Officers' Quarters: Last stop on the gravy train
by Scott Andrews 
May 17th 2010 at 1:00PM
What is the purpose of an officer? Most would say, "to run a guild." Here's where definitions begin to diverge. To some players, running a guild means little more than handling guild invites and occasionally managing drama. Those duties are fine if your guild exists for purely social reasons. Any guild that is actively raiding, PvP'ing in an organized way or holding official roleplaying sessions requires much more from its officers. Too often, the vast majority of those tasks fall on the shoulders of a single individual. This week's email is a cry for help from one such officer.
Hi Scott!
I am the leader of a Casual/Raiding Guild, and we've been together for 2 years by now. We were like 5 or 6 close friends that met each other at another MMO and founded a Guild. When we decided to come to WoW, we founded our Guild together, and worked towards its improvement. Today, we are one of the biggest guilds at our server, and we have a strong realm reputation.
Of course the guys that founded the guild with me were officers, including their spouses as we were all close friends, and founded the guild together. That was the right thing at that time.
They sometimes worked as counselors at some difficult times that we had, when I was lost and didn't know what to do or how to do. However, most of these guys never helped me at all with the "every day job" like recruiting, leading a raid, being the master looter, handling drama, or every other daily task that all the guilds have. Every single problem or drama that shows up, I need to solve by myself.
They couldn't even organize a single guild event or raid. Everything is under my responsibility and that is overwhelming for me.
Well, now, I have the feeling that these guys should not be officers anymore, however they helped me sometimes with some advice, and they founded the guild with me. Some of them are giving the game a break of 3 or 4 months.
I'm totally lost. Should I keep them as officers, as they occasionally give me some advice on how to lead the guild? Or should I take them out of the officer's position and make new officers that can really help me with the everyday job? I'm not sure what the right thing to do is. I'm pretty sure that If I take them out of the "Officer " position, there will be a LOT of drama for me to handle.
Can you help me??
Thanks!!
M
M, I don't blame you for feeling overwhelmed. No single person can lead a large guild and carry out all the accompanying responsibilities single-handedly. It's a one-way train ticket to Burnout Town.
Your officers are also riding a train -- the gravy train. They are enjoying the status and privilege of their rank, but they are not putting in the effort of supporting the guild. It's time for you to put an end to it. You can do this without causing too much drama and without insulting your friends. Here is what I recommend.
First of all, you have to square this decision with your own conscience. As to that, I hope you'll consider this point: Past deeds and occasional advice are not what keeps a guild going. Guilds survive only because their members, primarily officers, are willing to work hard to organize events, manage resources, resolve drama and recruit players to account for turnover.
Second, make a list of all the duties that running your guild entails. Every guild will have its own list depending on the size and the nature of the community, as well as what sort of in-game activities the guild supports. Don't just write down everything that you're currently doing. Include all of the tasks that you would like to see done but don't have the time to manage.
Third, communicate to your existing officers that you are overburdened. Explain that you can't keep up with all the needed tasks. For now, keep this conversation private among the existing officers.
Present your list to them. Ask for volunteers to manage each duty. Make it clear that you will not be disappointed if someone doesn't have the time or the inclination to help out any longer. Also make it clear that in order for any officer to retain the rank, he or she will need to choose and carry out at least one of the items on the list.
This strategy accomplishes two things. It delegates responsibility to the officers who are willing to help. At the same time, it weeds out any officers who cannot or will not help you. It gives them a way to bow out without a confrontation. They can simply say, "I'm sorry, but I can't help right now." They may feel bad about it, but at least they won't feel like you're "firing" them. You've put the choice squarely in their own hands.
As for yourself, you can either choose the duties you'd like to keep fulfilling, or you can delegate everything and help out with everything. The latter method can really pay off. You'll be able to pick up the slack when people fail, coordinate the efforts of your volunteers and make sure everyone has the support they need. However, it carries a risk that everyone will simply go back to expecting you to do everything. It may be better in your situation to define the tasks you are willing to take on and let others volunteer for the rest.
Give your existing officers a deadline of about a week to reply to your request. Otherwise, people may never give you an answer. If someone doesn't reply within a few days, remind him that you're still waiting for a response. Then, at the end of the week, you can safely assume that anyone who didn't reply isn't on board with the plan, and you can demote him.
For anyone who chooses to step down, be sure to thank him for his past service to the guild. Don't guilt him over the decision. He and the guild are better off this way. Let him know that he can be promoted again if he is able to help out in the future.
Finally, whatever tasks remain after this round of volunteering, advertise them among the greater guild population. Allow anyone in the guild who'd like to help out to do so (within reason -- a fresh recruit shouldn't become part of the loot council). You don't have to promote these new volunteers to officer status immediately. Just let them know that a promotion is a definite possibility in the near future if they carry out their responsibilities effectively.
Once all the items on the list have been chosen, post the list in a place where the guild can see who's in charge of what. Follow up with your volunteers from time to time to make sure they have been able to accomplish what they set out to do. Ask them if they need help. Don't be surprised if one or two people find themselves in over their heads and ask to step down once they've had a taste of the duties their role entails. At that point, you'll have to go through another round of asking for volunteers.
While you transition to this new leadership structure, your members may still come to you about every aspect of the guild. If you send them to the appropriate player instead of handling every query and suggestion yourself, that will help both your members and your volunteers to adjust.
Hopefully -- and eventually -- you'll have a stable core of officers with specific roles. That's the ideal scenario. However, circumstances could go the other way. You could find out that no one in the guild, officers or otherwise, wants to help you. That's the worst-case outcome. If it comes down to that, you should seriously question why you're spending so much time working for these players when no one is willing to work for you!
/salute
Send Scott your guild-related questions, conundrums, ideas and suggestions at scott@wow.com. You may find your question the subject of next week's Officers' Quarters!Filed under: Officers' Quarters (Guild Leadership)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Thesbaine May 17th 2010 1:07PM
Good read,
Also - What is that a pic of?!?
shotiechan May 17th 2010 1:17PM
A train in Ulduar.
Jorges May 17th 2010 3:16PM
It's the train you take to get to Mimiron's Room.
mmatt2630 May 17th 2010 1:09PM
The train to Mimirion in Ulduar maybe?
Jamie May 17th 2010 1:13PM
This was pretty much the situation of my first WoW guild, needless to say it was more a closed community until everyone else left WoW and it became a guild bank (no chat channel to speak of).
Tainnym May 17th 2010 1:13PM
This is why I generally avoid officer responsibilities in any guild and just help out with mats and gold, or advice.
shotiechan May 17th 2010 1:19PM
I really love your advice for how to handle this, Scott. Putting the choice solely in the officers hands will single-handedly deflate any drama from the situation since they weren't "fired", then they'll have no one to heft the blame onto if they get demoted, since they aren't earning their keep.
Szass May 17th 2010 1:21PM
I would also like to add,
Creating a "Guild Elder" or " Wise council" rank in the guild hierarchy , for those members who deserve the status, but do not have the time any longer for the duties of an officer.
This can go a long way in smoothing over ruffled feather of those long time members.
murabayashi.harukaze May 17th 2010 1:37PM
That's what I was gonna' say: make a new rank. Either choose real Officers, give them the new rank, and let it be one higher than the actual "Officer" rank that the lazy people are using, or you can use the new rank to put the lazy people in. My guild used to have a rank between Officer and GM called Scion.
clevins May 17th 2010 1:51PM
I'm going to disagree with this as a general rule though it can be useful in some situations. Don't create two ranks of members, one of which is "people who have been around from the start" because the other, newer members a) can never achieve that rank and b) it creates a divide that's not based on anything they're doing. People who will cause drama over a rank in a video game guild probably need to be invited to leave, not coddled.
The reply to this GL was perfect btw... officers need to be officers because they're doing something to help run the guild. The only thing I'd add is that you probably don't need more than 3-6 officers - there just aren't that many tasks. I can think of (offhand):
1) Raid Leader (might need 2)
2) Recruiter
3) PVP Leader (if you do organized pvp like BGs)
4) Banker (in charge of organizing the bank, selling stuff that's not needed, etc)
5) Social coordinator (if you do events)
Give all of them invite powers. Make it clear that they need to DO these things - RLs need to post and run raids, etc. Make it clear that they can step down from duties when they feel burnt out or just want to and that they'll then be moved to member rank.
Killik May 17th 2010 2:21PM
We did this in our guild - worked really well. The council members are included on the Officer channel and web forums so it's clear that their advice is valued.
They also know that if they want to shoulder more responsibility as a full Officer, that the option is always open to them.
Meanwhile, fresh officer blood means our GM isn't left to carry the guild on her own. Hmm... that somehow makes her sound like Blood Queen Lana'thel :p
Jorges May 17th 2010 3:20PM
Was just going to suggest this, but you beat me to it :P
This is what has been done in my guild. Some of the founders and long time officers can't keep up with the everyday duties now, but they did an awesome job before. So our GM just made a new rank for them called "Pioneer". They were the first in the guild and deserve mention, but are no longer in officer duty.
epsilon343 May 17th 2010 3:45PM
This is a good suggestion as long as the GL makes it clear that these are non-leadership type positions. Access to the Officer Channel and moderator status in the forums is about as far as you should go. They're there for advice and that's where their status above other members should end.
If you use your officers to make decisions, like a vote or something, make sure these advisors don't sneak their way into the discussion or else you're back right where you started. People who enjoy the rank of Officer without doing the actual work an Officer does.
Iano May 17th 2010 5:45PM
I wholeheartedly agree with creating another rank for these folks. I've been in this situation, and ruffled feather simply does not describe the situation when you boot out long-time, founding officers to make room for new blood who will help with the day-to-day duties of a raiding guild.
First Blood more accurately describes it. XD
Anyway, the other advice in the comments is also potent- the third 'leadership' type rank should have a few characteristics:
1. Name it something innocuous but flattering- Elder, Council, Advisor, etc.
2. It should almost certainly be obtainable for new(er) members. ('Founder' rank flounders a little more often than we'd all like.) You want a clear policy on what it takes to gain the rank- for example, being a retired officer, having contributed to the running of the guild, but being unwilling or unable to fulfill an Officer's duties, either ever, or at this time, etc.
3. Elaborating on above- it, that is, the policy on this rank, must be PUBLIC. If people know, oh, that's the rank for officers who can't be officers right now, for whatever reason, that will minimize hurt feelings (note: minimize, not eliminate. Eliminating hurt feelings when running a guild is like creating a perpetual motion machine- it is not physically possible in this universe- ahm- or Warcraft's.) You will eventually forget to emphasize this, and someone will mention- Hey, why are all these guys at rank 3, where I'm only rank 4?! (They'll use Wow-heroes or the like to check, even if you name the ranks the SAME.)
4. The rank shouldn't get TOO bloated. If somebody really takes a 3-4 month hiatus, somewhere around the fourth month, make them MIA, or whatever your equivalent is. (We actually have an MIA rank). Restore their rank when they return, or, if you have the inkling that they won't mind, just give them regular guildie status. Being sure they understand that they'll go to MIA status before they go on hiatus will help if they're particularly sensitive.
I'm sure there are a couple of other must-have attributes for the rank, but this is the best answer I've found, so far, to sedating buddies gone wild for power and respect, and making sure that new blood doesn't feel like they're second class citizens.
In essence, you're just making an officer, second class.
Retired officer works too, for simplicity's sake. (You know, in a way, I wish almost everyone WOULD reach that rank- they'd all have a taste of running a guild, and I think average patience levels would rise astronomically!)
I love the advice about extending the duties to others, and wholly support it. Delegating responsibility while still showing that you're working hard is perhaps the most important thing you can do as a GM. Delegate everything, and don't show signs of thought and work (or being so insular that no one ever KNOWS how much thought you put into how to get that 25-man up and running, or just what/who that other 10-man team needs to get rolling properly) is a great way to burn your OFFICERS out. It's all a balancing act, and in a powerful way, it's part of the game- the most dangerous, real, frightening part.
Good Luck, OP, keep on truckin' and having fun! :)
Dragonrose May 18th 2010 4:44AM
I for one would be offended that, as a founding member of a guild that started out as close friends, I wouldn't be able to keep my officer status.
That siad, your idea is a very good one: A "founder" rank, unnavailable to any other guildies but the founders (aka the ones that could be insulted) with perks but where you're not expected to have any responsabilities. A founder could have to participate in global guild decisions though, such as decidig if an event goes ahead or maybe what and when the guild is raiding that week, though that might be stepping into officer role again.
Haiko May 17th 2010 1:26PM
Maybe add a new rank for Founders, or more generally, for Veterans. For the Veterans ranks you could promote long time members and thereby saying "Thanks for your loyalty". Don't make Veterans people with more rights or obligations though, its only a rank/name that tells new members something about who are the oldtimers and who are also fresh / casuals.
Haiko May 17th 2010 1:27PM
Bah, Szass beat me to it in the time it took me to verify my email address etc.
Szass May 17th 2010 1:33PM
Just great minds thinking alike , eh?
:)
Rob May 17th 2010 1:26PM
As a GL this is one of the worst spots to be in, and it happens all the time. You will go through officers, just like regular members come and go. We have general duties (bank, recruiting, social, raid), and the officers are asked to take up some of these. They generally overlap, ie we have a guy doing social/recruit, another guy doing raid/social, etc.
We've handled it not so well in the past, but nowadays when people start slacking, we say "hey we want you to bump the forum post more consistantly". Or less confrontational "hey do you still want to be an officer? We have someone who is looking to join the officer ranks". We only have 2-3 officers and us coGL (there are 3, 2 are active atm). If officers want to step down, we have a rank called emeritus. That way, their contribution is acknowledged, and we can allow a transition easily. We haven't had officer drama in a year.
Now the other sticky point is how to find good officers. I've certainly made some bad calls, and all having to do with the raid lead position. I'm still figuring this out, I don't think there is a tried and true method. RL burnout is the highest amongst officers, esp in a social guild where generally 90% of the 'raiders' don't know how to raid.
Friday_Knight May 17th 2010 1:33PM
The emeritus rank is a great idea. I've had similar ranks (multiple "officer" ranks with different privileges) but I've never actually put in a "retired officer" rank. I'm going to use that in the future.