Announcement: Group Mod Challenge
Hello Moderator Team
I’ve got a challenge for you! Are you ready?
- Take a look at the communication styles as shown in the image above. Which four of the styles fit your communication style best? Let us know that in the comments below!
- Find a mod to partner up with to go mod and foster healthy conversation in the chat rooms for half an hour at least 6 times in a two-week span.
- Observe and take notes on the communication approach of your mod partner and the mod partner will be doing the same for you. (Please note that communication styles and approaches can and will vary and that’s alright!)
- Participate in the Group Mod Zone Room and compare your notes and share with fellow mods to learn about each others’ communication styles. Also, share the vibe of the room you both were modding to share in the Mod Room. The vibe of the room here means how was the room environment at the start of joining and when you left. You could share it on a scale of 1-10 where 1 would be “Meh” and 10 as “Awesome”.
Your mod partner can be:
- Any community moderator on shift (just let them know 1-1 before you join as a partner with them on their shift).
- A fellow community-centered chat room moderator of the same community who could be present at the same time as you will be able to participate in the room.
- A global moderator who could be present at the same time as you will be able to participate in the room.
To complete the challenge of visiting and moderating the rooms at least six times in a two-week span, your mod partner can be different if the same mod partner can’t be present. If you have more than one partner, you will simply take notes of different mods' communication styles and approaches and share them with them and fellow moderators in the group mod zone.
Every time you complete one session, drop it in the comments of this thread to log your active participation.
The goal of this challenge:
- Identify your own communication approach in the group dynamics and how it changed/evolved as the situation in the room changed.
- Identify how having a partner with you changed/ helped to foster a supportive and compassionate environment in the chatroom.
- What were the challenges? What surprised you? What type of communication approach works best for you?
At the end of this two-week challenge, you will receive information for the next one! And at the end of the quarter, the top 3 chat room moderators who complete all the challenges successfully will be awarded the most prestigious award: Award-Winning Mod!
Criteria of Award-Winning Mod
- Being passionate about group support chat rooms
- Being compassionate and engaging with the community members
- Being professional and ensure the safety of the room
- Using active listening and de-escalation with all chat participants.
- Being supportive to the fellow chat room moderators and room supports
- Being an open-minded communicator
- Being yourself and having fun while being there in the rooms.
Fun fact! To this day, only 12 chat room moderators have earned this exclusive award! And for extra incentive, every chat room moderator will be awarded 100 cheers per activity they complete.
I am signing up for the challenge and I invite every moderator to accept the challenge too! May we grow together as the best moderators of the community!
Activity #3
Partner - @vivelespatates
Date - 16 april 2021
Time - 6:50 pm
Room - support room 24/7
Notes : vive uses their active listening skills and include the group in problem solving. What I liked most was they have been a calm presence and offering a fair amount of focus to all participants. At the beginning I let them (Vive) know I'll be more leaning back with moderation. So we both knew we wouldn't interfere or overwhelm the group with responding to the same issues if something happened. I used gentle reminders when I felt I had to.
I observed myself leaning back and going with the flow of the chat. I shared a resource about mindfulness and asked how people feel about it. Some might look into it at some convenient time.
Vive is a great encourager and mentor. I enjoyed moderating with them.
Activity #20
Partner: @VerseArt
Session date: April 18th, 2021
Session time: 11:30am-12:00pm
Room: Family & Caregivers
Notes: Thank you for co-hosted the pop-up session with me! It was a great session. After a quick discussion, we came to the conclusion that I was a socializer during the session. Which caught me by surprise as I've often been told I'm anything but a socializer, as my usual style is some where between thinker and relator. We also came to the conclusion that Verse's style was between socializer and relator.
Activity #1
Partner: @richuyulin
Session date: April 18th, 2021
Session time: 11:30am-12:00pm
Room: Family & Caregivers
Notes: We organized a pop-up chat with ice-breaker questions. As richulyuin wrote, my role was between The Relator and The Socializer and their role was more of The Socializer.
It was a wonderful session. Thank you for inviting me!
Activity #21
Partner: @CommunityModElliot
Session date: April 18th, 2021
Session time: 9:00pm-10:00pm
Room: Sharing Circle / Support Room 24/7
Notes: During this hour, I was hosting Healthy Habits session while Elliot was leading SR check-in. It was interesting to see how his style of hosting differed from mine when it came to hosting check-in sessions. I still stand by my previous observations of Elliot is a socializer while I'm a mix of thinker and relator. ^_^
Activity #22
Partner: @jovialButterfly6752
Session date: April 18th, 2021
Session time: 11:00pm-11:30pm
Room: Member Community Room
Notes: Thank you for co-hosting fun icebreaker event with me. I'm glad you want to take initiative to help make MCR more inclusive for all the members. We came to the conclusion that both of us were socializers during the session. Which was surprising for me, considering I'm rarely considered a socializer, haha.
Activity #23
Partner: @PeaceLoveandPaws
Session date: April 19th, 2021
Session time: 1:00pm-1:30pm
Room: Family & Caregivers
Notes: Thank you for co-hosting the pop-up icebreaker session, and sharing resources with me. I learned a lot! During the session, I noticed that both Paw's and my moderation style was a mix of socializer and relator. I'm glad the members enjoyed the session. 
Activity #24
Partner: @CommunityModElliot
Session date: April 19th, 2021
Session time: 9:00pm-10:00pm
Room: Sharing Circle / Support Room 24/7
Notes: Hehe. Another 'activity' done just by doing what I normally do. During this hour, I was hosting Healthy Habits session and Support Room check-in. The support room check-in was unusually quiet so I was able to manage hosting 2 sessions mostly by myself. I was glad Elliot was around to help out though. I still stand by my previous observation, Elliot is a socializer, and I'm a mix of thinker and relator.
Hi everyone, I hope you are well. I appreciate all the participants in this challenge and how you all are learning about each other communication and room environment. Thank you 
This is to remind all of us that just one more week left to complete this challenge as the next week, a new challenge will be up for everyone.
Here are some stats that you may like to see
a. Active participants of this challenge so far and the count of sessions they did
b. # of messages sent in the member chatrooms this month so far (Click here to open in a new window)
Challenge is still open for all chatroom mods! Please participate and learn about each other's communication style as a team.
I appreciate you all for your contributions to keep the room safe and compassionate for all.
Mod Taglist
@AlwaysEli @amiablePeace77 @Amy @AnnaListens06 @AnnaTess @Anusha @Asherwolfice @ASilentObserver @Azalea98 @azuladragon34 @BlindGrapefruit @blitheEmbrace27 @bookworm4 @bouncyVoice4149 @brilliantTurtle89 @CaringBrit @caringPanda45 @CheeryMango @Clara139175 @ColorfuldogsofParadise @CommunityModAlex @CommunityModAnne @CommunityModCharlie @CommunityModEllie @CommunityModElliot @CommunityModJennie @CommunityModLynn @CommunityModMorgan @CommunityModParker @CommunityModRobin @CommunityModSage @CompassionateDreamer8522 @compassionateTree4567 @competentParadise6344 @crystalclearnow @cuteOrange213 @DonaldDraper @DreamTouch @EmmaE @enchantedlove @Erica @gentleSun78 @glowingHeart4796 @Gozzil @Greenchoice1 @hopedreamlove @Ines1229 @Isentropic @Jenna @JessHobson @jovialButterfly6752 @KateDoskocilova @kieran000 @KimsonTheSteveFundYPOC @kindSoul10 @leafycup @Listeningsarinn @LoveLilly @LuLuRings @Mankka @Mimi @MistyMagic @musicalHarmony @optimisticDay8079 @pamharley003 @PeaceLoveandPaws @PoliteOcean @rachsxo @rebecca947 @RebekahRoyal @Rhlexia520 @rhlvrma94 @richuyulin @River @RumpleSteeleSkin @Samar27 @Sher217 @shiningSky3745 @SoulfullyAButterfly @soulsings @Starmedia @starryskies108 @SummerBreeze00 @Sunisshiningandsoareyou @SuryanshSingh @Tyedyedbutterfly65 @VerseArt @vivelespatates @WeedyGarden @Erica @gentlesun @competentParadise6344
Who wants to partner up? 
@AlwaysEli @amiablePeace77 @Amy @AnnaListens06 @AnnaTess @Anusha @Asherwolfice @ASilentObserver @Azalea98 @azuladragon34 @BlindGrapefruit @blitheEmbrace27 @bookworm4 @bouncyVoice4149 @brilliantTurtle89 @CaringBrit @caringPanda45 @CheeryMango @Clara139175 @ColorfuldogsofParadise @CommunityModAlex @CommunityModAnne @CommunityModCharlie @CommunityModEllie @CommunityModElliot @CommunityModJennie @CommunityModLynn @CommunityModMorgan @CommunityModParker @CommunityModRobin @CommunityModSage @CompassionateDreamer8522 @compassionateTree4567 @competentParadise6344 @crystalclearnow @cuteOrange213 @DonaldDraper @DreamTouch @EmmaE @enchantedlove @Erica @gentleSun78 @glowingHeart4796 @Gozzil @Greenchoice1 @hopedreamlove @Ines1229 @Isentropic @Jenna @JessHobson @jovialButterfly6752 @KateDoskocilova @kieran000 @KimsonTheSteveFundYPOC @kindSoul10 @leafycup @Listeningsarinn @LoveLilly @LuLuRings @Mankka @Mimi @MistyMagic @musicalHarmony @optimisticDay8079 @pamharley003 @PeaceLoveandPaws @PoliteOcean @rachsxo @rebecca947 @RebekahRoyal @Rhlexia520 @rhlvrma94 @richuyulin @River @RumpleSteeleSkin @Samar27 @Sher217 @shiningSky3745 @SoulfullyAButterfly @soulsings @Starmedia @starryskies108 @SummerBreeze00 @Sunisshiningandsoareyou @SuryanshSingh @Tyedyedbutterfly65 @VerseArt @vivelespatates @WeedyGarden @Erica @gentlesun @competentParadise6344
@DonaldDraper you could always partner up with a community mod
@DonaldDraper Reached out to you in DM in regards to partnering up. ^_^
@DonaldDraper
Meee too 😃
@Sunisshiningandsoareyou yay
Activity #2
Partner: @DonaldDraper
Session date: April 20th
Session time: 9:30 - 10:00 am EDT
Room: Special Events
Notes: I would say Don was a mix of styles! I could see he was a bit of a Relator in the sense that he is approachable and friendly, very welcoming too! And he takes things steady to make sure he knows what is going on, but also I can see a little perfectionism in Don, which would mean he was maybe a bit of a thinker as well. Lastly, he focused a bit on ‘friendships’ too! I saw him interacting well and so overall I think Don is a Relator, Thinker and a Socializer!
It was nice to see how he mods and engages people in! And as it was my first time in a popup discussion, it was very helpful and nice to see! Thank you for doing this with me Don :p
Activity #1
Partner: @Rhlexia520
Session date: April 20th, 2021
Session time: 9:30 am ET
Room: TCR / Special Events
Notes: I found them to be a Relator in TCR. The room was fast-paced with 25 participants and Lex was poised. At the same time, they found me to be a mix of 3 styles (Relator, Socializer and Thinker). Thank you Lex 