The manager of an esport team is both a Swiss, a reaper, and a player on the pipe. This could be the end of a review article on one of the most versatile professions in the esports industry, but many people probably want to know what duties a good employee should perform in this position and why he needs to be able to do a little more than a lot.
What You Need To Know To Become An Esports Team Manager
In recent years, the offensive nickname “water carrier” for managers of all stripes in the esports industry has become less and less common. Previously, a person who was conditionally called a manager performed exclusively household functions: order a taxi, iron a T-shirt in front of LAN, brew Doshirak and, of course, do not forget about that very water, because it is vital for young talents who rarely come off the computer chair.
Esports grew and developed, and with it, the tasks of managing an esports team grew and multiplied at an accelerated pace. First, scheduling was added, both personal and team, then organizations began to take responsibility for obtaining visas and other documents, for the collection and execution of which the manager is also in many cases responsible. Buying tickets, renting rooms for boot camps, checking into hotels, scheduling communication with the press, controlling media activities, and even organizing team leisure no longer depend on gamers – these issues are dealt with by the one who is supposed to by status and position. However, the responsibility for ordering a taxi and the need to keep track of T-shirts on LAN has not gone away either – so those who are mentally ready to release the team on stage in an unironed jersey are closed to management.
An important difference between a good manager and a bad one is fortitude and a persistent (ideally Nordic) character. Coldness in decision-making and the ability to stand up for yourself and the team are vital in cases of the classic “purse”, which esports cannot do without in 2021.
At the same time, character alone to defend the honor and dignity of the tag will not be enough. If your team is “offended”, you need not only to ram to a solution that is beneficial for the roster, but also not to step on mine in the rules of eSports competitions. Some experienced managers perform their duties so masterfully that they find dangerous traps in the documents from tournament operators, neutralize them, and “do not look at the explosions” that less attentive colleagues arrange.
One of the most curious situations describing the total inattention of eminent roster managers occurred during Dota Pro Circuit 2021: Season 2 for Europe. Then it turned out that ESL slightly changed the regulations, allowing coaches to communicate with the team during the games, but not all the people responsible for the documentation read the letter from the tournament operator – and as a result, they ended up in a losing situation. So ignoring routine duties led to a scandal. Alliance manager Maria Gunina, who nevertheless read about the changes and informed the team about them, even joked about this:
There is a lot of routine in the profession of an esports roster manager, and you need to be ready for it. Organizational talent, communication skills, stress resistance, time management skills, ability to analyze and other qualities should not be just a line in the resume – without them, you will not succeed in this position.
By the way, many people think that a manager should also be a good psychologist, able to hear esports players and help them sort out their emotions. Perhaps this approach takes place in some teams, but it is not required. Back in 2018, former Virtus.pro Dota 2 manager Roman Dvoryankin noted: “The manager lives with the players 150-200 days a year, but he has clear instructions that it’s not his job to try to resolve something. He is not their older brother and not their mother.
I would also like to add a little about the qualities that can harm you in the career of an esports team manager. First of all, this is a conflict: scandals within the squads happen regularly, and sometimes it is difficult to decide who is right and who is wrong in them. The manager should be a machine that stops any squabbles, not a fuel for a quarrel.
And What Are The Pitfalls?
There are also quite a few of them. For example, lack of sleep and eternal jet lag during international LANs, with the difference that cyber sportsmen at least sometimes have the opportunity to take a break right after the flight, while you rush around unfamiliar locations, solving organizational issues. There is also the need to be a part-time professor of divination to predict risks and changes on the scene, as well as a little mastery of the profession of a laborer who, at the right time, will fix a clogged sewer or eliminate an air conditioner flood, because the master cannot be called until the morning. Not everyone is ready to work with their hands, but the team manager usually has no choice – you have to do everything.
With the development of public awareness of eSports, managers also began to put forward requirements for media activity. Previously, people in this profession were more often in the shadows, engaged only in organizational moments, and did not appear in the information field. Yes, there have always been bright stars in top teams whose opinion was significant, but usually, their influence was directly affected by the tag: everyone is interested in what the manager of NAVI and Virtus.pro says, but not the “water carrier” from the tier-3 team. Now the list of speakers whose words are taken seriously has expanded significantly, and every organization already believes from the tier-2 stage that the manager should at least periodically give comments to the specialized media or start a group in Telegram.
In addition, sometimes a manager is driven into a situation where he must clearly distinguish between personal and corporate. For example, not kicking players the day before the end of the transfer window seems to be so easy. Why do managers sometimes have to make such unpopular decisions in the community? The reasons can be different – from a plan not to give a good player to competitors, but at the same time strengthen their roster, to banal financial turmoil, due to which expensive contracts for eSports stars become beyond the reach of the organization. Sympathy for the players with whom you have become friends is not the place at such moments.
Should a manager understand the game if he manages a Dota 2, LoL, CS:GO, or other rosters? The question is rather complicated since high MMR or knowledge of the mechanics will not particularly affect, but at the same time, it is still impossible not to have the slightest idea of what is happening on the gamers’ screen. I believe that in the CIS, the manager of the squad (not the organization) should have basic knowledge of the discipline to at least understand the logic of the player’s actions. It is worth noting that the various events that take place in the game also need to be taken into account. For example, the release of a new patch will always affect the composition, and the schedule of activities will also depend on the schedule for the release of updates.
How To Get The Necessary Skills To Become An Esports Manager
There are quite a few subtleties in the work of an esports team manager, which can be learned in several ways. Most often, a manager is not the first rung on the career ladder of a person who has entered the industry. Either such an employee has many years of playing in some discipline behind him, or experience in other positions, such as an SMM specialist or (ideally) a junior assistant to another manager.
In addition, any manager must accumulate knowledge through tremendous curiosity: any incident in the industry should be considered from all sides, gather the opinions of the participants and build a plan in your head on how to deal with a similar situation if it happens to your team. Although observation is not a panacea: some bumps still have to be stuffed on their own. In the profession of an esports team manager, stress resistance and the ability to make non-standard decisions at the moment will come in handy.
You can also get the skills of an esports manager in educational institutions that train such specialists – every year there are more and more of them. In good courses, you will be given the necessary theoretical material and a minimum practical base, which is enough to avoid making the most stupid mistakes in your work.
In 2021, such courses are being launched by the RANEPA Institute of Industry Management. Based at a state university, students will be able to receive a certificate of professional development established by the RANEPA in the specialization “Management”. Students can also choose the “Esports Squad Manager” course, where the leading teachers are Pavel Golubev, Director of the eSports Development Association, and Evgeny Olenev, co-founder of Electronic Mushroom and former community manager of Electronic Arts.
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