https://www.cybersport.ru/other/articles/kto-takoi-kibersportivnyi-menedzher-i-chem-on-zanimaetsya-razbiraemsya-v-tonkostyakh-professii

What you need to know to become an esports team manager

In recent years, the offensive nickname “water carrier” addressed to managers of all stripes in the esports industry is heard less and less. Previously, a person who was conventionally called a manager performed exclusively everyday functions: order a taxi, iron a T-shirt in front of the LAN, brew a Doshirak and, of course, do not forget about that very water, because it is really vital for young talents that rarely stick off a computer chair.

Esports grew and developed, with it the tasks of the eSports team manager 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 processing of which the manager is also responsible in many cases. Buying tickets, renting rooms for bootcamps, checking into hotels, scheduling for communication with the press, monitoring media activities and even organizing team leisure no longer depend on gamers – those issues are dealt with by the one who is supposed to be in position and position. However, the responsibility for ordering a taxi and the need to follow the T-shirts on the LAN have not gone away either – so those who are mentally ready to release a team on the stage in an unfinished jersey have no way to management.

An important difference between a good manager and a bad one is fortitude and persistent (ideally, Nordic) character. Coldness in decision-making and the ability to stand up for oneself and the team are vital in cases of classic “purse”, without which esports cannot do in 2023.

At the same time, character alone will not be enough to defend the honor and dignity of the tag. 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 mines in the regulations of e-sports competitions. Some experienced managers perform their duties so masterly that they find dangerous traps in the documents from tournament operators, neutralize them and “do not look at explosions”, which are arranged by less attentive colleagues.

One of the most curious situations describing the total carelessness of managers of eminent roasters occurred during Dota Pro Circuit 2023: Season 2 for Europe. Then it turned out that ESL slightly changed the regulations, allowing the coaches to communicate with the team during the games, but not all people responsible for the documentation read the letter from the tournament operator and ended up in a losing situation. So the neglect of 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:

What a community manager should be able to do: carry water What a manager really should be able to do: read

– Marie Gunina (@gunina_ok) May 12, 2023

There is a lot of routine in the profession of an esports squad manager, and you need to be prepared for it. Organizational talent, sociability, stress tolerance, time management skills, analytical skills and other qualities should not be just a line on your resume – without them you will not succeed in this position.

By the way, many believe that a manager should also be a good psychologist, able to hear cybersportsmen and help them understand their emotions. Perhaps this approach takes place in some teams, but it is not required. Back in 2018, the former Virtus.pro Dota 2 manager Roman Dvoryankin noted: “The manager lives with players 150-200 days a year, but he has clear instructions that it is 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 your career as an esports team manager. First of all, it is conflict-prone: scandals within the compositions happen regularly, and sometimes it is difficult to decide who is right and who is to blame. The manager should be a machine that suppresses any squabbles, and not 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 cybersportsmen 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 a need to be a part-time professor of divination in order to predict risks and changes on the stage, as well as to master a little the profession of a laborer who, at the right time, will fix a clogged sewer or eliminate a flood from an air conditioner, because the foreman cannot be called up until the morning. Not everyone is willing to work with their hands, but the team manager usually has no choice – everything has to be done.

With the development of public awareness of esports, the requirements for media activity have also begun to be imposed on managers. Previously, people of this profession were more often in the shadows, were engaged only in organizational issues and did not appear in the information field. Yes, there have always been bright stars in the top teams, whose opinion was significant, but usually the tag directly influenced their influence: 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 from the tier-2 stage believes that the manager should at least periodically give comments to the specialized media or start a group on Telegram.

In addition, sometimes the 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 is seemingly 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 to strengthen its roster, to banal financial troubles, due to which expensive contracts of e-sports stars become too expensive for the organization. Compassion for the players with whom you have become friends is not the place at such moments.

Does a manager have to understand the game if he manages a squad in Dota 2, LoL, CS: GO or another discipline? The question is quite difficult, since a high MMR or knowledge of mechanics will not particularly affect, but at the same time it is impossible to have no idea what is happening on the screen of gamers. I believe that in the CIS a squad manager (not an organization) must have a basic knowledge of the discipline in order to at least understand the logic of a 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 roster, and the schedule of activities will also depend on the release schedule for updates.

How to get the necessary skills to become an esports manager

There are a lot of subtleties in the work of an esports team manager, which can be learned in several ways. More often than not, a manager is not the first step in the career ladder of a person who has entered the industry. Either behind such an employee has many years of playing in any discipline, or experience in other positions, for example, an SMM specialist or (ideally) a junior assistant to another manager.

In addition, any manager should accumulate knowledge through colossal curiosity: any incident in the industry should be considered from all sides, the opinions of the participants should be collected and a plan should be drawn up in his head how to behave in such a situation if it happens to your team. Although observation is not a panacea: you still have to fill some cones yourself. In the profession of an esports team manager, stress resistance and the ability to make non-standard decisions in the moment 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. On 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 2023, such courses will be launched by the Institute of Sectoral Management of the RANEPA. On the basis of a state university, students will be able to obtain a certificate of advanced training of the established RANEPA sample for the specialization “Management”. Students can choose, among other things, the direction of “Esports squad manager”, in which the leading teachers are the director of the Association for the Development of Esports Pavel Golubev and co-founder of Electronic Mushroom and former community manager of Electronic Arts Evgeny Olenev.

IOM RANEPA offers a part-time education format: two weekdays a week in the evenings, as well as a full academic day on Saturday from 10:00 to 17:00. The course is designed for 12 days, while some of the classes are necessarily carried out in full-time format. Based on the results of the educational program, students will prepare an offline project in which they will be able to apply the acquired knowledge in practice.

Will the completion of the IOM RANEPA educational courses provide a warm place in eSports without problems and worries? No. However, competence is always of paramount importance – in the courses, students will receive all the knowledge necessary to start working with a team. And if you meet all of the above criteria, then your magic shoes will definitely find their way out of yellow brick.