Management

Managing a server can be a good way to hone your development and also meet a lot of new developers that you can work with. You can make the decisions you want, without any questions being asked, and get along well with the entirety of your staff team. Sounds all good right? Wrong. Management is a very hard task, if done properly and can be difficult at times when dealing with a large staff team that doesn't get along well with one another. So, here is a few top tips to get you on your way.

Getting along with staff

This is probably the most important aspect of being a server manager. You must get along well with your staff team. You can't just remove a developers RC because they are being rude or acting stupid, and you know they are capable of much more than that. Remember, if an argument is taking place, look at both sides of the conflict and settle it based upon facts, not friendship.

Being able to Develop

This isn't a must have, but I think that knowing one of your staff members development skill will aid you in getting on with them, since you share something in common. Don't know a development skill? It's a good chance to learn! If you do know a development skill, why not make room to improve. You hired your staff because they can develop better than you, correct? Otherwise, there is no point in hiring them, so why not take a page from their book and see how they do their job! Links to resources can be found in the links section at the bottom of the page.

Activeness

You must be active. I wouldn't want to work for a lousy, lazy and inactive manager that doesn't care what happens on their server. You must motivate your staff team by being active! If you are active, then your staff team will mostly be active. Even if it just means logging on to say hi! Don't leave your RC on away mode if you are AFK. Even though it has an AFK tag function, it look unprofessional. Players get frustrated if a staff member has an RC on the player list but don't get any responses. Keep your RC offline or leave a note in your nickname.

Judgment

So, you have every single one of those ticky boxes in your RC rights eh? Great! Now, be careful how you use them! A manager with good Judgment is a good manager overall. Don't abuse your rights and ban players just because they keep asking questions. Don't hire random players that could pose a threat to both your server and your staff teams hard work! Along with that, it would be a good idea to backup your server on a regular basis. CBK1997 has made a very good GBall backup system that can be found in the links section at the bottom of the page. It allows a full server backup of the files you choose at the push of a button! I suggest you check it out.

Conclusion

To conclude, stay by those basic rules and you should be able to get along with your staff, and manage the server while doing so! A good manager means a good, happy and motivated staff team! The happier the staff team, the more work and the better quality work gets produced. There is nothing worse than a staff member who doesn't enjoy working for your server. Make them happy, and they will make you happy. Also remember, just because supporting your staff and getting to know them is a good thing, so is getting rid of the hopeless staff. There is no point in keeping a member of staff just because you feel sorry for them or are afraid to fire them due to a friendship. It will impact the servers progression and wouldn't be very wise to ignore the fact you have a member of staff that isn't pulling his/her weight.

Links

Article by Emera