Team Building Do you actually need staff when you're starting out?

[Al]

Everyone says build a team. Get mods. Appoint admins. But when you’re starting small, is it just unnecessary bloat? A lot of early-stage forums don’t need daily moderation or policy discussions, they need posts. So does adding staff early help create momentum, or just complicate things with extra voices before there’s anything to moderate? What’s your view? Do you start solo, or build a team from day one?

I tend to fall into the camp which eschews hiring staff before needing them. After all, what's the point in having additional staff when there is nothing to moderate? Be honest, do you hire staff as a way of making up for a lack of members? "Join my team" when really what you mean is "please come and post on my forum."

 

[CTS]

I have two staff, myself and a member that pops in part time now and then as a mod. But I really don't have the traffic to be considering building a team yet.

 

[2TonWaffle]

I ask myself this quite a lot, mostly I'm the only one doing the admin'ing side of things as well as mod work. As my forum isn't near the level that I would need to start looking for staff, I continue to do everything myself.

 

[Cedric]

It’s nice to have someone on your side, so you don’t end up doing everything alone and above all, feel alone when there’s little traffic.

But most importantly, what you need is a couple of friends there ad your original audience, helping you out with posts and traffic. Not necessarily a moderator.