Operations/ZC Duties

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Chief of Operations (COO) Directory for FADM Joshua Laury
Command Links: Coordinator Council | Branches | Admin Council | COO Office | Zones (per wiki) | Zones (per database)
COO Links: Staff | Orders | COO History | ZC's | ZC Duties | Badlands COO | Ops Dir | (Projects: 6 7 8 9 )


NOTE: This is a RAW data dump of a sample email to new ZCs. 
It is pending wiki formatting.....A work in Progress.... 

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Contents

Past Topics [some still in work...]

=== Old ZC Welcome Letter ===
Congratulations and Welcome to the ranks of the Zone Coordinator. You will notice that you have been added to the AC-List (Advisor-Council) or will be shortly. This is an area where we hash out topics from time to time, before taking them to the General Membership (GM).

Zone Pages:
1. You should already know that you will be responsible for your Zone Page. These pages are tentatively set up with a generic Chapter links, basically as "Place Holders". Check with your Chapters and Keep an eye on the "Recent Changes" page to see if anyone in your Zone has been working on their OWN Chapter page. If they have, replace the generic Information page with a link to their Personalized Chapter page.

2. Since the Zone Pages are not "Protected", you should check them regularly for unauthorized modifications. The members should not be taking it upon themselves to update their own contact information. Instead, they SHOULD be emailing you and requesting that You make the changes. This is MOSTLY so you may maintain page continuity (style, Graphics size, font size, etc), but also to maintain a form of discipline (what little there is in MFI... LOL) that people should not be haphazardly editing other people's pages. Also.. if everyone maintained their OWN pages, we wouldn't need Zone Coordinators!!!

Communication:
As a Zone Coordinator, you are responsible for keeping in touch with each of the Chapters in your Zone and acting as a "resource" for their questions and/or problems (be careful getting involved in problems, as we're a "Hands Off" organization). As per the Constitution, Chapter COs are only REQUIRED to report on a quarterly basis (every three months), but Zone Coordinators are required to report to the COO on a Monthly Basis. Why? Not every Chapter may report at the same time... It's up to them, as long as they touch base every 3 months. [grin] Also... even though they're not REQUIRED to formally report but every 3 months, that doesn't mean you can't touch base with them more often. That's what makes the difference between just "being" a ZC and being a GOOD ZC. If Chapters DO come to you with problems, be careful that you try to stay as Impartial and Neutral as possible. MFI has a Hands Off policy (kinda like a Non-Interfer ence policy). We don't have JAGs. We are not Investigative agents. You can listen to the problem, get both sides of the story when you can, but stay as impartial as possible in attempting to reconcile anything.

Reports:
1. Reports don't HAVE to be Formal Written Reports... All we really NEED to know is that they're still members of MFI... That they're still alive & Kicking. If they have something interesting going on that might make for good Newsletter material, Great!!! Icing on the cake.

2. The "Report" may be simply touching base via IM, email, IRC Chat, or even a phone call. Make it as "Easy Going" and stress free as possible. You don't want your Chapter COs cringing when they see an email coming from you... You want them to feel like you care about their status.

3. If you see a member of your Zone posting emails to the members-list, BINGO!! You KNOW they're still around. You don't NEED a formal report from them, but you can still touch base with them to let them know you're doing your job.

Other Communication:
1. Keep in touch with other members of the AC. If you have Zone members leave, who were members of KTF, MFMC, SOC, SSD, or Naval, let the effected Branch Head, as well as Membership, know about it, so their databases may be updated.

2. Also keep in touch with the Membership Dept (membership@maquis.com) on a routine basis to see if there's been any changes in your Zone (New Members, Members Leaving, etc).

3. When you see a Welcome Aboard Email come out, if it isn't mentioned which Zone they're going to, ASK!! They may be going to YOUR Zone and you'll want to add them to your Zone page.

Last, but not least...
If you have any questions about anything, please feel free to email, or IM Chat [ http://wiki.maquis.com/w/Contacts ] ANYONE on the Coordinator Council (including me, well I don't IM...). That's why we're here (last time I checked).

Hope this has been enough to get you started,without being overwhelming.


=== Zone Coordinator and Staff Duties ===
Zone Coordinators - Zone Coordinators serve as the official representative of their assigned Zones and, as such represent the will of their Zones, their chapters, and their members to the CC and vice versa. Provides liaison between the COO and the chapters assigned within their geographical area. ZC's are charged with apprising the COO and the Membership Department of any changes in chapter status, contact information, or activities such as conventions or Zone Conferences. Zone Coordinators are required to submit Monthly Zone Reports to the MFI COO.

Deputy Zone Coordinators - xxxx

Other Zone Staff Positions - xxxxxx


Yearly Awards Philosophy

Greetings all,
A few have expressed surprise in a public way on the members list that some zones received awards when the ZC for that zone did not submit any. I would hate to have some Joe or Jane Newmember start thinking something is wrong with the possible implications of these type questions. It might have been more prudent to ask on this list...  ::Smile::
As COO, I personally believe that EVERY zone should submit awards of some type. In the past, some zones had no awards submitted. I see this a potential blow to the Morale of our general membership. I know I would be disheartened to be in a zone that did not even have one award given.
This year, there was a long list of missing zone inputs. Some zones had MIA ZCs. Other zones are very small in numbers. Some ZCs would never submit their own name and Unit for those awards. You all should know that as COO, I also receive a copy of every cell report submitted via the reporting tool in addition to the ZC. Thus I do have some idea of what is happening. Back to this year: I created a list of possible zone award receipients some time back. I sent the list to the awards committee contingent on the respective ZC not providing an input. I also submitted names as needed for the overall awards [as our rules provide] and sent emails to Branch Heads and others recommending awards for their charges within their Branch. Some acted on my recommendations, some did not--their choice.
I do strongly recommend that ALL of our mid and upper management take every opportunity to say an encouraging word, thank those who help, and /or recommend awards or promotion as ofted as we get a chance. The "feel good factor" DOES add to our prime directive--FUN!
My thanks to all of you who volunteer to do your job well.
Steve
COO



Revised ZC Duties Project

From time to time we have a ZC who out of the blue says something like "that's all I know to do...nobody ever told me anything else...". Well, in the interests of being responsive to that need and improving our service to our members the OPS Office is going to solicit inputs from current ZCs in order to build a ZC Manual type document. Starting small of course...
VADM Steve



Things a ZC should do or be able to do to promote a Healthy Zone

Well... as mentioned in the Welcome Letter:

1. Zone Pages: Keep your Zone Page Up-To-Date. Members feel Left Out if they don't see their Chapter Listed on the Zone Page.

2. Communication: As a Zone Coordinator, you are responsible for keeping in touch with each of the Chapters in your Zone and acting as a "resource" for their questions and/or problems. Since Chapter COs are only REQUIRED to report on a quarterly basis (every three months), figure that not EVERY chapter will report in the same month as all the other COs. **That's** why Zone Coordinators are required to report to the COO on a Monthly Basis. As mentioned in the letter... even though COs aren't REQUIRED to formally report but every 3 months, ZCs should take it upon themselves to **Try** to touch base with them more often. That's what makes the difference between just "being" a ZC and being a GOOD ZC.

2.1. How to Touch Base: Make an email "Group". Whether you use Yahoo, GMail, Hotmail, or Outlook/Outlook Express, they all allow you to make "Groups" to send a monthly Email to your Zone Chapters (you don't need MFI to make you a group). Use this email group to send out a Monthly Email to your Chapters.

  • Samples of What to Include:
    • Hope they had a great (Whatever) so far
    • Thank those that you've heard from in the prior month(s)
    • List who you haven't heard from in a while
    • mention what the others have relayed to you in the prior month
    • mention what MFI has going on (QM Projects, etc)
    • promote participation in the Members-List (Hopefully you will be a Positive Role Model in utilizing the Members-List yourself)
    • reinforce that if they have any questions, or problems to give you a shout and that if you can't answer it, you'll pass it along to someone who can.

3. Problems/Questions: As mentioned above... If Chapters DO come to you with a question, or problem that you're not sure about the answer/solution, at Least know who they can contact (the COO, Membership, Awards, CompOps, etc.), or so You can forward it up the line on behalf of the Chapter .

4. The MFI Wiki Site: Check the Recent Changes page on a regular basis. In some cases, checking this page will give you a Leg Up on what's going on in MFI.

5. Other Communication: Keep in touch with other ZC members and Branch Heads on the AC.

  • Also keep in touch with the Membership Dept (membership@maquis.com) on a routine basis to see if there's been any changes in your Zone (New Members, Members Leaving, etc).
  • Remember... When you see a Welcome Aboard Email come out, if it isn't mentioned which Zone they're going to, ASK!! They may be going to YOUR Zone and you'll need to add them to your Zone page.

6. Assisting with Chapter/User Web Pages: This is something that each of us has done and is something that *All ZCs* should be able to do for their members. A ZC doesn't have to be a Wiki-Master (although it does help). Any ZC could probably get by if they know these 5 things:

  • Where to find a User and Chapter Template
  • That Clicking on the Member's Name (in red) in the "MFI Members" page, or that clicking on the Chapter's Name (in red) on the "MFI Cells" page will take them to either the User Page, or Chapter Page (respectively)
  • How to "Copy & Paste" the code from the appropriate Template to the User/Chapter page
  • How to replace the generic info with the Member's/Chapter's Info.
  • Who to email/IM for "Fine Tuning" assistance (LOL)
    • We would like to emphasize getting someone to assist them via phone, or IM, so the "Guru" can talk them through/teach them the fine tuning, rather than simply doing it FOR them.




Zone Handbook Project Notes

To include the ZC duties mentioned above... This Project recognizes the need for a specific Handbook to clarify proper and suggested Zone operation guidelines. One goal is to use this Handbook as a resource for a planned Academy course for ZCs and wannabees.


To Do List for Consideration

  • Include Guidelines clarifying how to determine if a Cell belongs in a Geographical [GEO] Zone or the VR Zone.
    • Just ONE of the many points I want to address is getting fewer cells in ZVR and more out into the geographical [GEO] Zones. [steve]
      • If a substantial majority of the cell members are within a specific zone then the cell SHOULD be part of that zone. [steve]
        • Even if the biggest majority is only 30 percent, the remainder if they are scatered all over can still be a part of that Geo Zone. [steve]
      • Also in my mind a listening post [1 person] should NEVER be in ZVR, but rather in the appropriate Geo Zone. [steve]
    • ZVR is simply too huge. [steve]
    • Of course there might be special cases approved by OPS where a ship might be in ZVR anyway because of personality conflict or such, but I expect that to be extremely rare... [steve]
  • Address the issue of currently inactive Zones.
  • Remove Embassy Zone since it should be under oversight of Diplo Corps.
  • TBD


... More To Come...

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