Alex' post on building teamspirit and other stuff

Alexswesnipr · 2016-10-11, 19:20

I really wanted to get this thread out of the way before the signups started. I'm thinking this is for future references as well.

This thread is aimed for those members that have or will have a higher ranking position in the teams. But also for everyone that are willing to invest time and energy into it. If you’re not one of those people - please ignore this post then.

Anyway, in this thread I want to take up all of the actions a team can take to help strengthen the coherence of the team. I don’t know exactly what to call it... Morale-building? Team-spirit? This is something that in my opinion has really been lacking in the newer campaigns and therefore I will make this post to try to inspire the future team leaders. I will try to give examples and I will also rank them according to difficulty and impact.

Squad names: Having a theme on the team's squadnames will give a sense of community. The best thing would be squads coming up with their own names, since that could help strengthen the squad itself too. But if the SCO does choose the names it wouldn't really matter. You can try to take into consideration if your team want to have some bigger theme too. Even just calling the squads Alpha, Bravo, Charlie etc I think would help.
Examples:

Signatures: Same story with the theme here. If the squad names aren't something military you easily just take pictures from some real-life military and use them. Best would be of course to stay as consistent as possible.
Examples:

Team motto/warcry: Pretty self-explanatory. Something that the team could get behind and maybe shout before each battle. It could either be a song or a quote/motto. Something simple and inspiring and/or funny. If done wrong this will make your team cringe but if done right your team will definitely have a morale boost. This one isn't that important but finding the perfect warcry could really give that sense of community. Examples:

Ribbons: Now on to the big one... Ribbons are important because if used in the right way it gives the players that extra boost in acknowledgement. Ribbons must be hard to obtain and given out sparsingly. I think the best way to deal with ribbons is to have officers nominate squad/teammembers that they feel did something extraordinary in a battle. You can have the standard get "10 kills as an infantryman" too but what you need to understand about those ribbons is that it isn't personal, which will weigh more for the individual player and give ribbons value. Ribbons could be given out as a one time thing or if an individual does well on multiple occasions it would be wise to have different tiers of ribbons of some kind, for example: Bronze tier, gold tier, Tier II, Tier III etc...
Examples:

I also believe it is important to decide and award the ribbon as soon as possible after a battle, otherwise the hype will die off quickly. For example: “All ribbon nomination must be submitted within 24 hours at which the latest battle ended. Further submissions will be invalid. After which the awardess will be (decided) and announced within further 24 hours.” This will make the ribbon awards go out approximately the next monday after a battle. It's up to whoever is in charge of the ribbons to not just accept everything too.

The way to reward ribbons is usually done by the guy in charge of them by writing a “Ribbons awarded”-post in the team’s forum. If you want to go the extra mile you can either have a teammeeting and award them there. Or officer meeting and let the officers “hand out” the ribbons personally. The last two isn’t that good in my book since I believe speed is the time with ribbons and those options are a little harder to achieve, but feel free to consider them.

By keeping the exact requirement hidden from grunts will limit any potential in people chasing ribbons during a battle. A personal decision. Best would be of course to have ribbons which isn’t specific.

Propaganda:In my opinion propaganda can be made literally in any way. You can make simple edits of the recent internet memes or make huge artistic posters. Some of the other points will tie into this point aswell. The faster you get your teams signatures out for examples adds a little If you are really dedicated you will make a recruitment trailer for your team. Do you want a slander the other team/leader by simple means? Go ahead. In the propaganda wars I feel that “pretty much” everything is allowed, the boss will of course decide that. Pay attention to what you say and do when you play those public games...All your need in this department is ideas and someone to fullfill them.
Examples: PDI propaganda thread, MRF propaganda thread, PDI propaganda BOOTCAMP, PAC teaser, PAC sign-up video, Last battle montage.

Naming operations and victory post: Before, all of the battles were named in the individual team. The name would later be used in the “victory thread” that was made after each battle - a bragging thread but also a general after action report thread for both teams. For some reason in C10, C11 a general AAR thread was used. Regardless if that thread still is going to be used the winning team can still post their victory post in that thread. The post isn't the important thing here, rather than the making of it.
Example:

Motivational rallies (commander speeches): Before each battle there could be something to really “pump up” the team. It could be a song that the whole team listens to, or whatever. Most common is to have the commander give a motivational speech just before the match starts. It doesn’t have to be long, it doesn’t have to be overly intricate - just something. Depending on the speech its effectiveness is varied. Bonus points for incorporating your team’s team motto/warcry into the speech. I would personally say that it can’t hurt the morale of the team.

It doesn’t have to be the commander that gives the speech every time.

Playing with your team: Apart from playing a lot with your assigned squad you should try to incorporare other members of the team with you. Maybe you are a couple of guys short for your squadtraining and see a few guys on Teamspeak - ask them to join, and vice versa. Part of this is also establishing an enviroment where this isn’t seen as something special. Be inviting towards others, especially new guys.

The officers can organize weekly teamplaying nights too, to get that teamfeeling even further growing.

Deciding teamname and teamlogo: You can see this as sort of an extra. But I wanted to give my thought on it anyway. Teamlogos and teamnames that the teams create themselves will undoubtedly have a stronger resonance within the team, rather something assigned. Problem is, and it’s a big one, is that it will take tremendous resources, not to mention if that there will most likely be someone who will feel left out or unhappy with the final decision. It’s simply alot easier for everyone if the admin and management choose these.

------------------------------------------------

Rankings:

So I think I got it all out of my system now...Yet I’m almost positive that I forgot something.

Some people will think all of this stuff is redundant - and I can understand that. But you don’t have to partake in this at all. If you are however like me and want more than just good game of PR this could be something.

My questions for you are the following:
Is anything that I didn’t mention that you feel is worth mentioning?
Do you agree? Disagree? On what and why?
What is your opinion on what is most important?
Can you provide more examples? (of anything related)

TL;DR: Have a consistent theme going. Speed and quantity is better than quality.

Murkey · 2016-10-12, 18:46

Great post, I personally think the team identity and by extension, propaganda suffered with the faction changes from BlueFor vs OpFor and in comparison to the run of NATO vs CATA (although the faction balance certainly takes precedent here).

Anyway - Great post, lots of stuff that I broadly agree with. Just one thing I'd like to add. Besides victory posters made by each team, which I always liked I have often made posters just for my squad. To celebrate a specific victory or to lionize a player under me that really did something special.

Tied into these team and squad victory posters etc I'd also like to remind every SL and team leader of the value of team 'photos'. Before the match with the team or squad all grouped together it helps with propaganda, discipline and if the players keep it all on local it means the officers have quiet time to organise whatever needs doing. The same goes for nice pics of your squad all kited out before the game or to have 8 guys with HAT kits posing together after a training session etc. These are all just a few minutes work, but probably help.

Cheers, Murkey.

Alexswesnipr · 2017-09-17, 17:01

I'm going to bump this thread for the new season.

Another thing that could be added is teamspeak avatars:
Much like signatures you could have a personalized picture with your squad and team logo on it. This was done in C9.

2016-10-11, 19:20	#1
Alexswesnipr Task Force Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Skåne Posts: 1,371	Alex' post on building teamspirit and other stuff I really wanted to get this thread out of the way before the signups started. I'm thinking this is for future references as well. This thread is aimed for those members that have or will have a higher ranking position in the teams. But also for everyone that are willing to invest time and energy into it. If you’re not one of those people - please ignore this post then. Anyway, in this thread I want to take up all of the actions a team can take to help strengthen the coherence of the team. I don’t know exactly what to call it... Morale-building? Team-spirit? This is something that in my opinion has really been lacking in the newer campaigns and therefore I will make this post to try to inspire the future team leaders. I will try to give examples and I will also rank them according to difficulty and impact. Squad names: Having a theme on the team's squadnames will give a sense of community. The best thing would be squads coming up with their own names, since that could help strengthen the squad itself too. But if the SCO does choose the names it wouldn't really matter. You can try to take into consideration if your team want to have some bigger theme too. Even just calling the squads Alpha, Bravo, Charlie etc I think would help. Examples: Example 1: Team is assigned factions from Europe/Mediterranean - What's more mediterranean than Romans? Name the squads something like: "Praetorians, Centurions, Legionarries" etc.. Example 2: Animal names works good too. But remember to think about a theme... "Eagles, ravens, vultures, sparrows" etc.. Yeah I know, animal names itself is sort of a theme, but there’s no reason not to take it one step further. Example 3: It's also easy to simply choose or have the squad choose a squad out of some company/regiment from a select military/branch/army. "Trident, Iriouquois, Deadeye" (from US Army divisions) etc… Example 4: C9 NATO (german stuff) Signatures: Same story with the theme here. If the squad names aren't something military you easily just take pictures from some real-life military and use them. Best would be of course to stay as consistent as possible. Examples: "Panzergrenadierbrigade 3, Panzerbrigade 6, Luftlandebrigade 9, Gebirgsjägerbrigade 1" etc... (German Army divisions) Team motto/warcry: Pretty self-explanatory. Something that the team could get behind and maybe shout before each battle. It could either be a song or a quote/motto. Something simple and inspiring and/or funny. If done wrong this will make your team cringe but if done right your team will definitely have a morale boost. This one isn't that important but finding the perfect warcry could really give that sense of community. Examples: Example:"not one step back" Ribbons: Now on to the big one... Ribbons are important because if used in the right way it gives the players that extra boost in acknowledgement. Ribbons must be hard to obtain and given out sparsingly. I think the best way to deal with ribbons is to have officers nominate squad/teammembers that they feel did something extraordinary in a battle. You can have the standard get "10 kills as an infantryman" too but what you need to understand about those ribbons is that it isn't personal, which will weigh more for the individual player and give ribbons value. Ribbons could be given out as a one time thing or if an individual does well on multiple occasions it would be wise to have different tiers of ribbons of some kind, for example: Bronze tier, gold tier, Tier II, Tier III etc... Examples: TacticalGamer Ribbons Post. This is for Squad but the process was the same for PR and it’s just an example. Maybe in the tournament ribbons shouldn’t be taken that serious I also believe it is important to decide and award the ribbon as soon as possible after a battle, otherwise the hype will die off quickly. For example: “All ribbon nomination must be submitted within 24 hours at which the latest battle ended. Further submissions will be invalid. After which the awardess will be (decided) and announced within further 24 hours.” This will make the ribbon awards go out approximately the next monday after a battle. It's up to whoever is in charge of the ribbons to not just accept everything too. The way to reward ribbons is usually done by the guy in charge of them by writing a “Ribbons awarded”-post in the team’s forum. If you want to go the extra mile you can either have a teammeeting and award them there. Or officer meeting and let the officers “hand out” the ribbons personally. The last two isn’t that good in my book since I believe speed is the time with ribbons and those options are a little harder to achieve, but feel free to consider them. By keeping the exact requirement hidden from grunts will limit any potential in people chasing ribbons during a battle. A personal decision. Best would be of course to have ribbons which isn’t specific. Propaganda:In my opinion propaganda can be made literally in any way. You can make simple edits of the recent internet memes or make huge artistic posters. Some of the other points will tie into this point aswell. The faster you get your teams signatures out for examples adds a little If you are really dedicated you will make a recruitment trailer for your team. Do you want a slander the other team/leader by simple means? Go ahead. In the propaganda wars I feel that “pretty much” everything is allowed, the boss will of course decide that. Pay attention to what you say and do when you play those public games...All your need in this department is ideas and someone to fullfill them. Examples: PDI propaganda thread, MRF propaganda thread, PDI propaganda BOOTCAMP, PAC teaser, PAC sign-up video, Last battle montage. Naming operations and victory post: Before, all of the battles were named in the individual team. The name would later be used in the “victory thread” that was made after each battle - a bragging thread but also a general after action report thread for both teams. For some reason in C10, C11 a general AAR thread was used. Regardless if that thread still is going to be used the winning team can still post their victory post in that thread. The post isn't the important thing here, rather than the making of it. Example: "Operation Pringles is a success! [PROPAGANDA IMAGE] TEAM X HAS CLAIMED VICTORY OVER THE Y INVADERS. TO THE COSTS OF MANY X SOLDIER’S BLOOD BUT MANY MORE OF Y’S! etc etc etc [RESULT]" Work out the details yourself. Motivational rallies (commander speeches): Before each battle there could be something to really “pump up” the team. It could be a song that the whole team listens to, or whatever. Most common is to have the commander give a motivational speech just before the match starts. It doesn’t have to be long, it doesn’t have to be overly intricate - just something. Depending on the speech its effectiveness is varied. Bonus points for incorporating your team’s team motto/warcry into the speech. I would personally say that it can’t hurt the morale of the team. It doesn’t have to be the commander that gives the speech every time. Playing with your team: Apart from playing a lot with your assigned squad you should try to incorporare other members of the team with you. Maybe you are a couple of guys short for your squadtraining and see a few guys on Teamspeak - ask them to join, and vice versa. Part of this is also establishing an enviroment where this isn’t seen as something special. Be inviting towards others, especially new guys. The officers can organize weekly teamplaying nights too, to get that teamfeeling even further growing. Deciding teamname and teamlogo: You can see this as sort of an extra. But I wanted to give my thought on it anyway. Teamlogos and teamnames that the teams create themselves will undoubtedly have a stronger resonance within the team, rather something assigned. Problem is, and it’s a big one, is that it will take tremendous resources, not to mention if that there will most likely be someone who will feel left out or unhappy with the final decision. It’s simply alot easier for everyone if the admin and management choose these. ------------------------------------------------ Rankings: Difficulty ranking (easiest to hardest to achieve): Squad names Playing with your team Team motto/warcry Motivational rallies Naming operations and victory post Signatures Ribbons Propaganda Deciding Teamname and teamlogo Impact ranking (what has the largest effect from least to most): Motivational rallies Naming operations and victory post Team motto/warcry Squad names Signatures Playing with your team Propaganda Ribbons Deciding teamname and teamlogo Ranking is hard, and this is just my opinion of course. It also has A LOT to do with how well each one is executed. So I think I got it all out of my system now...Yet I’m almost positive that I forgot something. Some people will think all of this stuff is redundant - and I can understand that. But you don’t have to partake in this at all. If you are however like me and want more than just good game of PR this could be something. My questions for you are the following: Is anything that I didn’t mention that you feel is worth mentioning? Do you agree? Disagree? On what and why? What is your opinion on what is most important? Can you provide more examples? (of anything related) TL;DR: Have a consistent theme going. Speed and quantity is better than quality.

2016-10-12, 18:46	#2
Murkey Task Force Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Liverpool, UK (GMT) Posts: 1,041	Re: Alex' post on building teamspirit and other stuff Great post, I personally think the team identity and by extension, propaganda suffered with the faction changes from BlueFor vs OpFor and in comparison to the run of NATO vs CATA (although the faction balance certainly takes precedent here). Anyway - Great post, lots of stuff that I broadly agree with. Just one thing I'd like to add. Besides victory posters made by each team, which I always liked I have often made posters just for my squad. To celebrate a specific victory or to lionize a player under me that really did something special. Tied into these team and squad victory posters etc I'd also like to remind every SL and team leader of the value of team 'photos'. Before the match with the team or squad all grouped together it helps with propaganda, discipline and if the players keep it all on local it means the officers have quiet time to organise whatever needs doing. The same goes for nice pics of your squad all kited out before the game or to have 8 guys with HAT kits posing together after a training session etc. These are all just a few minutes work, but probably help. Cheers, Murkey. __________________

2017-09-17, 17:01	#3
Alexswesnipr Task Force Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Skåne Posts: 1,371	Re: Alex' post on building teamspirit and other stuff I'm going to bump this thread for the new season. Another thing that could be added is teamspeak avatars: Much like signatures you could have a personalized picture with your squad and team logo on it. This was done in C9.