A Dungeon Master’s Guide to Team Management

What Can Dungeons and Dragons Teach Us About Directing the Diverse Characters on your Team?

As you lay down your weary head at the end of a long day of work, longing to fade into blissful oblivion, do you ever hear a niggling voice whispering, 

“I wonder what my team really thinks of me? 

Am I the type of leader they want?

Am I the kind of leader they actually need?”

At work, the stakes can be high. Important projects with less-than-ideal outcomes may not only have a negative impact on the business, they may also cost the respect, self-esteem, promotion opportunities, and even livelihoods, of those responsible for seeing them through. 
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These projects rarely feel like a game.

Yet, if you were to observe the game-play on that decades-old board game, Dungeons and Dragons, you might be struck by the relevance of the lessons and analogies it presents. 
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In this game, a group of diverse individuals need to collaborate with their designated leader and facilitator, the ominously titled Dungeon Master, in order to bring into their world a creative yet viable story; overcoming obstacles and meeting various goals along the path.
Does this sound familiar?

Those who feel chained to their desk in a poorly lit room, fearing their next encounter with a fire-breathing boss will resonate particularly well with this analogy. Though, even they need not yet abandon hope. :-)

Parallels

​Despite its fantastic setting, many Dungeons and Dragons scenarios display distinct parallels to managed-team situations. As a team leader, you may have been promoted from within the ranks and now find yourself managing people who, until recently, were your fellow “players”.

Or perhaps you were brought in to organise a broad mix of characters who needed to step up - a team that is now required to rise to new heights, or a team caught in conflict, who can’t seem to collaborate in an effective way. 
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Whatever your situation, as you assess your effectiveness as a leader, you might consider these questions:

• Do your team members see you merely as a boss, or as a role model - playing a positive, valuable part in the coordination of each successful project?
• Do you know your specific strengths and are you bringing these strengths into play - especially to provide support where certain team-members may be weaker?
• Do you really understand the individuals on your team and provide what they require to confidently execute their tasks?

Learning From The Game Masters

1. Self- Awareness: Know Your Innate Dungeon Master Qualities

The Dungeon Master who knows their natural style of leadership, who constructs the story in a way which allows them to compensate for their own weaknesses, whilst maximizing the players’ success, will win great respect and may even get away with the occasional draconian decision.

Bringing your full deck of managerial strengths to play, means having a keen sense of your existing abilities and challenges. This kind of honest self assessment is far more important than a pipedream of perfection. 
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Self-awareness breeds a palpable sense of confidence and trust in both yourself and in your team. Realise that you are the one who sets the tone and timbre - whether consciously or unconsciously - but if you are unsure how you are received by the others on your team, it may be time to put on your rhino-skin armour and ask for honest feedback. 

2. Know Your Team: All Hail the Mighty Players

As the Dungeon Master designs the game, they seek to utilize the players’ individual characters’ abilities and their personal gaming styles. A great gaming master also challenges the team, raising their skills ready for bigger and better collaborative experiences.
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The awareness you develop regarding yourself must equally be extended to your team members - to know them as well as you know yourself. Only this way will you be able to build trust - and to ensure it travels both ways. You will surely want your workers to believe in you, but you had better also believe in them. 

So request their input, ask for learnings from previous experience, watch for body-language cues in their responses, and listen, listen, listen.

3. Harmonious Communication: Beware the Pitfalls of “Chaotic Evil” in the Office

Chaos is a double-edged sword. It can force us to discover and create innovative solutions. In Dungeons and Dragons, “chaotic evil” denotes a role played with no regard for others, for rules or for anything but themselves.
No doubt, as sane human beings, we baulk at the idea of being such a narcissistic leader, but there can be potentially destructive elements of chaotic “evil” in a manager who creates a rigid “my way or the highway” method of control. Failing to communicate clearly on points such as workload or priorities, or refusing to operate with flexibility can provoke critical lesions in an otherwise healthy team. Make sure your chaotic freedom is channelled for good - leading to fresh ideas and innovations that benefit the project, the team and the customer. 
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4. “Are You Sure You Want To Do That?”: Choose Your Words With Wisdom

In so many ways, the Dungeon Master is the god of the game. The words spoken by the game master carry enormous importance. And the same is true for every leader managing a group of humans.
The vocabulary and tone of voice that a manager wields, has similar energy to build up or break down. Every time you speak, you are not just communicating information, you are presenting an example of your ideal response tenor.  Review and assess your natural way of speaking to your team. Record yourself doing it, in order to elevate your awareness of your voice as a vital tool of influence.

5. Minds Wide Open: Make Critical Failures Just as Valuable as Critical Successes

In Dungeons and Dragons, a so-called “critical hit” is always something to be celebrated, but a great Master gives equal weight to the game-enriching opportunities embedded in a roll of the dice that results in a “critical FAIL”.

Similarly, the way you deal with errors has immeasurable implications for team performance and morale. 

Be brave enough to also look to yourself as a potential cause also. If there are issues, an assignment may not have been communicated or understood clearly, or your way of seeing the problem may not quite align with the viewpoints or past experiences of the others on the team.
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Question in a non-judgemental way to gain clarity.

Your Critical Managerial Role

To grasp the potential of your team is perhaps your most essential function as a leader - understanding the characteristics that make each individual truly valuable, no matter how differently they may show up in the workplace. 
Schedule a time now when you can review and assess your situation in the light of these key lessons from the Dungeon. 
Huge kudos to you, for taking on this adventure and setting your sights on raising your leadership game.

Life Lessons

Now, please don't leave me in the dark.
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I'd love to hear you share any lessons you have gleaned from board games you've played in the past - those that have actually caused you to reflect on your work and even changed your approach in a professional setting.

#teambuilding 
​#managementskills