Posted by Vice Admiral Daniel Lerner (Procedures Guru / Personnel Director / Chief EGO) in Discussion: Encouraging Fleet Report Submissions
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I know I’m not offering solutions here and again, I think everyone who has made the point that these reports are part and parcel of the CO/XO/GM responsibility that comes with the role has a valid point. I also understand the frustration of not getting reports and having to chase people up and being met with silence (which actually annoys me more than an incomplete report) when emails are sent about reports or other fleet concerns. But I agree with Ben that I’m not sure punative measures for non reporting are likely to encourage people not reporting to do so.

Calé

While you’re right Cale that punishment doesn’t help in some ways we’re equally not finding answers out so we’re spinning our wheels in a merry go round of doom like way. I also want to say in my feelings punishment or lets call it removal as the final solution should be that last step after all reasonable efforts are made to get said CO/XO/GMs to send them in regularly or least communicate why they can’t that month. At the same token though is it fair for our hard working FComms to run around willy nilly doing more work then they should have too playing fetch quests with CO/XO/GMs? Ergo making it for the FComms feel like a ‘job’ vs a simpler task in a club where we’re here to have fun.

I think Calé raises a valid point on whether people see these reports as useful or not. If someone doesn’t see the point in doing something then they’re much less likely to want to do it. As a reader of other people’s reports, I love finding out what’s happening across the club and what adventures people are having on ships that I don’t play on (and therefore don’t regularly read). And as a captain who submits my own report, I love even more the chance to talk about my ship, to tell everyone else in the club how great our current storylines are or how impressive the crew has been that month. I basically see it as a huge advertisement for my ship and a chance to show those of you not part of the Levi’s crew what you’re missing out on, hehe!

Which brings me to the point I’m trying to make. Personally, I look forward to writing my report every month because I’m so proud of my ship and I want to share that pride with the club. Now I’m not saying that those people who don’t submit reports aren’t proud, I’m just wondering aloud if perhaps that might be a reason? And if it is, then what can we, as a club, do to help them to regain that pride? Being a captain here at STF and having people want to play on your ship is a great honour and, in my opinion, every single captain here deserves to feel that way. So I guess what I’d like to know is, if you’re a captain who doesn’t burst with excitement and pride every time you look at your ship, why not? And what can the rest of us do to help?

Of course, like Rob says, we can only help people so much. If you’ve made it to captain then you’ve already gathered a reasonable amount of experience in the club. And as much as the rest of us can help you with recruiting and ideas for side sims or whatever else you might need, at the end of the day, as a CO (and to a certain extent XO as well) the buck does stop with you. So I’m not suggesting that CO’s and XO’s simply sit back and let the rest of the club do their jobs for them. I guess a large part of the ‘pride’ I keep going on about comes from the work that you, as a CO or XO, have put into that ship yourself. But as far as I know, nobody in STF is currently being forced to be a CO or XO against their will (and if they are then we have bigger problems than just missing reports). Which means that, at one time, they had excitement and enthusiasm for that role. So if something is happening along the way to drain that excitement and enthusiasm then hopefully that’s a problem we could take steps to rectify.

But again, this discussion really does need input from the people who aren’t submitting reports or else it’s all just conjecture (and lots of waffling from me, sorry!)

• Sharon

So after reading Sharon’s bit above I’m wondering if our next step is to perhaps send out emails to all CO/XO/GMs and attempt to gather information on why they are/are not doing reports regularly? Tack this effort on with a command post like this with a news item encouraging CO/XO/GMs past and present to comment maybe that will net us more input? Its the only thing I can really think of right now.

Thoughts?

Robert Archer

Rob,

just in case players don’t feel comfortable putting their names against an admission of not submitting reports, I wonder whether an anonymous survey might net us some more data? I mean, I realise there will be drawbacks, if a CO asks for specific help but doesn’t give their name then it leaves us pretty powerless to do anything, but in general it might give us a few more discussion points if nothing else?

A few years ago, I put together a similar survey for the GM Department using SurveyMonkey. I’d be happy to do the same again for this discussion if you think it would help?

• Sharon

I have thoughts… even on this issue! :)

First, I would refrain from calling responses beyond encouragement and emails ‘punitive’ (as suggested elsewhere in this thread). It’s not a punishment. It’s a responsibility of the role, and if someone is struggling with it or refusing to do it, then it’s time to find someone else for that role. That’s not punitive.

Second, I agree we do need additional information. Rather than a general survey, I think something more targeted is needed, as we are looking for very specific information - why are those who regularly don’t submit a report not submitting a report. I would suggest the next step is go through the last 4-6 months of reports and identify those who have not done a report on consecutive months, and send an email explaining there is a command discussion on encouraging people to do their reports (remember, not everyone reads Command - which may be especially true for those that don’t submit their reports) and if they could let us know why they didn’t do reports on Months X and Y.

I would also suggest pausing this discussion for maybe 1-2 weeks while that is done and the information can be analyzed.

Daniel

My understanding is that not all of our FComm’s are putting in effort to encourage people to submit their reports. So that’s an obvious place to start where it isn’t happening already.

I don’t see what we’re gaining if we threaten people or terminate people for not filling out their reports who are otherwise excellent contributors to their ships. I also don’t believe an FComm has authority to do that to an XO or a GM, nor do I think they should have that authority.

We’re here to play a fun game. If not everyone wants to fill out their required frequent paperwork associated with the fun game, I think that’s understandable. I don’t think that needs to lead to public shaming in fleet reports and ultimatums. Beyond asking people to do it and presenting reasons why it is beneficial for them to be completed, I’m not sure what can really be done. If we deal with situations like this in a negative way I feel like we’re losing sight of what we’re doing here.

Adam W.