Action Plan

[Inseriousity.]

Last year, I made a feedback thread for senior management, requesting an action plan. Despite reassurances that it would be forthcoming, general management have continued to be snooty about this idea. For that reason, I am making this thread again on the anniversary of the last thread. Last time, the thread tended to focus on the ideas I suggested so this time, I will focus on the reasons why I think we should have 1.

AGM work is project-based

If you've ever wondered what an AGM actually does, the day-to-day work of an AGM is rather sparse. You talk to managers, maybe a bit of admin here and there, send out PMs if there are any issues that need addressing. 90% of AGM work though is about working on projects. Either brand new ideas that take planning and systems designed that'll make it appealing to whoever it's targeted towards (staff, members, particular forums etc) or reinventing/redesigning things already in place or preparing for new big events that are coming up. Naturally, these projects take time and sometimes you'll be working on it alone (although to be fair to current general management team, they seem to work more like a team nowadays). The problem with this is that it can breed laziness. If no-one knows you're working on something and it becomes too difficult then it is easy to lay it one side and "come back to it later" with the inevitable consequence that it never gets done. With an action plan, the public will know the rough idea of what projects general management are working on so it adds accountability to these projects. If something isn't done then the public will know and they can ask for an explanation as to what has stalled it.

The feedback forum is not a pack of vultures

Which brings me neatly to paragraph 2. I believe a huge reason why this action plan has not been released is two-fold. One of the reasons is that I think there's a perception that the feedback forum is vicious and it is best not to do anything that can give them a reason to moan and rant. Writing down a plan then not following through on it means you open yourself up to scrutiny. However, I believe the characterisation of the feedback forum is rather unfair. There is evidence to suggest that Habbox members will commend a trier even if the idea doesn't work out (see first achievements system feedback thread for an example of this, myself excluded). Members got more critical of the idea later on when there wasn't much progress being done to improve it. Perhaps if they knew what was going on "behind the scenes", they'd be more forgiving. If an idea stalls or, for whatever reason, isn't released according to plan, I do not think members would swoop in like vultures and tear off your limbs. I reckon they'd ask for the reasons why and then suggest ideas that might then provide the lightbulb moment that allows the AGM to continue with it rather than the usual "ah it's too difficult" where it vanishes into the back of the AGM's head, never to be seen again.

Lack of ideas

Another reason is that there may be a lack of ideas so posting an action plan would expose that there isn't a huge list of ideas/projects to work through. I believe the action plan has been misinterpreted so I'll post what I think would be suitable.

General management works on projects.
The action plan lists those projects (not each department manager, just general management as I believe it's here where these projects are able to be most radical and also as a result more likely to fall to the wayside). Maybe 3-4 projects per general management a quarter.
Every quarter, a new action plan is posted with the results of the previous 1 (along with an honest explanation as to why any projects on the plan did not work out).
Community can share their input and see if any failed projects could be revived.

I sincerely hope no-one thinks an average of a project a month is a huge burden.

Got to keep everything a secret

There's also the belief that you've got to keep everything secret from the community because it means they're surprised when something brand new is released. It's true that ideas have a "novelty factor" that needs to be taken into account where members will flock to it because it's something new. However, if an idea dies because it's a secret then we'll never know if it could've brought long-term benefits to the community. It might've failed and no-one gives a toss about them (I've had plenty of those ideas: Radio plays, Habbox Trade Team) but we'd never know because it was never brought to the public's attention. Basically, you don't have to keep everything a secret. When I say 'projects', I don't mean events, for instance. I mean the projects designed to be long-term or permanent so events could still be a surprise as they only provide a short-term benefit. If members knew about projects, they'd be able to help and that accountability would probably provide a kick up the butt to general management to work through obstacles and get the idea in place. Who knows how many good ideas that might've been perfect for Habbox's revival have fallen by the wayside because we just don't know about them?

Habbox needs radical action

Radical ideas are difficult. It's so much easier to tinker round the edges rather than work on an idea that'll change Habbox with no guarantee that it'll even work. I believe strongly that while I wouldn't say Habbox is dying, I believe it's lack of any sort of plan will slowly strip away its userbase. I also do not believe that bureaucratic changes to Habbox are the answer (and is often the easier option that AGMs, managers and sometimes even members come to). Yes, you may merge, close, have a radical overhaul of staff roles or keep changing the rules but ultimately, Habbox needs new people to take the place of the older ones and to do that, you need to provide services that appeal to them and keep them coming back. There were 106 events in October 2014 compared to 214 the previous year. This steady decline of activity on Habbo will ultimately mean Habbox will struggle to attract new users. I believe that's why the projects that AGMs work on are so important and why we should not be so careless to let them be thrown away.

This is why we need an action plan.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Plans are usually doomed to fail, or take too long or aren't possible. I can see why General Management want to avoid such schemes (usually paragraphs full of writing and nothing else) as would I. If V7 is the main problem in whatever departments/people want moving forwards, why not simply have the forum fundraise via VIP payments to pay somebody (non-Habbo) to design us a new site with new features? That would be my idea.

Avoid big plans/projects, they rarely work and usually just suck the motivation out of people.

[lawrawrrr]

Skimmed thread. We're not lazy and have all made radical changes since we've been in the role. We discuss things with each other, managers and select staff until it becomes public. As far as I'm concerned, that's not going to change.

A lot of our bigger plans are halted or delayed because of staff leaving or generally being not great (v7 delay, etc) so publishing a schedule would just open us to more ridicule when it's not our fault.

Plans are that for a reason - we don't say exactly what we're doing for the same reason you kept Hunger Games on the DL until it came out - so it's exciting when it does!

I'll reply fully to other bits later but suffice it to say I have my own list and schedule which you may call a "action plan" but it will not be published to the public.


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[Inseriousity.]

I disagree completely. Habbox needs ideas. Projects are what moves Habbox forwards, what it needs to do to attract new people or reenergise older members, and it wouldn't need a huge ton of writing. In fact, that's another myth about the action plan. Here is how it could look (I'm going to use ideas we've had implemented or tried):

Habbox Action Plan: Q1

Chris

- Achievements System
- Staff Challenges

Laura

The Box

Shoned

Official Rooms - Habbox Hallway

We wouldn't need huge detail on it. If someone wants to, they could easily ask. Here's how the next plan 4 months later would look:

Habbox Action Plan: Q2.

Chris

Achievements System
Didn't go to plan due to massive admin work needed to run it.
Staff Challenges
New idea here

Laura

The Box
New idea here

Shoned

Official Rooms - Habbox Hallway
Didn't quite go to plan because rooms did not advertise as requested.
New idea here

It'll be ideas they'll be already working on so it's not exactly anything new they wouldn't be doing anyway.

- - - Updated - - -

When you have fully read it, you'll understand I had counter-arguments to all your points there

[Sho]

Hey Official Rooms is still being worked on I forgot to get my tele back from Matt when the HxHD moved so there hasn't been anything to link anyone to the room, but I'm getting that sorted tonight. Some of the rooms have been getting popular, especially the DJ room. I came on at 6am before work and it had 30 people in so some rooms do advertise and get people in, some don't so I'm going to have to re-look at it. I'm also going to increase the adversing of the rooms on our end too and that idea should kick off soon.

There are a couple of things I'm working on regarding increasing community presence. Nothing huge and big that will bring in thousands of new users straight away, but little things that will increase advertising and hopefully capture the interest of people. Not going to list all my ideas because everything is all jumbled up on my notepad between ideas for the community and two events that I'm currently planning, but you'll see some happening within the next few days and others not so soon.

I'm working on things but I can't be working on them 24/7 as some things pop up and I have to drop everything to work on those as they have a strict deadline (fansite events, for example) .

[David]

why not simply have the forum fundraise via VIP payments to pay somebody (non-Habbo) to design us a new site with new features? That would be my idea.

I said similar in the christmas charity thread and they thought i was joking.

[lRhyss]

Plans are usually doomed to fail, or take too long or aren't possible. I can see why General Management want to avoid such schemes (usually paragraphs full of writing and nothing else) as would I. If V7 is the main problem in whatever departments/people want moving forwards, why not simply have the forum fundraise via VIP payments to pay somebody (non-Habbo) to design us a new site with new features? That would be my idea.

Avoid big plans/projects, they rarely work and usually just suck the motivation out of people.

What? Why do you think me, Calum, Drew and another special person have a job here? That's what we're currently working on salvaging/building. Slow moving at the moment due to Assignments/Mock Exams but yeah.

Why does everyone still overlook the site coders

[David]

What? Why do you think me, Calum, Drew and another special person have a job here? That's what we're currently working on salvaging/building. Slow moving at the moment due to Assignments/Mock Exams but yeah.

for all the coders that have been working on it, it's still 2 years past the release date? a little professional help wouldn't hurt.

[lRhyss]

for all the coders that have been working on it, it's still 2 years past the release date? a little professional help wouldn't hurt.

It's not our fault it's 2 years past the release date, we've just recently been taken on when Chris was appointed GM. Although we're all really busy until about the 8th of December (Hand ins/Exams), we're still making progress... Profesional Help is not needed, especially since the Habbox Charity VIP money goes to a REAL charity to help people, not get a Habbo Fansite Version finished.

[scottish]

I don't think undertaker is talking about make the charity one for it, he means a limited time VIP which goes towards a proper coder.