Please Help... Managing Advice

[Irishboomkin]

So this looks like its kinda a class specific HALP form but im posting this here because I have had no one answer me at all and i really need some advice... I tried limiting the post down:

So I am currently running a 10 Man semi-hard core guild on the Alliance on US-Stormreaver. A little background: I was an officer of a guild in Vanilla where we raided MC, BWL, AQ40, pretty much the works. After TBC came out i inherited the GM title for my GM quit WoW right after TBC came out... i followed what he did in the Guild in Vanilla and did a good job taking the guild to see Parts of Sunwell... anyway i sold that account cause i was going to college and wanted to stop playing WoW... in due time I got a new account and rolled my druid on a new Server right after Ulduar. Said i would try running a guild in Cataclysm again and here I am:

We have 30 or so Members and I am having tough time recruiting more members. Every chance I spam Trade but man there are a ton of new guilds all over my server. Right now i am only looking for Raiders to fill the raiding rank i am looking for. I really am out of ideas on how to recruit better. I have a website, I bump my Recruitment on this site and I spam trade.

Another issue is that of the lack of active members I have. There is no desire for people to do heroics anymore even though they are not in their BiS Pre Raiding gear. I really dont want to kick them from the guild or demote them because i really have no replacements ATM. Given 5 out of 10 of the raiders i know personally and are doing an okay job at being active (they also hold officer titles). But i still have no idea how to get others more active in the guild.

Finally my officers... I love them to death, i know 2 IRL (1 is my CO-GM) and the other 3 know the CO-GM IRL. My CO-GM has stepped up recently but the others kinda really don't do anything... like if we had active members they MIGHT run heroics with them to help them get geared but deep down i DOUBT that... their either begging me to run a raid or they are leveling alts. I have been talking to my CO-GM and i might just make them raiders if they continue to do nothing.

We do have a scheduled Raid in BWD this Friday and Meeting right before that... hopefully it will show them how challenging Cata is and hopefully open their eyes. I am a nice GM outside of raids but i am really getting frustrated with people right now. I am thinking of bringing up how i feel at this meeting before the raid or after the raid however i am afraid i am going to Nerd Rage (which i do from time to time).

All of my members are deffinately capable of doing really well in this Expansion!(atleast myself my co-gm and my officers are all 11/12 HM 10 man ICC and I am 10/12 HM 25 man ICC).

In all honesty this is a lot better attempt at a guild then my Wrath guild attempt (mid way through Wrath)... at least people show up to meetings and preset dates from events such as BGs 5s and other stuff like that. But i still feel like we have a long way to go. I really could use peoples advice and anything you say could really help. if u have any advice whether it about recruiting, Activity or my officers please please please help me!

[Michultradk]

One thing I am noticing about this expansion is that some people tend to lay back waiting on others to get geared so they can be toted through a little later. In a small guild this will kill you, our guild is having problems though they are not the same as yours. We had some eletist in that just wanted the BIS for themselves then set back and moaned because no one else was geared to run with them, they are history now though. But I'll admit it did hurt us and set us back raiding.
This is my first expansion, and I can surely tell that some people aren't prepared for it, they are settled into the everyday easy life of old and doing daylies, raiding 2-3 times a week and not being bothered with 2-3 heroics on off nights. A lot of people are not putting forth an effort to beat the curve getting geared so they can help the ones who really wan't to but can't play as much.
So, 1 quesiton would be; The ones that are being lazy that you hate to kick, will they suddenly show up when more people are geared and be happy to be helped through. Set goals for the week and ask them to try to make them, make sure and set them kinda high so they strive a little harder and in the end they may not make them but they are doing better. Ask them to have at least two pieces of JP gear by weeks end, hell thats easy enough. You know, truth is you hate to be like this because people pay to play this game and I can't understand why they don't take it seriously, unless of course they opt for a casual guild, which you sound like you are pushing towards the light-medium end of progression.
You also need to be specific about what their duties are, I'm a specific instruction type guy, I've always said ask for what you want, not what you think you want. Be real specific in your delegations, and don't just give a person a dauntable task, start small and grow weekly until your burden gets smaller, with you being the judge and jury of problems. Set a goal to find one very needed raider, and tell the others that their spots are always up for grabs, they may not take you seriously but say it anyway. The time will come when you do find another person or 2, not being mean but that's what progression is. My GM says that regularly, hell I've even sit out a raid for poor performance, and I knew it too. Deep down inside people know when they are messing up and will push you to see how far they can go, that's when you have to make the decision, are you going to manage, or be managed. Kinda like the tail wagging the dog theory. Of course none of this has to be done in a mean or disrespectful way, if you have their respect they will understand where you are coming from. For one you sound like a great person and taking the time to write this means you care, probably way more than they know at the moment (or deserve) so explain that to them as well. A kinda pep talk to reel people in, get their assumptions of where they think you should be in 2 weeks, but again you have to be the judge and jury in the end.
On recruiting, are you trying to find good players that may not be 85 yet. there are some good people that just haven't had the opportunity to play and when they do they have little help, I find that a lot of people over look this. Some people can't marry themselves to this game but can make raid nights and never miss, with a little help these people will go a long ways in a good guild. This might set you back a little but in the long run could be priceless.

Good luck and hope this helped a little.

[Sebadoh]

One of the regrettable things about the new LFD system is that it's so impersonal. I found my very first raiding guild by pugging 5-mans with some of their members and impressing them (and them impressing me).

So get a tank or a tank/healer combo or something from your guild, and pug DPS from trade chat for 5-mans. It saves them queue time, and gives you an opportunity to find good players that are looking for a guild. If you and your guildies do a good job and are courteous and respectful, people will warm up to you and your guild. It's a pain, you'll probably get some idiots but I guarantee that if you stick with it, you'll find some skilled dedicated players through it.

(And even if you're looking for a tank or healer, many people get tired with those roles and want to play their offspec sometimes, or maybe are DPS mainspec but open to the idea of a switch.)

This obviously won't solve ALL of your problems, but hey it's a start!