Growing a community is hard. You have to advertise to get members, find partnerships with other communities, network, host events, and so many more things that can feel overwhelming for a new server owner. That’s why having a staff team that supports you in this growth can help you on the path to success.

These teams will look different depending on your server. You may have moderators, admins, a welcoming crew, a verification crew, or any variety of these.

Let’s take a look at 2 different structure types that could help set you and your community up for success:
– Hierarchical
– Departmental

Hierarchical

A hierarchical system will have (from top to bottom) owners or head-admins at the top who oversee everything, administrators, and moderators. The owners will usually oversee everything – from the staff team to advertising efforts to verifications or partnerships. They are typically also the final say when it comes to internal conflict amongst the team. Administrators will usually help the owner with whatever they need and also oversee the moderation team. Generally, they’ll have the final say when it comes to moderation decisions. Moderators will monitor channels for rule breaks, channel misuse, or conflict between server members and step in as needed.

Benefits and Drawbacks

With more responsibility and power at the top of the chain, people in lower roles could be more motivated to get a promotion. A drawback, however, could be less motivation to fulfill responsibilities the higher up you get.

Departmental

A departmental system will have different teams that oversee different areas of the server (partnerships, moderation, and verification teams are a few examples of this!). Partnership teams will generally seek out partnerships with different communities, moderation teams monitor channels for misuse and help with disciplinary action, and verification teams verify new users for your community or access to different areas of a server.

Benefits and Drawbacks

In this type of system, each department is responsible for something different that contributes to the overall success of the community. Staff in these different departments will be dedicated to the work they’re doing and only focused on the responsibilities of that department. With everyone fulfilling their duties in their assigned department, the server as a whole operates smoothly. A drawback to this though would be the possibility for burnout from fulfilling the same responsibilities all the time or not having enough members to fill a department.



Whatever you decide, remember that it’s important to talk with your staff team about what’s best for all of you. Through trial-and-error, some organizing (and re-organizing if needed!), and communication, you can find the perfect structure to help set you and your community up for success.

This blog was written by Anx#9791 a member of our Journalism Team. Apply today!