Posted by mair on September 14, 2002, at 11:19:37
In reply to Re: Another idea, posted by Dr. Bob on September 13, 2002, at 19:45:53
"
> Do you think it would be better for deputy monitors to rotate taking "shifts" rather than all being "on duty" at the same time? I guess both are ways of limiting how much of a burden it is... But shifts mean schedules and logistics..."
Personally I prefer the idea of shifts so there's no confusion about who's taking care of the Board and no chance of monitors acting inconsistently. (I think this has a little to do with accountability here) If you had enough monitors, you could set up a rotation with changes occurring once a week, for instance. I realize that this does involve logistics but I think it could work with a little thought to the structuring. I guess the other thing you could do is assign different people to different Boards so again they're not tripping over each other.
>" As far as primary responsibility, I think there are two related issues, power and accountability. I understand that some of you are unhappy with how much power I have, but I'm the one who's accountable for what happens here. It would be interesting to discuss how that accountability might be shared, but it I bet it would involve lawyers, contracts, etc..."I don't think the system I have in mind undermines your need to be accountable. Accountability would be no larger a problem than it is whenever you go away. And it's not the fact of your power perhaps so much as it is the use of it. I have seen you taken to task for acting too soon and not soon enough. I think because you're trying to cover so much ground over such a long period of time, you simply can't have the same feel for the "temperature" of the Board or of certain threads as do many of the more active posters, and you can't know that the approach or explanation you give to one poster may be just the wrong tact with another. (this is the "one size fits all" style of moderating) I guess what I'm suggesting is not that you give up the right to respond to problems you see on the Boards, but rather that you defer to the deputy monitor until you really feel that you have to get involved. It's a matter of trusting someone else's instincts first as to when to intervene and how best to intervene.
And I think for my system to work, there would have to be a clear delineation of who bears the responsibility to respond first. You can't have a situation where deputies are reluctant to get involved because they they're waiting to see what you do first. I know it's tough for someone who is ultimately accountable to relinquish a measure of control, but you can always keep a close eye on things to see how it's going. The overall benefit of course is that posters may well feel more individual responsibility for how smoothly the Boards run.
Mair
> Bob
>
poster:mair
thread:7094
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20020725/msgs/7422.html