How to get rid of moderators nicely?

I experienced my team is far too large and it does not do what I tell them. I also experienced that large parts of my team are against my goals and it takes much more effort to work with the team than with the whole community.

Therefore I need to make my team smaller. What would be the best way to demote moderators and have a nice relationship to them even afterwards? Do you have experience in this situation? I am curious to learn from you. Thanks.

 

Hi there, welcome to the forum!

I think using the fact that your team is too large is the easiest way to approach this. You can simply address the staff members, inform them of the fact that you feel the staff team is too large to be productive, or that things are difficult to coordinate, as well as it is unnecessary (and detrimental to the forum's health) to have more staff members than are needed.

Let them know that it isn't them personally that has forced you to make the decision to relieve them of their positions; it's the fact that there are too many moderators.

 

Thanks for the quick and very informative welcome.

I am struggling with this because I know my moderators will take it personally. Therefore I private message them individually so they have come connection to me and do not step on the next "howdy old moderators, why not start a new forum together" train wagon.

I also identified three moderators that keep the bad spirit against me behind the curtons and try to seduce other team members to argue against me. I am unsure how to address this issue. Should I remove these moderators immediately or should I wait and demote all moderators in the same time?

 

I have the same question.
Need to get rid of one moderator, but don't want to offend him.

He is a nice guy, just he somehow didn't fit into our team.

I think saying: "Sorry, we have too many mods" will not do.

 

Do what Nick said, but also tell him/her that if the forum picks up, you will consider them first when adding more staff.

 

Those 3 should be the first and a stern warning that that type of behavior won't be tolerated. After that a ban is in order.

Just let him know he's not fitting in. This is why I always require all staff to agree on the next mod.

 

They do have a lot of power (within the moderator social network). The most important part of my question is, how can I demote moderators nicely.

 

Be honest and tell them that if the forum gets busier again and other moderators leave they may be able to get their position back.

 

This is a fantastic idea. Sorry it didn't cross my mind before.
I will never ever choose a moderator before asking my stuff.

 

Yeah, I always create a topic in the Staff area about it. Wait for all staff to respond with their opinions. They must give a reason why they have that opinion. This way I can tell if it's something personal or not.

 

What made that mod not fit in? Is there something specific?

 

I take a contract out on them, and not the type of contract you're thinking of.

 

I'll contact them personally and see what's going on, if they are busy I'll suggest we drop them to regular members or contributors.
I've never had a "team to large" issue, it's usually a "you're to busy to help" type of thing.

 

Hello Adam and welcome...


No easy way here mate.. You know who the culprits are and i would pm each one and explain the situation, it is your forum and you require a smaller team and you are chosen to be demoted until further notice or that you require there services again .

Try to be as cival as you can and if that does not work , then be blunt and remove ASAP..The last thing you want is grieved moderator causing havoc on your board.

Good luck and keep is informed how it goes please..

Dave.

 

I had to do this recently. I offered each a small parting gift (they had to send me their addresses so I could send it so it couldn't be automatic as I would have liked) and lifetime free access to the paid forums.

Some took it well and some didn't. And even if they don't want to admit it, getting a small but worthwhile gift does ease the negative feelings. Some were already thinking about resigning as they recognized they didn't have time for it, had hesitated to be the one to make the break, were happy to receive my offer. Some tried to negotiate staying on ... after deep thought I refused all those offers. Some were pissed, one sent an unhappy note (not really rude though, frankly it reflected how out-of-touch she had become with the moderating) and one never responded but ran off and told mod secrets to a few of her friends (my fault that one wasn't booted long before.)

If it is to really thrive the site has to come before your feelings of friendship with the staff. Some people aren't going to be happy with you, but you can live through that and so can they.

Personally I would not do this, because that's going to be seen as a promise, and I might not want to be tied to it later. Things happen, and what might be a good choice now might not be so much later. I would make it as smooth and clean a break as possible - thanks so much for all your service, now let's both go one with our lives. If you add mods later the old ones are on the same footing as every other candidate ... take the best available candidate, whoever that is. Whatever the candidates think, the members do understand and appreciate that you are putting them first.

 

Well, he is not a bad person, just a little bit narrow-minded and fanatic in some areas.

That caused the conflict, because our team is made of people that are broad-minded.

 

That happened twice to me. Indeed, there is nothing worse then a frustrated moderator causing havoc on your board.

 

Interesting problem you have.

One month ago,I finally sent a PM to the Conservative forum owner and told him point blank that his forum is a mess,and that it is that way because many of his moderators are themselves a mess.

They would call a lot of Liberals names (It is a Conservative forum) and make fun of them as well in postings.They also often allow nasty replies to anyone and let it go.

I also opined that he has too many FORUM Moderators,who are badly overshadowed by SUPER Moderators (vBULLETIN forum software) and a lot of Administrators.

The Owner replies in agreement with almost everything I complained about and stated that he is going to do a serious makeover of his forum,to hopefully fix the problem:

Extreme Makeover, FC Edition

In my opinion he needs to drop some of the Mods who utterly failed to maintain civil standards.

I have since quit the forum after I had to put up with the shabby replies I was getting.

All forum owners needs to keep track of their forums AND the conduct of their Moderators.

 

Tell them the truth gently,and assert your control as the Administrator and Owner in the process.

Moderators serve YOU in the process of keeping your forum operating as YOU intended it to be.

:yes:

 

We have recently dealt with this.

How we do it is we are going to be putting them into our "special members" group which gets a different username color and we are going to give them a badge, what says something like "Retired Staff" or something, so they will always still have a special status.