Officers' Quarters: Solutions to scheduling conflicts

Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook, available now from No Starch Press.

This week's Officers' Quarters doesn't enjoy the same high drama compared to, say, the story from a few weeks ago of a guild leader who took back his guild using a secret alt. However, it's a common issue that often crops up for both officers and non-officers alike: What can you do when your personal schedule suddenly conflicts with your guild's raid times? It may seem hopeless, but it doesn't always have to be! First, the email:

Hi, Much Confusion. I have three potential solutions for you.

Ask about it

Your schedule changed and there's nothing you can do about that. However, a raiding schedule isn't necessarily set in stone. Don't just assume that you have to quit the guild in order to keep raiding.

Approach your raid leader about the problem. See what he or she recommends. Ask about the possibility of a change to the raid schedule. Ask if anyone else currently has a problem with Fridays. You may not be the only one with an issue.

Sometimes officers aren't aware that a number of people are about to have scheduling conflicts. Or sometimes they've already heard from several people about a night that's not working for them, and they've been debating what to do. It's unlikely, but not entirely impossible, that your inability to attend Friday raids might be the last straw that makes a scheduling change necessary.

I am not advocating that your guild should cater its schedule around yours. What's best for the majority should prevail when it comes to raid scheduling. However, at least give your guild the chance to figure it out, even if they ultimately can't.

That way, if you do wind up leaving in the end, at least they'll know both you and they did everything they could to prevent that outcome.

Create an alt run

Another possible solution would be to start a second raiding group for alts at a time that you can make, and get your raiding in with your guild that way. That really depends on whether anyone else in your guild has the same schedule you do. Still, it's a possibility.

If you do this, you could continue to attend Saturday raids with your main toon, assuming your guild can and wants to accommodate you on a part-time basis.

As an officer, you have a good chance of finding support for an alt run. Start by finding a raid leader for it, if you're unwilling to act as such yourself. Then drum up the roles that you'll need and find a night or two that works for everyone. Even if it's just a once-per-week run, you can still make progress while you learn the Dragon Soul encounters by extending your lockout over two weeks or longer.

A dual-guild solution

My final suggestion, if the other two fail, is to consider moving one of your alts to a guild with a schedule that's better for you. You can continue to be an officer in your guild and to raid with them on Saturday nights, assuming they don't have a problem with this plan.

Obviously, you should be honest with both guilds about your situation. I assume your fellow officers would prefer to have you helping out with officer duties and raiding at least half-time rather than lose you altogether.

I may be wrong. It's certainly not ideal to have an officer split between two guilds (and as an aside, a guild leader should never do this, in my opinion). The only way to know your officers' thoughts for sure is to talk about it.

I don't think this is the best solution, and you should be prepared for some negativity over it, even if it would be undeserved. It's times like this that I think the ability to join multiple guilds with the same character, as you will be able to in Guild Wars 2, is a pretty good idea.

/salute

Recently, Officers' Quarters has examined how strong new leadership can create a guild turnaround, the pitfalls of promising more than you can deliver, and lessons learned from Scott's own guild demise. Send your own guild-related questions and suggestions to scott@wowinsider.com.