose i will revoke their powers. I do want them to simply make sure the members are following the rules and to help out around the site, like accepting character, etc.

[Captain Janeway]

I expect a lot of things from my staff members. I guess I really expect to much to tell ya the truth. For whatever boards are assigned to my staff, I expect them to mod it of course and make sure no one violates the Prime Directive (my rules of my forum), but also get conversations and discussions started. I want my staff to make the forum feel warm and welcoming so that new people will wanna come often and post contribute to the forum. I don't require my staff to promote, but it would be nice. Espeically for my senior staff and admins. I feel that they have been there the longest, and they have the most power and responsibilities so a little promotion here and there wouldn't kill there already assigned duties. The point of having a staff is so that the main admin doesn't have to do every little bit. And the least the staff can do to show there gratuitie(sp) I think is for helping out with promotion.

[jamievs]

well that kinda depends if you ask me.

Usually on a large community people look up to staffmembers. They expect that they are the experts on everything you ask me.

Like said above, being active helps you in your role. At least people will know you by your name instead of your name color