| Welcome to Big Pete's guide to hiring and managing your staff. Please note that Big Pete takes no responsibility for the outcomes of employing any of his suggestions in this easy to read manual. First, The Wizard/RPD of the MUX must realise that staff are an entity working as a team. Essentially a project team, and like any other, they require management. Individuals require different levels of management, but all require some. Please note that while management may seem like manipulation, it is neccessary to maintain your MUX's productivity at optium levels. Challenges confronting todays modern MUX online gaming environment managers (MOGMs) are sometimes hard to define, and are very diverse. This section deals primarily with staff promoting staff productivity, and does not deal in "Handling the plebians ..err..Players", nor "Big Pete Asks : Is that custom toy Dodgy?", and "Listening to your peers : Big Pete's guide to Faking It", three other MUX manuals on the shelves come June. Phase One : Picking your team This is one of the most important parts of online staffer management : The recruitment process. This is vital and must not be approached haphazardly. As the old adage goes, "You wouldnt put a jockey in a basketball team", so this applies here. Identify what tasks need to be accomplished by staffer candidates, and then choose on the basis of this criteria. GMing (Also referred to as DMing) is one of the tasks often placed high on a staffers list, but not always. The ability to deal well with players is another, as well as a strong knowledge of the game's rules and general mechanics. Common sense, not so common, is highly regarded as a valuable commodity in a staffer. The recruitment process can be done in a few ways. Big Pete recommends that the practise of 'mass calls' be avoided, and proper staff management can avoid a situation where dealing with the large amount of applications that arise from such an announcement can take a substantial amount of time. MOGMs should always have one ear and eye on the mux itself. Watch for movers and shakers. Essentially, headhunt them. If a player has the qualities you look for, ear mark them, and then offer them a position. If a MOGM requires queue staffers, watch the board for rules discussions, and recruit those who seem to have a good grasp in the many rule arguments that occur in the game. In recruiting a GM (DM), watch for playerplots, impromptu scenes and the logs queue. It should be noted that enthusiam to GM takes a higher priority than actual ability...ability, while important to continuing success as a GM, can be trained up to proper levels, and enthusiam can not. This recruitment process should be ever continuing. New blood is essential, and turnover in staff is not uncommonly quick. However, a balance needs to be kept between the size of a staff roll, and recruitment. Even when not hiring, the MOGM should keep tabs on 'potentials', someone they can call upon when the MOGM feels its time to add another name or two to the staff lists. Approaching the player is the first step in producing and maintaining a thriving, active staff. Being offered a job out of the blue, personally by a MOGM can be seen as a great honour. Instilling a sense of Duty, and Responsibility in this first encounter is highly important, also is the phrase, "I think you would make a very capable staffer". This lays the foundations for motivational work, in Phase Three. |