I want you to remember the first section I wrote from this Guild Teacher Guide in which I advised future teachers to form a group of officers. In this installment of the guide we are going to delve deeper into the question of leadership and I am going to try to advise you on how to build and maintain a hierarchy in your brotherhood. This can also be applied to your real life so take note.
The first lesson that I want to teach you today is that you have to delegate, delegate and DELEGATE. In this article, I'm going to try to explain how Guild Officers and Guild Masters can (and should) work together to run a Guild.
A Little History
I want to take a trip back in time to the medieval era, to reflect on the word sisterhood and its history since I think its origin is important. A brotherhood, in the medieval sense of the word, is an association of artists, artisans, or vendors. The Brotherhoods supervised the distribution and production of material goods and regulated the market by deciding what kinds of products were bought and sold. As an example I can put a brotherhood from the Cinquecento, in Venice, the city of the canals. Somewhere in this wonderful city, Tiziano Vecellio has his own shop. This man's vision of himself is that of a craftsman, rather than an artist, who produces goods for sale. He is he Teacher and his signature accompanies most of the products. His employees are also craftsmen, some of them with the same talent as the teacher himself and Officers y Apprentices they worked together to create real works of art. Titian himself may have been in charge of the Madonna's face, but what about the hands?
Renaissance art is an example of cooperation.
Surely right now you are wondering, why so much roll? Good this roll is for you, a would-be Guild Master, to understand that your guild setup is the masterpiece, the way you do things from the start will show your members that you are a capable leader, someone to definitely trust. You will need help without a doubt and the Final product that you've created will pay off when making bands.
Electing Officers
Surely if you take a look at the list of players that are part of your brotherhood, you can recognize some players that you would want them as officers. It is important that the group of officers is not only made up of your best friends. A balance of power is necessary for a PvE guild, and this involves giving people leadership positions that represent different backgrounds and perspectives. The number of officers, should be manageable. I remember in my first brotherhood, the officers were all those who had more than level 60 and of course, people asked for an officer and that was a joke. Here are a couple of tips for making an officer group cash.
1 Size
If your goal is gangs of 10 people, the optimal number of officers, including yourself is 3. 3 is a classic management number since at least 2 will agree when making a decision. This has a drawback if your guild is small as players can feel displaced. However I think this model is quite good in the current game.
On the other hand, if your goal is bands of 25 people, the task is more difficult. It is recommended to have between 3 and 5 officers (including you again). 3 is a good number if you plan to have class leaders or role leaders but if you do not plan to do this it is good to have 5 people to cover all the necessary tasks. After having had Class Leaders right now I do not recommend their use. These types of models worked better before since the specializations were less differentiated and there were more people to organize (of the same type).
2. Diversity of talents
Each of your officers shouldn't stand out in the same way. It shouldn't be 3 healers or 3 tanks. You should include your main Gang Leader in the officers but the other members don't have to be the best players or the best strategists. One of them, at least, must be in charge of managing the web so they must understand computer science if you cannot, do not know or do not want to do it. Try to find people with different interests. Sometimes it does mean searching your circle of closest friends. Must have caution Choosing an officer who has previously been a Brotherhood Master can be very attractive but it must be borne in mind that if he is no longer a Master it is for something and can sometimes undermine the decisions of the officers if he once held power.
3. Diversity of Perspectives
Keep one thing in mind: your guild is a PvE guild so most of your officers' conversations will be about raiding and all your efforts should be focused on progress. However, it is not necessary for you to find officers who share your point of view 100%. In fact it is good that there are different perspectives. In my brotherhood, for example, it is important for almost all officers to make bands, although some preferred to do arenas or battlefields sometimes. Our Raid Leader wants everything to be organized and of course before making the band. The officer in charge of distributing the loot wants everything to be correctamente and that the distribution policies are fair and logical. On the other hand, our recruiting and staff officer makes sure there is Good relations in the brotherhood and makes sure that no one sits on the side.
4. Assign positions
When you introduce your brand new guild to the world, you probably don't have the perfect balance of officers yet. It is recommendable start with one or 2 officers until the bands start. You have to see how the people in the band work but you can't just do all the work from the beginning.
The hierarchy
I am going to give an example that happened to me personally. We have 4 officers who work with you. What do we do now? People get promoted to officers but it is simply symbolic. No clear tasks are assigned and there is no opportunity for leadership. In practice, the teacher leads the brotherhood alone and is in charge of creating the events and deciding who attends the band and who does not. In the end, you end up with a headache every gang night and decide something needs to be done before the pharmacist gets rich at your expense. Here are some tips.
1. Weekly meetings
Schedule meetings at a mutually convenient time and hold one meeting a week. As I say a week can be 15 days but no more than that time. It is important to talk about how the heroics have gone, comment on the expectations, establish the calendar for the week and choose potential recruits. Of course, you also have to comment on the complaints of the members and the way to solve them.
2. Assign tasks
The election of officers is not something symbolic, this is the task of delegating. Choose officers for their different talents. For a guild with about 5 officers, here is an example. Feel free to adapt it to your case but your name is the one that appears at the head of the brotherhood.
a. Band leader and strategist
b. Loot Manager (If you use Loot Council this person is in charge of registering the loot, if DKP is used this person will distribute the loot and the points)
c. Personnel Officer (This officer is in charge of keeping a record of attendance and internal relations)
d. Recruiting officer (obviously not?)
e. Web administrator (Do not underestimate this officer, he is mucho job)
As a Teacher you must directly delegate the questions that come to you. People will want to talk to you too, but if for example a problem arises with the distribution of loot during a raid, it is recommended that the appropriate officer is present when you talk to the player in question. Your officers will specialize little by little.
3. The importance of consensus
When there is a decision to make, especially one that is important, do not break the coconut to try to make it. Speak up and discuss any decisions involving the brotherhood in meetings and let the officers have their say. This is important for 2 things. Because you make other participants in the direction of the brotherhood, and because you also take a burden off your shoulders. There are also times that they can surprise you by taking away all reason, because your decision is completely subjective.
4. To the polls!
If an important decision is not reached, it is your responsibility as a teacher to vote. Except in absurd situations, you must abide by that vow. Remember that if you are a Master it is because the members trust you. If things get out of hand, voting is something that can always cut through discussions.
5. You have to know when is a good time to use your letter
If you are going to be one of equals, you have to know when to end a debate. There are times when the votes can become inconclusive or your officers cannot make a decision. In this case, it is time to make an effort and use your best judgment to do the right thing. Although you should not fall into the error of thinking "It is my brotherhood and I do with it what I want"
Conclusions
It's no fun being the All-Time-Supreme Emperor of a one-person nation. If you want a strong, healthy and happy brotherhood you need a power structure that empowers others. Work on the confidence of your officers and should always treat them with respect. They are both your friends and your co-workers and the unity of the managing team determines in many cases the success or failure of the endgame bands. Players want to believe that their leaders are well organized and fair.