User:Crazyhair/Guide to command

Command Department

Departmental Head
Captain

Command Roles

Captain •

Head of Personnel •

Head of Security •

Chief Engineer •

Research Director •

Chief Medical Officer •

Quartermaster

Command Guides

Guide to Command •

Paperwork •

Faxes •

AI Modules •

Station Goals •

Purchasable Shuttles •

High-Risk Items •

Space Law •

Chain of Command •

Standard SOP •

Command SOP

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The Command staff, comprised of the heads of staff, dignitaries, and Captain, are vital to an efficient functioning station. The lack of command staff on a station, or in a department, can make or break a shift. Command Staff should be able to lead their department and make up for any staff shortcomings.

Command Expectations

As a head of staff or Captain, taking responsibility for your staff's actions is the expectation. Standard Operating Procedure is a guide to what is and what is not permitted and serves as a guideline for all departments. Ensuring it is applied to your department is your duty as a head of staff. You are also expected to be competent in your duties as a head of staff, but this does not mean you are required to be all-knowing.

Command staff are held to higher standards both in-game and OOC. (See rule 5 on the forums page) This means while you can have character uniqueness do not act like grey Mctide. You are a trained professional operating on a state-of-the-art research station. Act like it.

Being the Boss

Maximum efficiency is the keyword of a great department. Ordering equipment from cargo, keeping your staff working, and utilizing resources all add to your department's efficiency. When morale gets low alongside resources then the blame falls upon you as per command expectations and responsibilities. A part of being in charge of a department is also knowing when to step in. If RnD is not being done then it is your job as the Research Director to either get a scientist to do it or to man rnd yourself. This applies to all command staff.

A major part of being in command is your ability to communicate with other command staff for inter-departmental relations or deciding on the station as a whole. Swiping for red alert, shuttle calls, and requesting ERTs are all something command must discuss and agree to before it can occur. The C in command stands for communication, and it is a word you will see a lot.

Disorderly Conduct

It's simply a fact that people don't like to work. This remains true on the station. Sometimes, people just don't want to do their job. As a head of staff, it is your job to either make them get to work or if they are too unruly, to demote them. Every head of staff has a console in their office that allows them to demote employees. If an employee is causing trouble, despite numerous warnings, bring them to your office and demote them. A demoted employee is better than one who refuses to work. It is for the best of your department.

Sometimes, your workers will also be on the run and won't report to your office for demotion. If they don't respond or report for demotion in under 5 minutes, they become wanted under Space Law. The problem is not out of your hands and is now for security to deal with. Security can remotely set someone's ID to be demoted, so ask a security officer or the AI for help.

Head of Staff

Your Own Department - Head of Personnel

As a Head of Staff, you have your departments to watch out for. You're in charge of coordinating Service staff on the station. Usually, you can let the station's various Bartenders and Librarians run around and take care of themselves. They are technically under your direct command, but their jobs are usually simple and not particularly vital to the running of the station. Botanists are the most likely ones to need supervision, as they are easily capable of causing the crew massive headaches with their horrific experiments. It is worth checking up on the Chef once in a while, too.

As a Head of Staff, you have your department to take care of! You are in charge of coordinating the service staff onboard the station. While most of them don't need to be constantly monitored, having a communicative boss who checks up on you is always desired.

Due to the vast differences between service staff, take note of the table below. It explains their basic functions, and how to work with them.

Service

Job	Role	Job Slots	Working with your staff
Janitor	Keeping the station clean.		Communicate with them via radio (prefix: z), as they don't have a set workplace. Ask them if their supplies are stocked - you can order more if necessary. Ask them if they are keeping up with cleaning - if not, you can try hiring more janitors.
Chef	Feeding the crew.	1	They can usually be found in kitchen. Make sure they are serving edible food. Starving crew is a non-effective crew. Check if their kitchen is supplied and sanitary. Lack of ingredients results in lack of meals. Ask if they are in need of anything.
Bartender	Serving drinks.	1	They are almost always found inside of the bar. Make sure they are serving drinks to the crew. Ask if they are stocked on supplies. If they are redecorating their bar, you can contact engineering in their name, for assistance.
Botanist	Supplying the chef, RnD, and other crewmembers with various plants.	2-3	They are almost always found inside of their workplace - hydroponics. Make sure they are supplying the chef with plants requested by them. Slacking botany results in a starving crew. Make sure they are not spreading dangerous plantlife among the crew. If they are, it is a good idea to fire employees responsible.
Clown	Entertaining the crew.	1	Communicate with them via radio (prefix: z), as they don't have a set workplace. Whenever you see them, make sure they are at least trying to be funny.
Mime	Entertaining the crew.	1	Mime does not have a set workplace. They do not have the right to speak either. If you need to communicate with them, try to PDA them. Whenever you see them, make sure they are committed to the act and don't speak.
Chaplain	Leading the crew spiritually, assisting security with paranormal threats.	1	Chaplain can often be found in their chapel. Chaplain often try to decorate their temple. If you see them doing that, you can try contacting engineering for assistance with the project. Make sure the chaplain's faith is not endangering the crew as a whole. Whenever a sermon is starting, you can announce it to the crew. If there is a paranormal threat present on the station, check whether chaplain is supplying security with holy water. If they are not, try to resolve the issue created between them.
Librarian	Supplying literature to the crew. Sometimes, writing a newspaper.	1	Librarian is often found in their library unless they are commited to journalism. Check if the librarian is supplying the crew with literature. If librarian is commited to journalism you can try and announce information about their newspaper.
Explorer	Exploring off-station locations.	4	They do not have location station-side. They do not have access to service radio channel either. Sometimes they lack access to any channels. Best you can do is try and PDA them. You can try and organize expeditions, but without any real ways to communicate with them, your efforts may be ignored. They are the most independent job under your wing, and you cannot really influence them in any significant way.

Service Account

As a head of staff, you have access to your department's financial account. Funds inside can be spent in a couple different ways, but remember, they are meant to be spent. Most thoughtful way to spend them is simply funding what service department needs in order to shine. For example, if a botanist is wanting to start a bee colony, you can fund their project and buy said bees. Or, let's say janitors have been robbed from their mops. You can order more for them.

Assistants

As Head of Personnel, you are also technically responsible for station's many assistants, altrough the bond is lesser than with service. Assistants are also mostly impossible to manage, due to sheer amount of them. They have no job slot limit, so there is always a possibility for a new one to join. The best you can do, is try convincing them to get hired into a more important job. From an OOC standpoint, it is worth keeping in mind that many people play assistant specifically to do nothing, and not much can change their mind.

Tips for Being Command

There are few things people dislike more than a bad command team. It puts the whole station at risk and can ruin the game in some scenarios. Here are some tips to prevent you from being one of those command members.

• Know what you're doing. You should spend a lot of time in your department and only become a head once you believe you are ready. A bald head of staff is a disliked head of staff.
• Act confident. You should act confident, even if you aren't, but be careful not to be TOO confident. Be confident in what you know, but listen to what your coworkers have to say.
• Communicate. Communication is key. If your department doesn't know your voice, you aren't doing your job. Make sure people know what needs doing, when, and how. A silent command member is usually an ineffective command member.
• Speak directly to people. While comms is very useful, if something needs doing, point to someone, walk up to them, and ask them DIRECTLY to do what needs doing. This usually ends with them doing what you ask instead of hearing it over comms and simply saying, "Someone else will get it."
• Be approachable. If people don't want to talk to you, they usually won't. Don't be intimidating and be ready to answer newer employees' questions.
• Be polite. It might seem small, but saying please and thank you goes a very long way toward becoming a memorable and respected command member. And if your employees did something good, TELL them they did something good. Whether that's delivering the science disks to cargo in record time, or setting up the solars without being asked, let them know they did well.
• Let your employees know who's in charge. It is important to be kind and polite with your employees, but sometimes, they need to be reminded that YOU are in charge and what you say goes.