What Makes Clans Last Longer Periods Of Time?
Clans are formed constantly in gaming but how many actually make it through the first year sadly statistics show that less than 5% of clans will make it through a FULL first year (that means they didn't stop and restart or anything they were just straight through the year with no problems). So how do you make a clan last longer and keep it alive over a longer period of time?
There are five top reasons that I have put together that if followed correctly and of course customized to the clans needs will keep the clan going for a long period of time. The first and most important would be clan structure. By using a clan structure you can let your clannies learn the path to being a leader themselves along with allowing yourself to share the responsibilities and workload making it less stressful on you and freeing you up to more important matters. This will also help by allowing your clannies to have something to strive for in the clan thus making them feel more like a part of the clan and having more respect for it. Please note, not all clannies will be good for other roles or leadership roles but will still be loyal to you, you want to keep them around as well because they will help you with finding new people, and help keep people in the clan. Also, as a second note make sure that you always have someone to replace anyone including yourself, if you do not your clan will just fail or have major mishaps when one person leaves due to the fact that there will be no one to fill the position the person held especially if it was the Clan Leader and there was no Alt Clan Leader or CoClanLeader then the clan is gone as soon as you leave thus the clan is no more.
Good Leadership would be my second reason for a clan to survive. This actually is almost tied with structure but for the simple reason of if you have a good structure and you are not a good leader you will be overthrown at an early stage thus ending your reign as a Clan Leader but keeps the clan alive. Good leadership is still a top reason for a clan’s survival. Good leadership includes but is not limited to being a leader that can settle in and out of clan disputes, making sure that your clannies are being taken care of (this does not mean that you get used by your clannies just help them when they need it if they are trustworthy), making sure that you appoint the "right" people to the "right" positions and make sure that they are not taking advantage of their positions and if so to take care of them promptly and accordingly. Being a good leader also includes knowing when you can't hold your position anymore and pass the torch to the next one in command.
Communication, Communication, Communication. You see this everywhere and you always see it as an important topic this goes the same for clanning due to the fact if no one knows what is going on than nothing can be done about it. To accomplish this task it can be as simple as a messenger service or emailing or can go into something a little more advanced such as Ventrillo/Teamspeak or as advanced as a full fledged forum. For forums you do not want to spend your time customizing it or spending your time making changes or corrections. From what I have seen if you are looking to start a new clan something as simple as one of the "FREE" forums that is just black and white works until you can afford or have one of your clannies make a more appealing forum but just remember this is just for communication.
Teamwork, this is something again you hear in all aspects of life, and most can understand why this would be a top five reason for a clan to survive. But, for clanning it goes beyond a basic collaborating together. For teamwork to work in a clan it's just like teamwork in sports game not only do you have to work together you have to basically care for one another and when one goes down you need to be there to support/help/protect them as a clan. Good teamwork in a clan situation will make GREAT friendships among your clannies which can go beyond gaming and can turn into real life friends. If you do get to that point in your clan you will notice the loyalty of your clannies to be at almost at its peak if not at its peak and that your responsibilities will become easier.
The final and fifth top reason I see important to keep a clan alive is constant recruiting. No matter if you are full clan in your game or if you have spots available RECRUIT, RECRUIT, And RECRUIT. You never know when someone will leave and if you are not prepared for it especially when more than one person leaves your clan at one time, if you don't have the recruits in place to add to your clan or if you choose that you have good people in your clan and that you don't need anyone else without that recruiting; people that are in your clan will start to get bored and start leaving at least with new recruits they will have something to work for and strive for within the clan unlike people who have been there for a while and reached their max potential in the clan.
These are the top five reasons why I see clans fail, if you follow and adjust these five things to the clan you are trying to lead then you should have a long lasting clan. Please remember that being a clan leader is a "very" time consuming job and will be an uphill struggle until the very end, but if you are ready to take on this responsibility good luck and hopefully you will beat the statistics.
----Wild
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Subject: Wild's Essay 1 (PRE ROUGH DRAFT!) 
6/29/2008, 10:20 pm