Working together

I was listening to some friends playing an online game together earlier and through the bantering and bickering that was flowing back and forth it seemed that they were not doing all that well. They did manage to win the game, but only because they were playing against a remarkably stupid computer AI. Against real people their overall lack of strategy and tactics would likely have fallen flat. Just because there were several of them on the same team it did not mean that they were playing as a team.

What do I mean by this? At the beginning of the game they were all placed on the same team but they each had their own idea of what a good way to win the game was. And each was putting into play their own plan for how to make that happen. The problem with this is that their plans were mutually exclusive. Each plan called for each person to  be in a different location than the one that every other plan called for.So far we have not learned a way to be in two or more locations at once, so while any one play may have worked all of them together were bound to fail.

To work together as an effective team only one overall plan could be enacted. Elements from several of them could have been incorporated as long as they did not count on any one person being in two locations at the same time.

What should have happened before the game is that one person should have been selected as leader and everyone should have agreed to follow that person's instructions. It is not possible to have five different leaders on a five person team because you can only follow one set of instructions at a time. A team will almost always beat a group of individuals each doing their own thing.

One may not always agree with the plan and strategy of the leader but if you do not follow it, it can not work. It may not anyways, but if you do not follow the plan you will never know. If you follow it and it does not work, at least you are not to blame for the failure. Then afterwards you can take your turn as leader and show why your way may be better.By each taking a turn leading the team, you can find out who is best suited for leading the group. And if you each have an open mind, you can all improve your skills by learning from one another.

Also before the game started strategy and goals should have been discussed. To be a successful part of a team one must be aware of their role and what is expected of them before game time. Each person needs to know what is expected of them at any given moment. Knowing ahead of time how the game works and how the opponent is likely to respond in a given situation is good also useful. That way contingencies can be set up, on the fly, for the major changes that may need to be made to the overall plan, in order to ensure victory.

To sum up, being part of a successful team is about having a good leader, constructing a flexible plan, following instructions from the leader even if you disagree with them and most of all working together.