Update 6/10/15

You can find a continuation of the articles at www.esportsentrepreneur.com

Introduction to Management Team (Part 2)

You can’t do it all yourself! So many organizations first starting out in eSports,  don’t take the necessary steps to increase their success in having a future.  This is a great first step that can be easily bootstrapped or a paid position.  When the League Championship Series was first started, for me, was the instant that I knew that there was going to be hiccups for participating team.  Several first year teams, complicated situations, and not enough experienced staff. Granted, who could have known what to do? What was the right decision and what was the bad decision? These players were making the majority of the decisions and trying to play the game full time. 

Now that the hiccups have gone public, more professionals and experienced staffing have come into the all major eSports Organizations to ensure the success and that it won’t happen again.  Organizations realize that for a team to be the best, then the players need to focus on what is important and do what they are paid to do, PLAY.

Owner

The person with the profits and the losses, the deep pockets that pay the staff and team, and possibly you! This person tends to be more of the manger and the head of Management Team.  We can expect the owner to make strong decisions and to admit faults. The Owner should be reliable for the image and brand of his organization.

The Owner is the Entrepreneur of his organization and has the possibility to gain a competitive advantages by bringing new ideas and practices into play, to a new and rapidly growing industry. Currently most owners are consider lifestyle entrepreneurs, they start business around what their hobbies are.  They also have larger chance at failure since the majority of the time they do not have a business background.  As the owner, it is your responsibility to make decisions to be successful.   Their choices could make or break the individuality of the team, alongside make it the best organization in history!  Being an entrepreneur, you accept the consequences, there will always be risks when running something on your own as you.

As an Owner, you should look to be well knowledge in all key business functions which include:

• Hiring and Firing
• Financial and Managerial Accounting
• Day to Day Management
• Crisis Management
• Marketing

This is your company! Own it, control it, and make it work.  I cannot stress enough that you will not succeed if you are not devoted to your business. Have the ethics and work to do things yourself and trust your staff to help you and create a strong organization.  Be a leader, not a horrible boss.

Marketing Director

The marketing director is in charge of anything that brings awareness to the brand of your organization.  The meaning and messages behind your logo and team name should be carefully considered and broken down by your marketing director.  Sponsorship’s should go through the Marketing Director as it shall add important advertising to your organization.

Consider all of the following duties for your Marketing Director

• Brand Awareness
• Target Markets for advertising
• Brand Licensing
• Research of your Market (Fans)
• Sponsorship’s & Partnerships

These are all important details that your Marketing Director should be qualified to handle. I recommend having a Marketing Director that isn’t an intern. They handle very important details of your organization and should be trusted fully! Ideally there are lots of different aspects that your Marketing Director should take into consideration while working with the owner.

“Game” Manager

Department of “Game” is the manager of a specific game, their participation within the organization is key to allow coaching staff and team players to conduct their business professionally without wasting valuable time.  Managers should conduct weekly meetings with its staff to address all concerns and implement new ideas.  It is important for Managers to work closely with owners, and other staff members to prepare budgets, discuss new concepts to create a competitive advantage, and prepare logistics for team travel, equipment for practices, and living if applicable. 

Managers should be a leader and be able to make decisions that allows the owner to spend their time wisely.  Managers should work closely with the team and coaches so they act professionally and represent the team how the Public Relations Team and Owner look to have the team conduct themselves.

As a Manager, look to be making decisions and operating around the following areas:

• Finding a competitive advantage
• Prepare budgets (Managerial Accounting)
• Look to innovate how the team practices
• Look to innovate how the team lives
• Control the team public image
• Be a spokesperson for the team
• Work with team sponsors and partners to adequately keep strong relationships
• Logistics on how the team travels and participates in tournaments

All manger positions you will adapt to the needed requirements and job duties.  You will experience things that you might not understand at first but should be able to research possibilities and don’t feel scared to ask for help.  It is your responsibility to manage your team members. 

Content & Social Media Manager

This position takes a lot of communication skills.  It requires you to understand how your PR team, owner, and manager want the organization wants to look in the outside environment.  Content & Social Media Manager can be filled by any member on the team but should also be responsible for monitoring every employee’s public content sharing application to control the atmosphere that is your organization.  Social Media is #1 place for your company to get bad Public Relation!

A Content & Social Media Manger should understand the following:

• All Social Media sites
• Website development
• Follow the fan base and understand their needs
• Work closely with employees to understand the do’s and don’ts

There should be a plan and moderate wording prepared for situation’s that are sensitive to your community.  Never make it someone’s fault, you should work to develop a sense of mutuality between all parties.   Always reread your content as it can be seen from several perspective and have a negative consequences for being taken out of context.

Outsourcing

Owners, Marketers, Managers, and other staff members should always be aware outsourcing small jobs that your team may not be qualified to complete to the quality of satisfaction for your organization.  Outsourcing also enables you to open up new network possibilities as you develop your organization. 

Look to outsource when your budget allows it in the following categories:

• Website Development
• Accounting and Payroll
• Graphic Design
• Small Business Management
• Legal Contracts & Advice

Conclusion

There is a common theme in this Team Management, Communication!  Communication between every staff member is critically important and should not be taken for granted.  I hope that this portion and explanation of each member of your team can help you start to bring together your organization by leading a well diverse group of individuals who work well together and feed on each other’s passion!