Your Team at a Glance

The staff directory provides a centralised view of everyone working with animals in your operation. Their roles, responsibilities, specialisations, certifications, and contact information. This operational team directory helps you coordinate daily work, assign tasks to the right people, and quickly contact colleagues when needed.

Important Distinction:

• Staff Directory (This Chapter) - Operational teams working with animals daily (farm staff, field researchers, animal care technicians)
• User Management (Chapter 27.2) - SuperUser-only system for managing user accounts, permissions, and access control

Most users interact with the staff directory for day-to-day coordination. SuperUsers manage user accounts through administrative functions.

Viewing Your Team

Access the staff directory to see everyone working in your operation:

What the Directory Shows: Name (First and last name), Role (Their position: Farm Manager, Veterinary Technician, Field Researcher, Animal Care Specialist), Email (Contact email address), Phone (Contact phone number), Status (Active or inactive), Responsibilities (What they're responsible for: specific locations, animal types, operational areas), Specialisations (Areas of expertise: cattle health, wildlife monitoring, breeding programmes), and Certifications (Relevant qualifications: veterinary technician licence, animal handler certification).

Filtering and Searching: Search by name, email, or role. Filter by status (active staff only). Filter by specialisation. Sort by name, role, or recently added.

Use Cases: Find who to contact ("Who handles the cattle at North Farm?"). Identify expertise ("Who on our team has wildlife monitoring experience?"). Check responsibilities ("Which staff members are assigned to the breeding programme?"). Coordinate schedules ("I need to assign health checks. Let me see who's available and certified").

Staff Profiles

Each staff member has a profile containing:

Basic Information

First Name and Last Name. Email Address (Primary contact method). Phone Number (For calls/SMS coordination). Preferred Communication (Email, phone, or in-person).

Operational Information

Role (Their position in your operation: "Senior Farm Hand," "Wildlife Researcher," "Apiary Manager"). Responsibilities (What they're responsible for: "North and West Paddocks," "Cattle health monitoring," "Daily feeding schedules"). Specialisations (Areas of expertise: "Sheep breeding," "Beekeeping," "Wildlife rehabilitation," "Biosecurity protocols"). Certifications (Relevant qualifications: "Livestock Handler Certification," "First Aid," "Veterinary Technician Licence").

Access and Status

Access Level (Basic, Standard, or Advanced: operational permissions for what they can do in Kora). Active Status (Currently working or no longer with operation). Created Date (When profile added). Last Updated (Most recent profile modification).

Why This Information Matters:

Responsibilities help you assign tasks appropriately. If John's responsibilities include "North Paddock cattle," assign cattle-related tasks at North Paddock to John.

Specialisations help you match expertise to needs. If you need someone with beekeeping knowledge, quickly identify staff with that specialisation.

Certifications ensure qualified people handle appropriate tasks. Only assign medication administration tasks to staff with veterinary technician certifications.

Contact Information enables quick coordination. When an urgent issue arises, immediately contact the responsible staff member.

Adding Team Members

Who Can Add Staff Members: Typically managers, supervisors, or SuperUsers depending on your organisational setup and permissions.

How to Add a Staff Member: Navigate to Staff Directory. Click "Add Team Member" or "New Staff". Enter basic information (name, email, phone). Specify role and responsibilities. Add specialisations and certifications (if applicable). Set access level (Basic, Standard, Advanced). Save profile.

What Happens: Staff member appears in directory. Can now be assigned tasks. Their profile is searchable. Contact information accessible to team.

Example: You hire a new farm hand, Alex Johnson, who will handle sheep at South Paddock. You add Alex to the staff directory with Role: Farm Hand, Responsibilities: South Paddock sheep management, Specialisations: Sheep handling, pasture management, Certifications: Livestock Handler Certification, Access Level: Standard.

Now when you need to assign sheep-related tasks at South Paddock, Alex appears in the assignment list. You have immediate access to contact information.

Updating Staff Profiles

When to Update: Staff responsibilities change (promoted, reassigned to different area). Additional certifications obtained. Contact information changes. Specialisations expand. Access level adjustments needed.

How to Update: Find staff member in directory. Click on their profile. Edit relevant fields. Save changes.

Common Updates:

Responsibility Change: John promoted from Farm Hand to Farm Manager. Update role and expand responsibilities to include supervision and planning duties.

New Certification: Sarah completes veterinary technician training. Add certification to profile so she can be assigned medication administration tasks.

Contact Update: Alex gets new phone number. Update phone field so team can reach them.

Specialisation Added: John completes biosecurity training. Add "Biosecurity protocols" to specialisations. Can be assigned biosecurity-related tasks.

Access Levels

Access levels determine what staff members can do in Kora (operational permissions, not administrative access):

Basic: View animals and locations assigned to them. Record observations for assigned animals. Complete assigned tasks. View basic reports.

Standard: Everything in Basic. Create observations for any animal. Create and assign tasks to others. Access more detailed reports. Record treatments (if qualified).

Advanced: Everything in Standard. Manage locations (create, modify). Access analytical features. Export data. Configure operational settings.

Note: Access levels are operational permissions within Kora. Administrative permissions (creating user accounts, system configuration) are separate. Managed by SuperUsers (Chapter 27.2).

Choosing Access Levels: Farm Hands, Field Workers (Basic: focus on assigned animals and tasks). Farm Managers, Senior Staff (Standard: coordinate team, create tasks, broader animal access). Operations Directors, Lead Researchers (Advanced: manage locations, access analytics, export data).

Access levels can be adjusted as staff develop experience or responsibilities change.

Marking Staff as Inactive

When staff members leave your operation:

Don't Delete Profiles Immediately: Historical task assignments, observation records, and work coordination reference the staff member. Deleting profiles breaks these historical connections.

Instead, Mark as Inactive: Open staff profile. Change "Active Status" to "Inactive". Save changes.

What Happens: Staff member no longer appears in active staff lists. Can't be assigned new tasks. Historical records remain intact (past task assignments, observations recorded by them remain connected to their profile). Can still be viewed in full directory if you include inactive staff.

When to Eventually Delete: After appropriate retention period (varies by organisation and regulatory requirements), inactive staff profiles can be permanently deleted by SuperUsers if needed.

Staff Responsibilities and Coordination

Assigning Responsibilities

Responsibilities field helps coordinate who handles what:

Location-Based: "North Paddock and East Paddock," "Wildlife Sanctuary - Section A," "Beekeeping - All apiaries."

Animal Type-Based: "Cattle health monitoring," "Sheep breeding programme," "Wildlife rehabilitation intake."

Task-Based: "Daily feeding schedules," "Equipment maintenance," "Biosecurity protocol compliance."

Combination: "Cattle at North Farm - health and nutrition," "Conservation monitoring - large mammals only."

Clear responsibilities help you assign tasks to the right people. Prevent coordination gaps.

Team Coverage

Staff directory helps ensure coverage:

Planning Daily Tasks: You need to assign morning health checks across three locations. View staff directory filtered by active status, check responsibilities. John: North Paddock (available). Sarah: South Paddock (available). Alex: East Paddock (available). Assign health check tasks to each staff member based on their responsibilities.

Staff Absence: John is on leave this week. Check staff directory to find someone with similar specialisations who can cover his responsibilities. Sarah has sheep expertise. Can temporarily handle North Paddock while John is away.

Urgent Issue: Biosecurity concern at West Paddock. Check staff directory: Who has biosecurity specialisation and West Paddock responsibilities? David fits both criteria. Contact David immediately using phone number from directory.

Specialisations and Certifications

Why They Matter

Specialisations identify expertise. Help you match tasks to qualified staff.

Certifications verify formal qualifications. Ensure compliance and safety.

Examples:

Specialisations: Beekeeping, Wildlife tracking, Cattle breeding, Biosecurity protocols, Equipment operation, Data analysis, Conservation monitoring.

Certifications: Veterinary Technician Licence, Livestock Handler Certification, First Aid & CPR, Wildlife Rehabilitation Licence, Pesticide Applicator Licence, Forklift/Equipment Operation.

Using Specialisations for Task Assignment: When creating a task requiring specific expertise: Identify what expertise needed ("Need someone with beekeeping knowledge"). Search staff directory for that specialisation. Assign task to qualified staff member.

This ensures tasks go to people with appropriate skills. Improves outcomes and efficiency.

Contact Information and Communication

Quick Contact Access

Staff directory provides immediate contact information:

Field Coordination: You're at the office. Need to contact Sarah who's in the field at South Paddock. Open staff directory, find Sarah, click phone number to call directly from mobile device.

Email Coordination: Need to send feeding schedule changes to all farm hands. Filter directory by role "Farm Hand". View email addresses. Send coordinated communication.

Emergency Contact: Biosecurity incident requires immediate veterinary consultation. Check directory for on-call veterinarian. Contact using emergency phone number from profile.

Preferred Communication

Staff members can specify preferred communication method: Email (Prefer written communication, may not respond immediately to calls). Phone (Prefer calls/SMS, faster for urgent matters). In-Person (Best contacted directly on-site).

Respecting preferred communication improves team coordination and responsiveness.

Integration with Task Assignment

Staff directory directly integrates with task assignment (Chapter 26.2):

When creating a task, you can assign it to a staff member from the directory. The system shows active staff only (inactive staff can't be assigned tasks), staff with relevant specialisations (if task specified requires particular expertise), and staff responsible for the relevant location or animal type.

This integration ensures task assignments go to appropriate, available team members.

Best Practices

Keep Profiles Current: Update contact information, responsibilities, and certifications as they change. Outdated directories cause coordination failures.

Use Clear Roles and Responsibilities: Specific descriptions ("Cattle health monitoring at North and West Paddocks") more useful than vague descriptions ("Farm work").

Document Specialisations: Record all relevant expertise, even if not formal certifications. Helps identify who can handle specialised tasks.

Regular Directory Review: Quarterly review of staff directory ensures profiles remain accurate. Inactive staff marked appropriately. New staff added promptly.

Leverage for Onboarding: When new staff join, add them to directory immediately with clear responsibilities. Helps team understand who the new person is and what they'll handle.

Common Workflows

Workflow 1: Adding New Staff Member

Scenario: New farm hand hired to manage sheep.

Steps: Navigate to Staff Directory. Click "Add Team Member". Enter name: Emily Carter. Email: emily.carter@example.com. Phone: +61 400 123 456. Role: Farm Hand. Responsibilities: "Sheep management - all locations". Specialisations: "Sheep handling, pasture rotation". Certifications: "Livestock Handler Certification". Access Level: Standard. Save profile. Emily now appears in directory. Can be assigned sheep-related tasks.

Time Required: 5 minutes

Workflow 2: Finding Specialist for Task

Scenario: Need someone with beekeeping expertise for apiary inspection task.

Steps: Navigate to Staff Directory. Search specialisations for "beekeeping". Results show: Sarah Johnson (Specialisation: Beekeeping, Certified Beekeeper). Assign apiary inspection task to Sarah. Contact Sarah via email from directory to notify of assignment.

Time Required: 2 minutes

Workflow 3: Updating Responsibilities After Promotion

Scenario: John promoted from Farm Hand to Assistant Farm Manager.

Steps: Open Staff Directory. Find John's profile. Click Edit. Update Role: "Assistant Farm Manager". Update Responsibilities: "Cattle operations supervision - all locations, staff coordination, daily planning". Update Access Level: Advanced (needs broader access for management role). Save changes. John's updated profile now reflects new responsibilities and access.

Time Required: 3 minutes