Prunin' The Staff

[Tyler]

We all want staff to be active. But, the "good" staff will tell you they don't have time anymore. And we act accordingly. But sadly, not all staff is this way. I'm just curious what y'all do after your attempts to make 'em active fails?

Last week we posted a thread for 'em, they had to reply and tell us why they wanted to be a moderator still. They had a week to reply, and if they don't reply by tonight they'll lose their powers. Right now we have two who haven't replied, one last active in October and the other in November. So, it's not like they were active in the past few months :flirt:

So what do you do, or will you do if you come on a situation like the one above?

[Scott]

I've been in this situation many times before, staff who simply don't contribute enough to be called staff. There is no easy way to go about it, the only fair thing to do IMO (for members and other staff) is to remove those moderators.

Usually I'd send them a PM explaining at the same time, hoping they'll still contribute as members. It's not a position I enjoy being in, but I guess it has to happen :(

[SoftWareRevue]

So what do you do, or will you do if you come on a situation like the one above?About all you can do is return them to Registered.

If they think they'll make a better Staff member, they'll let you know.

[adb22791]

Luckily I have only had to remove one person from my staff in my time as a forum admin. The person didn't seem to care, since they didn't get the personal message until a month after they were removed from staff. I sent them a PM, made them registered, and that was that. They didn't really hold a grudge, but I havn't seen them in a couple months. I guess they just got busy with something else.
If they gotta go they gotta go Tyler, can't make it any more simple than that, unfortunately.

[namkrowa]

I've had this situation arise only one time in the past couple of years. I had a few staff members, two of my best, who were almost never on. The work they did when they were on was wonderful, though.

I did a thread in my staff board, and told all of the staff members they have to post in that one thread once a week and give an active report on the duties they did during that week. Most of them did as they were told, but these two staff members never even posted once. I told them they were going to lose their powers if they did not post, and that seemed to get them more active.

So, basically, I just threatened to take their powers, and they did what they were supposed to do. Go figure, huh? :P

[writespeak]

Personally, I'd contact these members directly first and find out what's happening. They may be swamped with work and other commitments. They might be dealing with an ill family member or the death of someone in their lives or something else that pushes forums temporarily out of the picture.

Having a job taken away without being contacted about it on top of other life situations would only add to the stress. OTOH, being asked how they're doing and being given the opportunity to resign gracefully could help lessen that stress.

Or maybe they've just lost interest and haven't bothered to tell you. But either way, a little personal communication could go a long way.

Lois

[ldcdc]

About all you can do is return them to Registered.

If they think they'll make a better Staff member, they'll let you know.Depending on each individual case, the admin could also offer to reinstate them on request, when they feel they have regained the time and energy to be active as moderators.

I did a thread in my staff board, and told all of the staff members they have to post in that one thread once a week and give an active report on the duties they did during that week.Is your staff voluntary or paid?

Personally, if I occupy a voluntary moderator position, I don't feel it is right to ask me to write reports on my activity. It just puts a pressure that doesn't go along nicely with the voluntary thingy. It's like you're constantly asking: did you do your job this week? My answer to that would be: this is not a job, so I won't treat it as such.

Just my opinion. :)

[namkrowa]

Depending on each individual case, the admin could also offer to reinstate them on request, when they feel they have regained the time and energy to be active as moderators.

Is your staff voluntary or paid?

Personally, if I occupy a voluntary moderator position, I don't feel it is right to ask me to write reports on my activity. It just puts a pressure that doesn't go along nicely with the voluntary thingy. It's like you're constantly asking: did you do your job this week? My answer to that would be: this is not a job, so I won't treat it as such.

Just my opinion. :)

The work is voulentary, of course. However, it is still defined as "work" and will be treated as such.

I wouldn't mind having to write a report on what I had done in the past week, whether or not it was a paid job. It is still a job of sorts, even if it is voulentary.

[Tyler]

Personally, I'd contact these members directly first and find out what's happening. They may be swamped with work and other commitments. They might be dealing with an ill family member or the death of someone in their lives or something else that pushes forums temporarily out of the picture.

Well, I tried that. One of the moderators was inactive for awhile, then he came back all of a sudden. He seemed to disappear as fast as he came back. I tried to call him, with no response. I also PMed/Email to no response. If something did indeed happen, he's more then welcome to come back. The other member hasn't posted since...

08-03-2005 05:21 AM

And before that post, was several months. I've lost hope on him, after a few PMs. I see him on "the other forum", he's just neglecting to respond or pay a visit. Not my problem :angel:

[writespeak]

Well, I tried that....I see him on "the other forum", he's just neglecting to respond or pay a visit.

Then he hasn't taken responsibility, and he can't blame anyone but himself if he finds that he doesn't have a mod job the next time he visits your forum. You did what you could. :)

Lois

[Wheels]

I returned to Registered a couple mods on my cousin's forum that didn't log on for a long time and didn't answer PMs or emails.

[Jan]

Personally, I'd contact these members directly first and find out what's happening. They may be swamped with work and other commitments. They might be dealing with an ill family member or the death of someone in their lives or something else that pushes forums temporarily out of the picture.
In the forums I moderate, the majority of moderaters that can't be around for one reason or another, will either post a thread stating such, or notify the admin that they will be AFK for a bit. It only takes a minute to make such a post and it lets other staff members know the forums will be "short staffed"

[Michelle]

If a supermod hasn't logged in for 20 days without notifying me, he is downgraded to mod. If he doesn't login for 10 days more he loses his powers.
If a mod doesn't login for 30 days he loses his powers.
Of course they are notified by pm for each such action.
Simple as that.
Currently I have one of my favorite supermods having 15 days to login. I hate to prune her, but if she remains inactive for more days I will have to :(

[writespeak]

Currently I have one of my favorite supermods having 15 days to login. I hate to prune her, but if she remains inactive for more days I will have to :(

Have you contacted her to ask what's happening? Maybe she went on vacation and forgot to notify you. Or perhaps she was in an accident, or someone in her life suddenly died, or...lots of things could have happened.

Of course she may have just lost interest, but why not find out?

Lois

[Michelle]

Unfortunately, I have no other way of contacting her apart from PM (which she probably wont see) and e-mail (which if she is offline she also wont see).
She suddenly disappeared and strangely enough, just 5 days before the first meeting of the site that she had said she would definately come...
Of course, I always tell them in the pm I send to them when I degrade them that they can contact me whenever they can be active again. I just don't want my members to see inactive moderators in my board :(
She also has her birthday in some days (she will turn 35) :( I am really sad with her leaving without notifying anyone, we all miss her :(

[writespeak]

Unfortunately, I have no other way of contacting her apart from PM (which she probably wont see) and e-mail (which if she is offline she also wont see).
She suddenly disappeared....

Ooh.

I've made a lot of friends online, and in each group I'm part of, I like to make sure that at least one other person has my phone number and the contact information of someone to contact in case I suddenly disappear and can't be reached. I've exchanged such information with several people in different groups.

If someone drops out of sight in face-to-face life, we have lots of ways of finding out why, but in online life, finding out why is more difficult. The reason could be something simple, or it could be bad news. :(

I hope everything turns out OK in this situation.

Lois

[Jan]

I would email her anyway. If she can't be online for some reason, chances are someone else (husband maybe?) has access to her computer and can let you know if something is up.

[A_Jelly_Doughnut]

I see I never replied to this topic...I have a follow-up question.

How long is too long to be inactive?

I took a look at some WHT moderators, and they haven't posted in 3-4 months. I like to notify inactive staff of their impending removal after 2 weeks and remove them after 2 more weeks.

What do you think?

[Jan]

That would probably depend on the size of your forum. Just because you can't see that some WHT moderators have recently posted, doesn't mean they are not actively moderating :) If they posted in the private forum, you wouldn't be aware of that.

I can see that not posting in public on a smaller forum could be a problem however. A month is probably a good cut off if they haven't notified you that they will be absent.

[Scott]

I would agree with a month as a reasonable length of time for someone to go inactive. However, there are certain circumstances where I would be inclined to give them a little bit longer, depending on how things were offline.

[Jan]

However, there are certain circumstances where I would be inclined to give them a little bit longer, depending on how things were offline.
Correct :) There are times where a moderator has been absent for varying periods of time due to several circumstances, but when they return, they perform well :angel: But those that you might hire just because you need a new mod and they don't perform or contact you as to why they don't, then there is no reason to keep them on. That's why I feel it is best you place them from your current memberbase so you have become accustomed to their habits.