Mod Training

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Moderator Recruitment

For information on recruitment, please see Group Volunteer Recruiting

Sample letter explaining modding style once new mod has been recruited

Hi XXX,

This is great news. I have upgraded your membership status to moderator. Thank you and welcome to the moderating team.

Before we speak to go through the practical duties of a mod, this email is to outline the modding style that we try to employ on XXX Freegle. It is not exhaustive, but should give you an idea of where we are 'coming from' and how you'll be able to fit in.

  • We try to use a gentle touch when moderating members.
  • We remain calm, respectful, reasonable and democratic with the members, as well as with our own and our neighbouring mod teams.
  • Although the group does have rules, we are flexible (where appropriate) for everything other than the basic premise that everything must be free and legal - common sense prevails.
  • We never take advantage of our position as a mod, and never respond to posts before they appear on the list. We strongly discourage members from using a first come first served basis for choosing recipients, and we take members off moderation as soon as possible.
  • We discuss with our fellow mods as necessary before dealing with questionable posts or member queries - there is no urgency, and it is always better to check than act in haste.
  • We try to show consistency between mods.
  • We are always respectful to members - if we receive inflammatory replies, we cool off and talk to fellow mods before responding.
  • We are supportive of other local groups, networks and mod teams.
  • We remember that the group belongs to the local community, and not the mod team.
  • We seek advice from the mod groups as necessary.
  • We refer confidential/sensitive difficulties that we are unable to resolve to the nationally elected Freegle Board.

I hope this is helpful. Please do not hesitate to ask if I can clarify anything about the role for you. I'll call you later today to arrange a mutually convenient time for us to proceed.

With warmest wishes,

XXX Freegle Team

Contact number

Sample letter explaining preparation jobs prior to training

Hi XXX,

OK, before we meet up at XX PLACE on XX TIME/DAY, may I suggest 3 things for you to do first:

Please could you check that you are very familiar with the XXX Freegle group rules and other group admin material here:

<Include link to local group rules and files>

1: Please could you take a really good look around XXX Freegle with the additional features that you can see as a mod.

2: Please explore everything, including the pending boxes, but hold off actually doing anything at all as yet. I suggest that we schedule an hour one evening in a couple of days' time to do some actual modding together, on the phone or in person - it is much easier to explain the role this way than by email.

3: Finally, please join us and say hi on our local moderators' group. I have sent you an invitation. We are a friendly bunch and delighted you can join us. Reading back through the messages there will give you a good idea of what we do, as everything is archived there.

The role will become clear after a very short time. It is really worth investing the time initially to learn the role, and you'll be able to moderate much faster and more confidently. Importantly, this preparation will enable you to really enjoy modding.

4. It will be for you to let me know when you feel ready to go through some modding on the phone or in person. Ideally we'll need a day's notice; we can get the other mods to leave the pending messages alone for 6-8 hours for us to work on together. In the meantime, please contact me by email, phone or text with any questions.

One final thing to say - there is no such thing as a silly question. Please feel comfortable asking anything at all, and asking for clarification as many times as necessary if I have not explained it coherently.

Welcome, and enjoy.

With warmest wishes,

XXX Freegle Team

Contact number

Ways to communicate the training to the new mod

  • Have a face-to-face meeting, get to know each other.
  • Spend time on the phone with a new mod, both of you looking at pending messages and talking through what to do with them. This could also be done by visiting your new mod at home, or meeting up somewhere public with a laptop and wifi. This can give more advice, discussion and instant feedback than a training group.
  • Consider communicating with each other via instant messaging, such as WhatsApp, or a phone/video call, to talk through pending messages. This can be useful, as the mod can look back at the message archive if they forget something.
  • Try to have an established mod available for contact by email, phone/text or messaging.
  • Make contact with the new mod at least once a day until they find their feet.

Try to ensure clarity and consistency for mods

  • Figure out what your policies are, and make sure any new mods know what they are (it's also helpful to include them in your members' handbook, so all members and mods can refer to this), e.g. phone numbers, pets, cross-posting etc.
  • Help group consistency by providing them with template rejection emails.

Tips for new mods

  • It's not too hard.
  • It's not the end of the world if you make mistakes.
  • How to moderate pending messages using ModTools.
  • The most common posting errors.
  • Don't get carried away and start rejecting lots of things.
  • Remember that some people are much ruder by email than they are in person, so don't take it personally.
  • Initially, leave all queries and difficult members to established moderators, but later have a go, and copy in the volunteer team address, the training group, or the moderators' group.

Suggested training stages

Take your time and pace the training according to the individual. Allow the new mod to say when they are ready to move on to the next stage.

Stage 1 Suggestions for practical modding to be explained on the first session - ideally on the phone or in person after the pending box has been left to accumulate for 6-8 hours:

  • Approving new members, if group settings require it.
  • Identifying and approving an acceptable pending message.
  • How to return a message to its sender using a template rejection message.
  • When to edit a member's post, and what is not acceptable to edit (e.g. correction of grammar etc).
  • Which posts need to be referred to ChitChat.
  • Ensuring that the mod is aware to refer non-local members to their nearest group where necessary, and to try their most local group(s) at least 24 hours before trying this one. Explain that this practice is to show support to neighbouring groups, especially ones trying to establish themselves. This establishes expectations of a non-territorial/competitive attitude, and strengthens relationships between groups.
  • Ensure the volunteer is aware of the document Our Aims, and that they will be required to agree to it when first joining ModTools.

Stage 2 Suggested material to cover for Stage 2 - ideally on the phone or in person, after an adequate amount of time practising the skills learned in Stage 1:

  • Assessing their retention and understanding of Stage 1 learning.
  • Responding to any queries which have arisen as a result of Stage 1 practice.

Then covering:

  • Checking that non-moderated posts are within the rules, and what to do if they aren't.
  • Changing a member's group settings, and explaining why never to use the unmoderated setting.
  • Putting members back on moderation - when and how.
  • Reminding them to ask the mod team as often as necessary.

Stage 3

  • Explaining anything else that comes up, and going over anything previously covered as necessary.
  • Responding to messages sent to the volunteer team address.
  • Group set-up/settings - what they are and why, e.g. new members moderated, group archive on view etc.
  • Review of progress so far from both sides.

Joining wider mod groups

Sample letter suggesting new mod joins mods' groups

Hi XXX,

In order to help you consolidate your training, please join our regional and national moderators' groups. You will be able to ask advice of fellow mods, search for answers to questions and generally learn the ropes more thoroughly:

(I have asked the owners to send you an invitation. This group generates a lot of mail, so you may wish to read online or get a digest.)

I have enjoyed our training, and hope that you feel comfortable asking me or any of our mod team anything at all, and asking for clarification as many times as necessary. We were all new not so very long ago.

With warmest wishes,

XXX Freegle Team XXX contact email address contact number

Stage 4

  • Discuss individual future training requirements, agree a plan and a timescale for review.

Additional resources

  • It can be easier to train a mod on a larger, busier group than on a smaller group. Consider buddying up with larger neighbouring groups who could help to train mods from smaller groups.
  • Consider using a training group to post sample messages for a new mod to moderate; these should include messages that should be edited or rejected. Once confidence is gained, the training group can be used for asking questions - this can also be done through the moderators' group. The new mod can say when they feel confident enough to move to the "real" group. A training group can also be used to train a new mod in using the other functions of ModTools, home page editing and so on.
  • Give a link to the Freegle Wiki - but reassure them that they don't have to read it all at once!
  • Invite them to join the regional mods group and Central - perhaps not immediately, but once the mod has had some initial training and is still enthused. This reduces the sense of being overwhelmed, and also helps to reduce the numbers of inactive members in these groups.
  • In some areas, several groups train moderators together, perhaps with one mod training all new ones.
  • The national Mentor Team are very happy to help with recruiting and training new moderators - just ask! (Email mentors@ilovefreegle.org.)
  • You or your new moderator can join one or more Central Groups, where you can access help.

Sample demotion letter to unsuitable mod

CC to:

  • Group owner address
  • Local modlist address
  • Regional modsquad owner address
  • Freegle Central owner address

Subject: Mod ---> member

Hi XXX,

As I haven't heard from you by email or messaging, I have reverted your membership status back to member. This will mean that you'll need to unsubscribe from any mod group that you are in, please.

Sorry it hasn't worked out, but thank you for your interest in Freegle. Your group membership will continue to operate exactly the same as before, of course.

With warmest wishes,

XXX Mod Team

XXX Freegle Team

Links:

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