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Author's profile photo Gali Kling Schneider

Introducing the Moderator Rules of Engagement

In 2011 we established two new moderator concepts to share best practices, get clarity and consistency for moderator roles, and provide moderators a voice when it comes to setting priorities for the community.

The Moderators’ Council, a group of six leaders who agreed to play a key guidance and liaison role for all Moderators in 2011 was chosen in January. Throughout the year they were engaged in discussions pertaining to moderator alignment and improvement as well as consulted on matters relating to points.

In addition the Moderators’ Council met every quarter at the Moderators’ Round Table, to review key topics (submitted by the Moderators or by the Collaboration Team) and make decisions related to roles, priorities and actions. The Roundtable meeting is open to all moderators so that everyone’s voice can be heard. For those who can’t attend, a recording is made available.

One of this year’s Council achievements is a single set of ‘Moderator Rules of Engagement’, adopted by the moderator community. We always believe in transparency and the moderators have chosen to make their rules of engagement public. Now everyone can have access to these rules, a copy has been made available in the wiki.  The rules are organized following a format of general information relevant to all and then funneling into more specific information based on wiki, forum or blog moderation. Our Council members have been asked to participate in the new SCN beta testing and will be able to review these guidelines in relation and modify as needed.

 

 

These rules provide a base for all 600+ moderators to align and work together in cohesion. Although there will always be some differences in moderation because of the subjectivity of the task, and variations by topic, these “Moderator Rules of Engagement” will serve to ensure a common baseline best practices and fairness for all.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our dedicated moderators who volunteered from their time willingly this year to be the first council; they have set the bar high.

Thank you 2011 Moderator Council:  Julius Bussche, Jim Spath, Kenny Scott, Arun Varadarajan, Prateek Raj Srivastava and Bob McGlynn.

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      8 Comments
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      Author's profile photo Prateek Raj Srivastava
      Prateek Raj Srivastava
      Hello Gali,

      These guidelines should help entire community to better understand Moderators' responsibilities and their behaviour. 🙂
      Thanks for your guidance, views and coordination throughout.

      Regards,
      Prateek Raj Srivastava

      Author's profile photo Gali Kling Schneider
      Gali Kling Schneider
      Blog Post Author
      Thank you Prateek.
      Author's profile photo Jeanne Carboni
      Jeanne Carboni
      Thanks to the Moderator Council and to Gali and team for putting out these guidelines!  It's nice to have these best practices out there for all to take advantage of and use going forward!

      Jeanne

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member
      I went to the rules of engagement, and found the Moderator list.  I honestly had no idea who the moderators were for each forum.  Now I know where to find them.

      I'm not sure if that is a good thing or bad.  Good - Now we know who to ping about questions we have for threads / WIKI / BLOGS.  Bad - Now we know who to ping about questions we have for threads.

      To All moderators - Thank you!  These rules just show how much work you do.

      Michelle

      Author's profile photo Stephen Johannes
      Stephen Johannes
      Michelle,

      Just a warning that moderator list is quite up to date or accurate for several areas.  If you don't get a response from a "moderator" from that list, it could mean they are no longer active.

      Thank you,

      Stephen

      Author's profile photo Gali Kling Schneider
      Gali Kling Schneider
      Blog Post Author
      Yes Michelle this is the current way to track mods alhough as Stephen stated, its not always up to date.
      Which is why I'm looking forward to later in the new year when we'll have moderator names displayed in each space automatically in the new scn!
      Author's profile photo Gali Kling Schneider
      Gali Kling Schneider
      Blog Post Author
      Yes Michelle this is the current way to track mods although as Stephen stated, its not always up to date.
      Which is why I'm looking forward to later in the new year when we'll have moderator names displayed in each space automatically in the new scn!
      Author's profile photo Sattaiah Gundu
      Sattaiah Gundu

      Thank you so much Gali Kling Schneider's team and Moderator Council for the Guidelines.

      Sattaiah Gundu