Leveling Up A Heroic Team

Your application is a dragon and here’s how we’re going to form a successful raiding party to come out victorious (with minimal casualties!). When entering the field of web development, I discovered that the parallels of building a strong multiplayer gaming community and optimizing companies for success were undeniable. Your quest, should you choose to accept it, is to listen to these parallels and use the lessons to strengthen your biggest asset-–your team–-to build a better company and a better web.

Transcript

1. Leveling Up A Heroic Team Aly Fulton. @sinthetix. RailsConf 2018.
2. Background Currently have been leading Tonic [Lime] since 2012, which has a Guild Wars 2 focus. Previously led guilds and progression raid teams* in World of Warcraft. Software engineer at Sensu, toddler chaser (#momops), and cat herder. *I’ll explain what those are momentarily.
3. Guild Wars 2 is copyrighted to ArenaNet, LLC
4. Guild Wars 2 is copyrighted to ArenaNet, LLC
5. Guild Wars 2 is copyrighted to ArenaNet, LLC
6. Guild Wars 2 is copyrighted to ArenaNet, LLC
7. Recognize a problem
8. THE BOSS (or your business problem) Guild Wars 2 is copyrighted to ArenaNet, LLC
9. It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this...team.
10. Progression raid teams Group with shared goal of tackling difficult objectives.
11. Progression raid teams Improve overtime for smoother/faster completions. Continue to push the goals further and further. Guild Wars 2 is copyrighted to ArenaNet, LLC
12. Progression raid teams Have different levels of commitment.
13. Progression raid teams HARDCORE
14. Progression raid teams SEMI-HARDCORE
15. Progression raid teams CASUAL
16. Assemble your team
18. Importance of shared values Cultural Fit vs Value Fit
19. Importance of shared values Members should align with group’s concrete values & goals. Mismatch results in a negative experience for everyone.
21. Team composition Every role is important and has a purpose. Treat them that way!
22. Guild Wars 2 is copyrighted to ArenaNet, LLC
23. Diversity is a necessity.
24. Team composition Invest in inexperienced, passion can imitate experience. Balance new talent with experienced people.
25. Utilize strengths So obsessed with what’s best, we forget what just works.
26. Sometimes the best is what people are the most comfortable with.
27. Take the lead
28. Strong leaders Are both guides and servants. Guild Wars 2 is copyrighted to ArenaNet, LLC
29. Strong leaders Build teams up by building individuals up.
30. Strong leaders Motivate and drive. Guild Wars 2 is copyrighted to ArenaNet, LLC
31. Strong leaders Keep the team working together. Guild Wars 2 is copyrighted to ArenaNet, LLC
32. Communicate Effectively
33. “Clear Vent!”
34. Clear communication Important info is easy to find, without noise.
35. Clear communication Central information base.
36. Find what works
37. World of Warcraft is copyrighted to Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
39. Minimum viable whatever Start with meeting the minimum, then move up from there.
40. Experiment! Time and freedom to experiment is an important learning tool. Guild Wars 2 is copyrighted to ArenaNet, LLC
41. Experiment! What works for others might not work for you.
42. No one way to do things, but some things definitely work better than others.
44. Blameless Your team needs to feel comfortable making mistakes. Treat “failures” as learning experiences.
46. Blameless Large-scale failures are rarely the result of one person.
47. World of Warcraft is copyrighted to Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
48. Optimize! Look at your logs & metrics to find areas to improve.
50. Maintain happiness
51. People stay where they feel safe.
52. Guild Wars 2 is copyrighted to ArenaNet, LLC
53. Safety Boundaries & consequences should be as explicit as possible. Code of Conducts need to be enforced.
54. Safety Review values/CoC in the recruiting process to avoid conflict.
55. Inclusion & sense of belonging If people don’t feel like they belong, they leave. Guild Wars 2 is copyrighted to ArenaNet, LLC
56. Inclusion & sense of belonging Cliques are inevitable, but try to avoid them anyway.
58. Celebrate Recognize and reward your teams for their success. Guild Wars 2 is copyrighted to ArenaNet, LLC
59. Burnout Balance team goals and team health. Guild Wars 2 is copyrighted to ArenaNet, LLC
60. Burnout Recruiting & re-training takes more effort than giving breaks. Time off is good for everyone!
61. High turnover leads to high failure.
62. Reputation management Toxic members representing you damages your reputation.
63. Reputation management Positive impact on community, positive impact on your image. Guild Wars 2 is copyrighted to ArenaNet, LLC
64. Reputation management Good, earned rep means easier talent recruitment & retention.
65. Continuous Improvement
67. A sum of parts Coordinated at both individual and group levels.
68. Promote growth Help people grow in areas they struggle with.
69. Promote growth Remove people who have no interest in cooperating.
70. Evolve Change is inevitable so choose to embrace it. External and internal needs will change and you will need to change with them.
71. Worst thing you can say: “we’ve always done it this way and we’re going to change.”
72. Last step: Get them lewts! Guild Wars 2 is copyrighted to ArenaNet, LLC
73. Guild Wars 2 is copyrighted to ArenaNet, LLC
74. Guild Wars 2 is copyrighted to ArenaNet, LLC
75. Guild Wars 2 is copyrighted to ArenaNet, LLC
76. Guild Wars 2 is copyrighted to ArenaNet, LLC
77. Guild Wars 2 is copyrighted to ArenaNet, LLC
78. Thank you <3 Guild Wars 2 is copyrighted to ArenaNet, LLC