Beginners Guide: Leading the Team Pt.2

In Leading the Team Pt. 1, we discussed ways new Team Leaders can help their group during a Megagame. This time, we're going to explore the darker side of leadership.

Dealing with Failure

Let's get the big one out of the way first; your team is going to fail at something during the game. Whether it's missing out on an important meeting, not gathering the right resources or something else that negatively impacts your team; the team is going to fall short of its goals at some point during the game. The most important part of failure is what you do next.

The team can't dwell on ‘what could have been’ or ‘if only we had just.’ As Team Lead, you're the first person the team looks to when things go south. You can quickly turn the sting of defeat into a new goal. If the failure is one that can be fixed, address how it can be fixed so you don’t find yourself in the same place next turn.

You need to regroup and redirect your efforts.

Never Point Fingers

We dedicate a lot of time to Megagames and, sometimes, the mistakes of another player can seem like the reason things are turning against your team. As Team Lead, don’t single out another team member when they have trouble with their role. You need to do what you can to help them work past any of the issues they may be experiencing. It might be something as simple as going over a rule or introducing them to a player on an allied team.

However, it might be something more difficult like dealing with a ‘hostile’ player on another team. (Editor’s Note: I’ve never experienced someone who was openly hostile at a Megagame. Usually, any ‘hostility’ comes from their brief and is simply an ‘in-character’ feeling and not a player feeling. Remember, you can involve Control if the hostility isn’t ‘in-character’.) Approaching this player to try and understand the ‘why’ will be valuable for all parties involved.

Helping a player work through their difficulty will always be more beneficial to the team than simply pointing fingers and blaming someone for a team’s shortcomings.

Pivoting Your Goals

Sometimes, you hit a wall as a team. Maybe the objective the team has been pursuing slips out of your reach. Maybe your grand plan is proving to be too much for the team to accomplish.

How you respond to these walls depends on how deep into the game you. If it’s still early in the day, the team can find a new grand plan to follow. If it’s nearing the endgame, it might be time for the team to hitch their wagon to another team’s plans.

Realizing it’s time to abandon a goal the team has been pursuing all day can be tough. Everyone has poured so much effort into it but it’s important to see the writing on the wall.

If it’s still early in the game, you can learn from the mistakes made in the team’s original plan. As Team Leader, rally the team together and work towards establishing a new goal.

Those late game pivots are times like these are where the team’s interactions with the other teams becomes even more important. What teams are your team close with? Who needs the resources your team has gathered? The way you pivot can bring around a much better endgame for the team than sulking around after missing your moonshot.

In Leading the Team Pt. 3, we'll discuss delegation and empowering your teammates during a Megagame.