Admin Responsibilities: Overview and Best Practices
Ensure Member Safety: Monitor Content Regularly review posts in group notes, forums, news, and team match pages to ensure compliance with your club’s rules and Chess.com’s community policies. If you spot inappropriate content, remove it or ask the user to edit it. Always communicate privately with the user, explaining why their post violates club rules or Chess.com policies. You can refer to the community policies here.
To maximize coverage, consider having admins from different time zones to monitor the club at all times.
Recruit New Members Use the invite feature to grow your club. Depending on your club’s goals, you may target high-rated players, active contributors, or those who aren’t already part of many other clubs. Some clubs have specific rules, such as requiring at least 30 days of Chess.com membership before a player can join.
Organize Team Matches, Tournaments, and Vote Chess If your club hosts matches, tournaments, or vote chess, use your club’s logo or a catchy battle cry on team match pages. For tournaments, consider offering custom trophies that reflect your club’s theme.
Keep the Group Active Regularly posting in group notes and forums helps keep the group lively. Encourage members to do the same. If you’re sharing a forum topic from another group, be sure to ask for permission and give credit to the original source.
Welcome New Members While optional, it’s always a thoughtful gesture for admins to welcome new members. Some clubs even award fun trophies or leave a welcome note on the new member’s profile.
Collaborate with Other Admins in a Separate HQ Create an "Admin Headquarters" group for behind-the-scenes discussions on logistics, strategy, and admin-related issues. This keeps admin conversations organized and productive.
Recognize Contributions Celebrate the contributions of members and admins by offering recognition. For example, congratulate the first member to win a team match, or send a personalized trophy to members who contribute new ideas or forums.
Send Monthly Newsletters A monthly newsletter can help your club stand out. Include updates like upcoming matches, team statistics, member spotlights, jokes, or reminders about the club’s mission. This is a great way to keep members engaged.
Avoid Admin Burnout Balance your admin duties with your personal life. Running a club should be enjoyable, so don’t overextend yourself. A relaxed, positive admin team helps keep the club environment fun for everyone.
Delegate Responsibilities Among Admins Share the workload by assigning specific tasks to different admins. For example, one admin could handle recruitment while another organizes matches. This prevents any one person from becoming overwhelmed.
Cross-Train Admins Ensure admins can cover for each other during vacations or absences. Cross-training helps maintain smooth operations even if one admin is unavailable.
Admin Responsibilities: Overview and Best Practices
Ensure Member Safety: Monitor Content
Regularly review posts in group notes, forums, news, and team match pages to ensure compliance with your club’s rules and Chess.com’s community policies. If you spot inappropriate content, remove it or ask the user to edit it. Always communicate privately with the user, explaining why their post violates club rules or Chess.com policies. You can refer to the community policies here.
To maximize coverage, consider having admins from different time zones to monitor the club at all times.
Recruit New Members
Use the invite feature to grow your club. Depending on your club’s goals, you may target high-rated players, active contributors, or those who aren’t already part of many other clubs. Some clubs have specific rules, such as requiring at least 30 days of Chess.com membership before a player can join.
Organize Team Matches, Tournaments, and Vote Chess
If your club hosts matches, tournaments, or vote chess, use your club’s logo or a catchy battle cry on team match pages. For tournaments, consider offering custom trophies that reflect your club’s theme.
Keep the Group Active
Regularly posting in group notes and forums helps keep the group lively. Encourage members to do the same. If you’re sharing a forum topic from another group, be sure to ask for permission and give credit to the original source.
Welcome New Members
While optional, it’s always a thoughtful gesture for admins to welcome new members. Some clubs even award fun trophies or leave a welcome note on the new member’s profile.
Collaborate with Other Admins in a Separate HQ
Create an "Admin Headquarters" group for behind-the-scenes discussions on logistics, strategy, and admin-related issues. This keeps admin conversations organized and productive.
Recognize Contributions
Celebrate the contributions of members and admins by offering recognition. For example, congratulate the first member to win a team match, or send a personalized trophy to members who contribute new ideas or forums.
Send Monthly Newsletters
A monthly newsletter can help your club stand out. Include updates like upcoming matches, team statistics, member spotlights, jokes, or reminders about the club’s mission. This is a great way to keep members engaged.
Avoid Admin Burnout
Balance your admin duties with your personal life. Running a club should be enjoyable, so don’t overextend yourself. A relaxed, positive admin team helps keep the club environment fun for everyone.
Delegate Responsibilities Among Admins
Share the workload by assigning specific tasks to different admins. For example, one admin could handle recruitment while another organizes matches. This prevents any one person from becoming overwhelmed.
Cross-Train Admins
Ensure admins can cover for each other during vacations or absences. Cross-training helps maintain smooth operations even if one admin is unavailable.
Adapted from the Admin Responsibilities Summary Guide
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