Platoon leadership

All this is well and good but as we talk about how nice Platoon lead is and how its nice to have new people step up and lead, but you touched on the silence when its time to pas platoon lead.
I brought it up during the last outfit meeting and well the can of worms is open now so heres my issues and why I dont step up or am reluctant to take the reins of platoon lead anymore.
NNG members .......

Yes you guys,

Not all of you but enough of you to make the platoon lead expierence bad enough where I dont want to lead you anymore.
The last 3 times I took platoon I was so frustrated with people not following orders, people chattering in TS about crap totally unrelated to the op at hand, and being told flat out that "we should go here instead" by the backseat platoon leaders who wont step up and lead but will sit back and tell the platoon leaders where they should go time and time again. It got to the point where I questioned my ability to be an officer in NNG, if not for the confidence instilled back into me by Discopotato, Jaamaw and Kowlefe I most likely would be back into the grunt ranks.

Now please dont get me wrong, we have a GREAT bunch here, and I will not point out names on the forums (you guys already know who you are) but its very frustrating being a Platoon leader when those who are supposed to be following you are the ones ignoring or even talking back to you. Im almost ready to start giving it another go as a platoon lead, and hopefully things will be better this time around.

 

Even as a grunt, it's frustrating having backseat-leaders. Things get really confusing and it takes longer for us to confirm orders as the PL has to have a back-and-forth with these guys. Everything gets slowed down and everyone gets frustrated.

Some nights I just put those guys on mute because what they're saying is worse than useless - it's confusing and impacts my ability to follow my PL's orders. A divided and confused platoon is always going to perform worse than a united platoon that happens to be positioned in a non-optimal spot.

 

I really think the flat structure is really starting to bite you guys in the ass. Between the TS chatter issues, the backseat leaders, and overall hesitancy to step up, I really think you guys should consider a few things.

-Stop asking for volunteers. TELL the backseat leaders that they're up to lead the platoon, and don't take no for an answer. Let them get a taste
-Split the damn TS up. I still don't understand how even on its best nights 30 people in a channel is bearable. I guarantee you can get around the comms issues of isolation either with TS whisper or combining TS with the built in voip. This goes along with my next point
-Split up. A 30 man squad is to big to manage. If you already do this try to reflect it in both the leadership structure and and the TS structure. A platoon leader shouldn't lead 30 guys. He should lead 3 or 4. Then each of them lead should lead 5-6 and so on to the bottom.

I know I don't play PS2, and BF3 never gets the number of people in a channel at once that you guys do, but this is a common managerial problem in a very general sense. Delegation is a HUGE part of leadership, and if you don't do it properly you should yourself in the foot.

 

Or take a page from Eve online
During large fleet operations there might be 200+ people in channel
The one's who don't shut up usually get shot

 

I whole heartedly agree with all of the things that Orestes says here. With special emphasis on splitting up the teamspeak. It happens far too rarely and when it isn't split up. It's generally a giant cluster...Well, you get the idea.

I have to admit that often times when I just drop out of platoon or log out without saying anything, it's because I'm frustrated at not being able to hear orders over other people talking or lack of direction caused by backseaters confusing the platoon or making the leader second guess themselves.

How about this. When a platoon leader gives an order, don't question it. Just open your map and do it. Like Husla said earlier "Chase the waypoint" it could not be any simpler.

 

Another important topic is com's discipline
Good coms = NC sundy near landing pad southwest side @ allatum biolab
Bad coms = OMG WTH there is an enemy sunder over by um alpha 5 near the um ahh err and its ya like know err um yea but

 

I volunteered to take platoon lead tonight for probably the better part of 6 hours tonight, it was a bit difficult being a new lead, relatively new to NNG and Planetside, however I did really enjoy the experience and would love to give it another try sometime.

 

New platoon leads usually have to suffer through a break-in period in which members have a certain reservation before following the new guy into chaotic battle or eerie ghost capping.

I believe that gold star means almost nothing. It's the presence you bring to the position that get's the platoons attention/adoration. So far in my experience nothing wins em over better than entertainment.

Entertainment comes in so many forms in planetside. Take a moment and consider your favorite planetside moments right now. Realizing what made it memorable and then creating that experience for others is as simple as it sounds.

What's important is not to direct, but rather star in the show. I almost always hear this complaint: "Platoon lead means I get NO certs.."

If you are having this problem I am going to assume you aren't doing it right lol.

Have you ever pulled a solo mag to run behind armor lines and sneak kills? Ever taken a sunderer on the opposite side of the fight so you can flank/farm? Do you like to perch on cliffs and rain rockets on the enemies expensive armor zerg?

Leading the platoon is about leading your guys to fun. It will not matter how many bases you took, it will not matter the number killed nor the resources spent. The only thing that matters is everyone is enjoying themselves playing the game.

Being proactive in your lead is the key to successful command. Don't give simple basic instructions with no goal or definition. "Redeploy to warpgate and wait for orders" is NOT FUN.

However.. "redeploy to warp gate I have a galaxy pulled with full armaments, we should all grab heavies and flank from the warpgate for surprise armor buttshex, this will allow us to push the tech plant and get our raperiders back!" sounds pretty exciting.

Giving the whole story from the START will yield far better results than step by step managing. It's far better to give a 30 second schpiel of your plans and goals than it is to bark quick commands every 2 minutes.

In all honesty we are not overly brilliant tacticians looking for world domination, but simply strong willed leaders sniffing out the good fights.


I feel very pig-headish saying this, but would anyone be interested in a sort of platoon leadership post/guide line? something along the teamspeak guidelines style.

 

I beg to differ. /right?

 

I think that Disco touched on something really important when it comes to leadership.
You have to keep people informed of what's going on. Whether you're looking at the map trying to figure out where to go next, waiting on recon info or co-ordinating with other outfits, it's really important to keep the guys who are with you appraised of the situation. It keeps them interested and helps a lot with people just wandering off.
I'd also like to offer a little bit of advice without it being aimed at anyone:

When you tell people to go places tell them how you are expecting them to get there. I know it sounds simple, but many times a leader can leave people blowing in the wind when all it takes is a simple 'pull sundies and head to...' or 'pull armour from here and head to...' or whatever.

Squad and platoon waypoints need updated. If the two points are at different locations you need to make it really clear which one to follow. If only the platoon waypoint is set by default and the squad waypoint ONLY used for specific squad targets that's better. But that squad waypint needs to be cleared the moment it's no longer valid.

Squad leaders can not be in aircraft. If they are, they should switch it out to someone on the ground. They can still remain the de facto squad lead but placing a squad beacon is super important. Think about how many times you've died in an initial assault only to have to wait for a spawn because someone just wasn't around to drop a beacon.