What do you expect of your moderators?

[anconagt]

Moderators shouldn't be hard to find at all? 200 is a small community. Both of my forums have over 5k members and people jump at the opportunity to be a moderator.

[Snakeair]

A lot of people will jump at the opportunity of becoming a moderator but some want to be one so they can ban members they never like at all or just be bossy and won't get in trouble.

However there are folks on your forum who are 100% into your forum and care about it a lot and want to help maintain the forum and make suggestions for future improvement's. Those the types of moderators that you want who will maintain the forum when you have to go away for a day or longer.

My rule of thumb is never make people moderators who ask to be one. In fact, I don't know if this still an unwritten rule of proboards support but back when I was a global moderator, this was what we said to those member's. The admin will pick whom he or she thinks has the moderator traits and skills to moderate the forum.

[sonnysu]

I expect them to be active and to create posts/threads a few times a week. They must be honest and polite, welcome new members and join discussions.

[Beyonder]

I expect my staff to just be able to listen and get along if that doesn't work then what's the point of having a staff team? I expect them to be on to check the site at least once in a awhile.

[Diamondback]

I have just a few very simple, but highly important ones, grounds for immediate dismissal from staff if violated.

1. Maintain confidentiality--unless it's a matter to get law enforcement involved, or someone violating PB or site rules, breach of confidence means you can't be trusted. (As someone with a stalker problem so dangerous that I slept with a licensed, locked-and-loaded .45 under my pillow for many years, confidentiality, privacy and information control are a HUGE thing with me.)

2. Don't lie to the members, don't lie to other staff and ESPECIALLY don't lie to ME. (Once again, this goes to trust--if I can't trust you to keep confidences or to tell the truth, how can I trust you with the Big Red Buttons and Banhammer authority?)

#3 is softer, more a strong request than a rule. "If you're going to take an action that may have an adverse impact on me or the site, at least talk to me about what's coming and WHY first. If I can understand the situation I can work with it, but I NEVER forgive a sucker-punch."

Other than those and noting that I expect those in leadership positions to hold themselves to higher standards than the rest of the community we serve, it's pretty much just the Golden Rule.

[Cuethelaugh]

I think what I expect of my fellow mods is fairly simple..

I expect them to be respectful. Of other mods, of members, of everyone.
To be helpful and kind. These go hand in hand. The more helpful we are the more likely people are to join and say.
Importantly: I expect them to post. Who the heck is gonna roleplay on a site where the admins don't play? Silly!
Also site clean up. I struggle with the patience to design or 'clean' and I've been very lucky that my fellow admins actually enjoy doing that. We even each other out pretty well!

-LE

[Emerald]

Moderators are volunteers; I've never seen a forum paying their mods. I don't expect them to give all four of their limbs and all 20 of their digits to be loyal to their forum, but yes, I do have expectations for them, however they should be easy to meet if they are truly fit for the job. I have had to, once, delete a mod for inactivity, but other than that our mods are good enough.

Plus, everyone has a life. You can't expect someone to not take any vacations. They might just be the kind of person that likes vacations. If it bothers you, you could always set a rule for when members apply for moderator they have to be on at least xxx a xxx.

[jimle]

im a admin of one,and a mod in another that i joined..we pretty much let things go as is.but then again.things are going nicely enough where we can do that..all i have to do in each forum when it comes to looking for unwanted post.is point to the name of the forum,thats located underneath home tab.and look for new post..as for locating ppl that (you) want as a mod..look for those that are doing the most posting.and make post that make sense and be respectful at the same time.and then choose 2 or 3 that you figure would make a good mod..then send them a p.m. asking them if they want to be one..

[Serena Nightroad]

Honestly all I need from my mods is that they're active and notify me if there's a problem or if they don't want to be mods anymore.

[solarbronco]

My moderators on both of my forums are Volunteers who work for free. One of them is seriously my right hand man and the coolest dude in the world. Actually, all my moderators are very good people who go out of their way to help new members.

I expect them only to help keep the place clean and free of harassment or spam but they do so much more than I expect them to. I couldn't have the growth that we have without my awesome Moderators and I only wish that I could pay them.

[Serena Nightroad]

Feb 8, 2015 19:17:14 GMT -8 solarbronco said:

My moderators on both of my forums are Volunteers who work for free. One of them is seriously my right hand man and the coolest dude in the world. Actually, all my moderators are very good people who go out of their way to help new members.

I expect them only to help keep the place clean and free of harassment or spam but they do so much more than I expect them to. I couldn't have the growth that we have without my awesome Moderators and I only wish that I could pay them.

You're very lucky, those mods sound like dream mods for me.

[Shentino]

I have to say that I don't automatically condemn someone just for asking to be staff.

However, I do expect members to follow the rules, and that means obeying the laws I lay down for them, and if those rules include procedures on how staff are hired, I expect prospective staff to obey them. If they can't be trusted to *follow* the rules, they have no business trying to *enforce* them.

I ran a very successful channel on IRC once, and the first thing I did was fire a bad staffer and break up a fight between my own staff. Once I made clear that staff were NOT above the rules, people calmed down.

Generally I value initiative if it's tempered with respect. Not everyone who wants to be staff is automatically bad, nor automatically good, either. I ran things very well having an open door policy for hiring halfops on a whim on demand.

It very much depends on your needs and the board culture at hand. Staff DO need to respect things, and that includes whatever procedures you lay down.

Initiative is good.

[Former Member]

I don't care for the word staff, it is not empowering. I also believe that if you have a problem with your admin or your moderators it is because YOU have not been clear. Communication starts from the top. You have to let people know quite clearly what your code of conduct / rules are for posters and what you expect from them.

[Gibby]

I have a co admin and two global moderators , all of which are my very closest friends on these forums and I trust them implicitly . I get a lot of requests from people wanting to be staff on my board but I tend to choose people who are friends more than anything else. I also get asked a lot to be staff on other forums. some times i accept and quite enjoy it , but i would only do so if i know i can devote the time to be active there and genuinely be a help to the forum .

[Former Member]

I guess the thing(s) I expect from my staff is a formal yet friendly approach towards members. There is no point in leading a community where staff abuse their powers/privileges and run rampant inside the forums.