Staffing Finding the Right staff member

[Anonymous 234]

So as an administrator I know how to do the base things for a site. i know how to run a site and I can do so very well however doing so alone is tiresome and tedious and often ends with poor results from my side because of discouragement. That being said when I look for staff I find similar results that are equally as discouraging.

  

When looking for a staff member I look for someone that wants to build with me not me build and they follow however I'm finding that getting someone that is willing to put ideas out there is difficult. It's like just because you have an idea you have to do all of the leg work. That being said I don't have any friends I could rope into the setting as it's really my unique cup of tea (isn't that odd? I have few RP partners/friends that are interested in the genres that truly inspire me) so I have to look for someone new.

  

Is it really that difficult to find someone willing to actually contribute and invest themselves in something? How do you find staff members?

Anonymous poster hash: d2287...c60

[VirusZero 176]

Short answer?

Yes.

 

Long answer?

Getting staff is incredibly difficult at the best of times. Hiring from within your community is generally the best idea since they're already committed. But that still doesn't guarantee that they'll be a good fit (sometimes a good member makes terrible staff) or that it'll work out. Hiring from outside just doesn't work. Most people aren't committed, they like the idea of being staff but they're often more focused on just having the title with extra privileges rather than having to actually do any work. (I've seen that a lot.) And so they're prone to just abandoning you.

 

 

That said, I do want to touch on this bit...

8 hours ago, Anonymous said:

because of discouragement

Honestly if you need constant encouragement to keep going you probably shouldn't be running a site. This may sound extremely cold, but unless you can break free of that mindset it's always going to end the same way. Don't succumb to the vicious cycle. Learn from past mistakes, fix them and move forward. Sometimes that means just not starting the cycle to begin with. (Remember the "definition" of insanity... doing the exact same thing over and over again, expecting things to change.) Other times it may just mean stepping back and realising that you can't rely on the encouragement from others, that you have to knuckle down and just push ahead anyway. Do it because YOU want it, not because you want validation from others. (Besides, if you let lack of encouragement stop you, were you really that committed to an idea anyway?)

 

Now the above stated, to help prevent becoming discouraged it, and like I've mentioned in another topic, the key is very much to keep things low maintenance. Don't get caught up in pointless busywork. Don't add things that makes site management harder. Lists of claims, who's who, canons, etc... are nice. However they take time and energy to manage. Time spent away from writing (which, is, you know... the important thing here, not how many lists are up to date or whatever.) 

Also it helps to take time away from a site too, just to relax and decompress. To not think about it and what it needs.

 

[Morrigan 1,826]

I don't know if discouragement, at least in my honest opinion, is always a "I need encouragement and validation to keep going" sometimes it's you rely on someone and when you come back everything is dead sort of discouragement. When you think you have that backup and you don't end up having the backup that you thought you had. I've been there, done that and it's not pleasant and coming back from that is like trying to dig yourself outta quick sand.

  

I think that it all has to do with what you communicate to the person. I have personally been successful with a start up with someone random but I tend to wait until I have members to do it. When people see it's only me then tend to understand but not always.

  

I would say keep advertising for it and if you find someone you click with then keep them. If not then say no.

[Vehk 0]

I've only ever had luck pulling staff from people already involved with a site or with people I knew from other sites, where I already have some idea of how they play and approach things. Even that isn't 100%. If I don't have good staff candidates I'd rather focus on building the site in such a way that I can generally manage it myself and allow a bit more time for the building. 

[Rune 1,099]

I only ever pull from people already invested in the board and I never advertise that I need staff. There are a lot of people that just want a rank (both IC and OOC) and don't care about the work behind them.

  

 As for managing it yourself, it's already been said that you keep things minimal. Make the members do all the work you can. If you have a who's who, make them run it. Each post is an individual player's list, they manage it. All the worry is on them. This can backfire because people will forget/not do things, but then it's also only hurting them as opposed to everything.

  

If you do find staff, start them small. Do not make them admin right off the bat. Have them manage claims or moderate forums. Let them prove they won't abuse their powers or go crazy. Have a list of what you expect them to do, what you'd like them to do and ask if there's any specific thing they'd prefer doing. For example, I have 2 staff that handle awards, claims and apps. I handle the lore and discipline, another handles graphics and coding. We all have our jobs and we occasionally step into others' jobs if the need is there, but we stick to what needs to be done so it isn't overwhelming for any one person.

  

 If your genre is niche, as you've suggested, you might have trouble finding staff. And that's okay. But you need to arrange things so that its less work on you and your job falls back to primarily herding cats. Running a site alone is a pain, but only if you make it a pain. Sit down and look at all the things you'd have to keep track of/manage every time there's a new member. Can you make that list smaller or make them handle any of it?

[Orchid 12]

When I open and run a site, I do two things. Before even starting the site, I poke among my friends, seeking if they think it's a solid foundation. Their opinions, and all that. They don't have to help me staff, but they help me idea build. I've always done it like that. Most of the time they offer to help with little things. Reviews, advertising, all that jazz. It's nice.

  

The second thing, I make sure I am fully capable of running the beast on my own. Do I want help, nah, not always. Do I accept help when it's nudged my way? Occasionally. On my current site, Staff was a happy accident. My board has an FAQ, in it, I always leave the question "Can I be staff?" and the answer is always the same. "PM The admin, and we might work something out." 

  

So far this method has not failed me. I have two wonderful staffers that work with me. A second admin and a mod. We bounce ideas off of each other and discuss how we can make the site better, move the plot along, or drive the member base into something fun for everyone, and not just one or two people. Engaging your member base is always helpful too. You don't have to worry about sitting in the chat or what have you, to welcome everyone yourself. If you have a good member base, even if it's two people that are always on, I've always seen members being super helpful, answering questions and fielding all kinds of things most Admins take on themselves. 

  

It sometimes helps to set yourself on a schedule. That's how I worked things out before getting staff. I'd set a certain day (usually Wednesday or Friday) for advertising. I'd spend an hour hitting as many active sites as I could, and holy shit did the folks roll in. I'd set a nightly time to make sure lists were updated. Really, only takes 10-20 minutes the way I had things. Don't over complicate if you can. KISS. K.eep I.t S.imple S.illy. 

[CovertSphinx 710]

On 6/21/2016 at 2:15 PM, Rune said:

....so that its less work on you and your job falls back to primarily herding cats.

This. So so SO much this. 

  

As much as I normally want to add really "cool" features to keep up with the Jones' (other sites), the first thing I do with any concept (after checking my diminishing pool of friends to see what they think works and doesn't) is to make sure I set things up so that I can run everything myself. Unfortunately, in the past, I've always run through Staff like Kleenex. Having them is great, on the occasion it works. But they can never be crucial, or else you might find yourself stuck with somebody who's a terrible fit but you can't get rid of them due to lack of suitable replacement. 

  

Unfortunately, there's a lot of people that want to be just led through plots. I've come to really despise that (and have "chased" more than one member away by calling them out on that bs while they complain about activity). These are usually the same people who will just follow along your administrative lead without any real contribution if you upgrade them. Sometimes its because their either lazy or uninterested. Sometimes its because they're unsure if something would really fit well or nervous that an idea might get wrecked during the implementation. Or they THINK they have the time, then find out they really don't, or don't know where to begin. But usually will never admit it; for some reason. 

  

Whenever I pick staff; I usually just PM somebody who's been involved with the site for a while and done things without prompting to contribute in small ways. And who I think would be good at being in charge of xyz task.