Information for the staff team

As members of staff, all of us are doing our part to volunteer for our beloved community at Canis. This document outlines the basics of what the expectations are for us as staff members and serves as a reference for the team.

Roles & Tasks

Members of the team are, by default, responsible for board moderation, various submission approvals, and point awarding. All conflict resolution is discussed as a team unless head admins find the response is absolute action for community safety and/or serious rule breaks. Some members of the team may be specialized in art direction or code development. Staff members with these roles handle only those items and do not carry out tasks listed above. This role will be listed under their name in the list of staff members, similar to head admins.

Back End Staff

Not every staff member is present in all sides of the community; a select few are designated as purely "Back End". These staff members only take care of things behind the scenes, such as coding, board maintenance, and other tasks that the general membership doesn't take part in. The Back End staff members are not indicated on the list of staff, as all member related matters should go through front facing staff members.

The majority of staff is present in the IC and OOC parts of the community and can be reached out to for any and all concerns, questions, and ideas.

Privacy

Staff respect the privacy of all users except in cases where there is an active investigation of a user. In such cases, private information should only be looked at on a need to know basis.

Example: A user was reported for abuse in private messages toward another user - a staff member may read private messages for this scenario only. The staff member may not read private messages sent to other users unless there are explicit requests to do so.

Member Discussions

Staff members should avoid participation in member-oriented polls and discussions except to direct conversation, answer questions, or clarify meaning. The purpose of these discussions is to give all users a voice. Because staff members already have a voice during staff discussions, we need to avoid oversteering member discussions.

Bias Mitigation

All people possess internal biases to some extent. It is up to us as staff members to recognize when we have biases that interfere with our duties and take a step back. If you find yourself in a situation where you believe your internal biases might cloud your judgment, ask another staff member to step in for you and handle things.

If a player is concerned that a staff member handling a situation has bias surrounding them or the situation at hand, they can ask for a different staff member to step in and either help out or take over the situation.

Capacity Recognition and Burnout

All of us have other commitments outside of Canis. Things in our lives change and we will not always have the same amount of time or interest as we have today. As staff members, we have a special role in the community and are relied on to make sure the game runs smoothly. If you sense that your capacity is limited for any reason, we strongly encourage you to step back and notify the rest of staff.

There is also never any shame in stepping away from the staff team for any amount of time. Unless the staff team is at full capacity, you’ll always be welcomed back if you have more time to commit in the future.

Should there come a time when the team feels as though a staff member does not have the bandwidth to be staff, the head admins will approach said member to address it. A conversation will be held to see how the staff member is doing and whether or not they'd like to work towards being active again or if they'd prefer to step down.

Future Proofing

To ensure that there are never things actively preventing a person from stepping away from staff, all staff members need to identify when there are actions only they are capable of performing and come up with a strategy to either:

• Create training for other staff to perform those actions (how-to documents)
• Automate the process so performing the action is not necessary

If you had to step away, for any reason, tomorrow, would someone else be able to fulfill your role? Always aim to make the answer to this question a yes!

Staff Team Size

The team should always have enough staff members to make sure every task has at least one member of staff who is available to act on it in a timely manner. Preferably there will be at least two. It’s up to the team to recognize when there is a need and fill those needs appropriately. It’s up to the team to recognize when there is a need and fill those needs appropriately.

Additionally, if a new member of staff is needed, the member should be vetted thoroughly for community fit and time commitment. Roles should not be filled simply because another hand is needed, especially if a candidate is not fit for the role. On the same point, to avoid the “too many cooks” problem, there should always be fewer than ten staff members at one time.

If there is ever a need for ten or more members, splitting the team into multiple sub-teams might be a good solution.

Handling Specific Issues

Plagiarism

Theft includes use of writing and visual art that does not follow the license restrictions of the source. It is up to the users of works that are not original to follow these restrictions. Often, theft results as a misunderstanding of licensing and the use of works from fellow creators.

If theft is brought to the staff team’s attention, use the following metrics to determine handling the scenario:

1. If there is solid evidence that the questioned work is not a coincidence, the staff team should handle the scenario. Without this evidence, we should do nothing to avoid over-policing and wrongful accusations.

2. Works that have evidence of being copied from elsewhere should have a staff member reach out and ask the member about it. If they do not have evidence to support their fair use, they should have the problem with their usage explained and likely should be asked to change the copied work.

   It’s very important when we reach out to explain why this is a problem. Many people don’t understand what constitutes theft. Go in with the assumption of positive intent for these cases and explain that the copied work is potentially harmful.

3. Members who show a pattern of theft with no or limited attempts to change their behaviour should receive a fair consequence for their actions, including a temporary or permanent removal from Canis.

Conflict Management

Historically, the staff team has attempted to be very present for conflict management. This proved both difficult to manage and even ineffective given staff capacity. Because of this, we have reduced conflict management to making decisions about temporary and permanent bans, including whether they are necessary and their length.

Processes are still being explored as we discover what works and what is sustainable.

Extreme Conflict Cases

If an issue is particularly bad, for cases like hate, sexual assault, etc., it is advisable to speak with local authorities.