Head of Staff

If you are interested in playing head of staff, this page will cover some general advice on how to play the role on this server in a way that is fun for everyone. Keep in mind that Virgo is not a very action oriented server, heads are not at risk of assassination, major emergencies are rare and there aren't cults or revolutionaries building in your department. Therefore, more than anything, a head of a department is a manager. A bad head of a department has the potential to ruin the fun of a department more than anyone else. Nobody cares if a chemist is slow or still learning how their machines work, but heads can have a real effect on others. So, it is good to know what makes a fun head of a department.

Should My Character Be A Head?

Most importantly, a majority of characters shouldn't need to be head of staff - it's actually not going to give you any benefit or authority over what your character naturally has in social situations. It shouldn't be seen as progression endpoint of a character, but instead a facet explored in game if you want to be one. Especially characters who are intentionally silly, rebellious, scatterbrained or disorganised make for very poor heads of staff. It may be better to have a separate character who was hired AS head of a department, rather than working their way up.

• For a start, only characters that are over the age of 25 are allowed to be a head of staff, there are no exceptions to this.
• A head should be familiar with the functions of their department, but do not need to know how to do every task.
• A head should be organised and have good communication skills. They should also be calm and collected under pressure; nobody on the crew wants to deal with a Head of Security that has a meltdown the moment their authority is even slightly challenged.
• A head of a department should have had the time to get those qualifications. They should have either managerial experience or deep familiarity with their department. Be cautious about becoming the head of a department that your character said they knew literally nothing about a week earlier. The raw playtime requirements and actual experience required rarely match up.
• Realistically, a character should only be the head of one department at a time, though this is not a hard rule. You may run the risk of running foul of Rule 14 if one character has too wide of a skillset. Being the head of one department as well as either the HoP or Captain is a more reasonable thing to do.
• A character that works on the Talon must NOT be a head of staff on the main station.
• A head is not necessary for a department to function. Do not feel you need to jump a character to a head of staff position just because nobody else is playing it, especially if you're not familiar with the department's duties.

How To Be A Good Head Of Staff

First off, remember that you are the manager of the department, and that is how you should act.

• The most important aspect of being a head of staff is delegation of work.
  • In most circumstances, a head of staff should NOT being doing the ground work of the department unless they have nobody in their department able to do that task.
  • For example, a Chief Medical Officer should not starting making medicine whilst there is a chemist working on it, at least without asking politely. If somebody needs a leg bandaging, and there is a doctor nearby, they should offer that work to the doctor before doing it themselves.
  • If nobody is available to do the job, then by all means the head of the department can pick up the slack.
  • If there is any sort of away mission being formed, the head of a department should be the last person to be going on it. They should be the one to stay back and hold down the fort, whilst enabling their subordinates to partake in the away mission if they wish to do so.
• Communicate with your colleagues.
  • In even the most minor of emergencies, the head of the department should be the one asking who is available to do the work, and if there are multiple tasks that need doing, splitting the work appropriately between their crew and themselves.
  • You are the only one in your department with access to the command channel, you need to both relay information from your staff to the other heads where it is relevant, and also relay information to your staff that they may not be aware of.
  • Sometimes, your subordinates will know more about some particular detail of your department than you do, especially if you are playing the head role as more of a managerial position or are very new to it. Listen to them if they offer their input, it may save you (and everyone else) a lot of time and energy.
• Support your department on an administrative level.
  • You should be making sure that your staff has everything that it needs to function properly. If something is missing, work to arrange for it to be fixed. Of course, this does not bar your staff from doing the same but you are more responsible for it.
  • When complaints are made against your staff, you should get involved with it. Stand up for your staff if they aren't clearly in the wrong, try to avoid somebody being accused from being dogpiled, hear their side of things.
• A good head of staff can act as a good example to newer members of the department, and they often take a direct role in teaching them. This is especially true if everyone else is busy.
• Finally, you are the one with the most power in the department. Make an effort to make sure your subordinates are enjoying the game. It's very easy for a head to turn a department toxic.

As a side note: You are allowed to go an scene as a head of staff. You do NOT have to clock out to go and scene, though it might be polite to do so if it's something less spontaneous, but your office is extra cosy and typically has privacy features for a reason. Being clocked in as a head and having that office access can offer useful scene hooks, with people both inside and outside of your department.

When To Take Charge

There are times that a head of staff needs to take charge in their department.

• In a major emergency a head of the department should make sure that everybody is organised, that they have everything that they need. If there is conflict between who is doing what work, then the head of staff should put their foot down and delegate people to specific tasks. Make sure people have something to do so they're not standing around aimlessly and getting in the way.
• In disputes between their staff a head should try to mediate the issue and prevent the argument from escalating. If this is proving to be a more serious issue, such as an OOC issue between players, then it should be ahelped so that server staff can mediate it.

What Makes A Bad Head Of Staff

• A head of staff who takes all the work from their department is very frustrating to deal with for their staff, as there is an abuse of the power dynamic here where the crew don't have the authority to stop their head from taking work from them.
• A head of staff who micromanages every aspect of their department is, at best, annoying. At worst, it can prevent people from engaging in RP! Only give out orders where you need to. This extends to Heads of Personnel micromanaging Cargo, and Site Managers micromanaging everyone.
• Acting as the "Be all and end all" of the department, as some sort of "super star" doctor or "action hero" security, is not only a poor character but looks very silly from other people's perspective. If you are the most knowledgable around, that's fine if it's true, but don't treat being the head as some badge that you are the best staff member about.
• Treating your own knowledge as absolute, incontrovertible truth and fact. If you are new to the position (and to the game in general), odds are you do not know all the little idiosyncrasies of the department. If you haven't played for a very long time, things may have changed in your absence; something you relied upon may no longer work, or something new and useful that would significantly optimize your previous procedures may have been added. In either case, if you refuse to listen you may end up making a fool of yourself.
• Conversely, not knowing enough about your department's duties. If a major accident happens your subordinates may look to you for help and guidance, and if you have no idea how to handle the situation then you may end up saddling your character with a reputation for incompetence.
• Demanding that a staff member who is in a scene should return to the department for any reason. This is why they're here, don't try and ruin scenes for your own RP, and don't criticise people for having been in scenes when you wanted them around.

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	Medical	Chief Medical Officer, Medical Doctor, Paramedic, Psychologist, Chemist,
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