The importance of staff
To put it bluntly, your staff can make or break your forums. Think about your forums in terms of a business. Would you want your business being managed by people who you don't trust, cannot make good decisions, or do not know what they are doing? Probably not, but this is the mistake many forum owners make. The selection of your staff is one of the most important decisions you will ever make during your forum career, so I am here to help guide you through that process.

The difference between an Administrator and a Moderator
To pick your staff, you must first understand the role of the two different kinds of staff: Admins and Mods.

• Administrators
  Administrators are the head honchos, obviously. These guys (or gals :P) must really know what they are doing. The best qualities in an administrator are experience with the software and the forum environment, the ability to make decisions, and the proper mindset to best continue and promote the forums. Administrators do not necessarily have to be people-persons on active forums, but it is always a nice bonus. The role of an administrator is to typically answer questions members have, solve technical issues, and make executive decisions as to what changes and advances need to be made to the forums.
• Moderators
  Moderators are typically the ones who carry out the interests of the administrators. This is not to say that they are slaves, but rather, moderators are the police in the community, whereas administrators are the rule-makers. The best qualities in a moderator are knowledge of moderation features (how to manage posts, members, etc.), good judgement, able to make quick decisions, strong understanding of the forum guidelines, and most important of all - a very strong and favored presence in the forums. Moderators need to be very active in discussion, making their presence known and representing the forum well. They must be calm and collected as not to explode on any members who break the rules.

When staff is needed
Another big mistake new owners often make is hiring too many staff too soon. The last thing you want is administrators and moderators sitting around idle with nothing to do. Not only does it intimidate your members, but the idle staff members will sometimes try to find something to do on their own, something they should not be doing. The best indicator of a need for help is when you find that you cannot handle all forum-related issues on your own or in a timely manner. There is no secret formula for the need of staff, it will vary from forum to forum and from owner to owner.

What to look for in staff
All previous qualities such as experience and decision-making ability must be taken into consideration in addition to the nature of your community. If you run a laid back, gaming community, you could probably go with the same characteristics in a moderator or administrator. On the other hand, if you run a professional business community, you will need people with more professional experience and better grammar.

• Trust: The most important aspect
  If you pick a person you cannot trust, you will surely regret it in the long run. Referring back to the business example, would you hand over your business assets to a man or woman you did not trust? Probably not, so don't do the same with your forums. Get to know this person before you bring him or her on board, and then when you do, force him or her to go through a "trial period" of some sorts before giving full access. This trial period will be discussed in detail later.

The process of finding staff
You might be wondering where you get these seemingly inhuman people. It will not be easy, but the right person is out there, you just need to know where to look. The first place to look is in your community itself. These are the people you interact with daily, so you should have a good idea of who has the best potential. If your community is not well established yet, you must look elsewhere. The best places to look are large webmaster communities. Typically there are sections dedicated to this kind of thing such as "Looking to Hire". Here are a few of the biggest webmaster communities out there with direct links to the appropriate section.

• SitePoint
• WebHostingTalk
• NamePros

What to ask for
You know where to look, you know what to look for, now you need to know how to get that information. You need to make a very neat, organized, and informative post about what you are seeking. Give your readers a good idea of what your forums are about, where they are going in the future, and why you are in need of staff. Tell them what is required of them regarding experience and abilities and what their role will be in your forums. Be sure to include any incentives you are willing to offer them, as this will increase your applicant pool. Lastly, give them set questions they must answer, such as an application of sorts. Require all interested people to send an application via email to jobs@yourdomain.com. This will ensure that you are only receiving applications from people who are truly interested in the position. If a person is not willing to send you an informative application, they are not worthy of a staff role in your forums.

Picking that lucky person: Personal Contact
After letting applicants contact you for a couple days or more, you will hopefully have a good number to choose from. Pick the person who you think is best for the job and thoroughly review his or her application. After doing so, if at all possible, contact this person on an instant messenger such as AIM, MSN, or ICQ. Try to come up with a list of 10-15 more questions or comments beforehand that you would like to ask this person. You want to see if he/she can hold composure on the spot. Anybody can draft a convincing application via email under a false facade, but not just anybody can answer questions on the spot. If you still feel confident about this person after a solid interview, it is time to continue on to the next step; if you do not feel comfortable, tell them you are sorry and go back to your applicant pool.

Bringing them on board, a trial period
Ok, the hard part is almost over, right? No. Now it is time to slowly incorporate them into the forums. Do not give this new person full access right away, otherwise you are asking for trouble. Be sure to lay out clear moderator or administrator guidelines explaining what he or she can and cannot do and what the consequences are for failing to do so. Get him or her to sign a moderator/administrator agreement if necessary. Explain the history of your forums and where they are going in the future. Show your new staff member the guidelines and be sure he or she understands each one of them. Give "what would you do in this situation?" examples if necessary. Talk to this person daily, encourage him or her to post in the forums, and observe the community's response to him/her. If everything is going well, slowly but surely give him/her more access. Now you are on your way to an excellent management team.

Checklist

• Staff can and will make or break your forums
• Administrators and Moderators have very different roles - recognize them
• Do not overstaff your forums, this is hard to reverse
• Only pick people you can trust
• Look inside your community for staff before going elsewhere
• If going elsewhere, hit the largest communities you can
• Draft a very professional and informative "seeking" post
• Require an application via email
• After choosing an applicant, hold a personal interview via an instant messenger
• Explain the situation, rules, and procedures to your accepted applicant
• Force him or her to complete a trial period before gaining access
• Kick back, relax, and wait for your next round of staff additions

I hope this helps out. Let me know if something is unclear or if you have any further questions.

© Ryan Royal, AdminFusion.com 2005

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