When the subject of writing a gaming related blog for The Planet came up, I was a bit apprehensive. I’m new to blogging and felt rather noobish. The whole thing is reminiscent of a creative writing assignment, except I’m graded by a whole community of people.

After much deliberation, I decided that my entry into the blogosphere would focus on the lessons learned at my second job. Aside from my position as a product line manager and my role with the Insomnia365 gaming server line, I was recently promoted to CEO of a small company with approximately 120 employees.

The previous CEO left the company, and the search for a new leader commenced. For those that remained, the responsibility of rebuilding deterred any immediate volunteers. I thought about the employees that remained, and what would happen if things were left to flounder. I decided to speak up. The remaining management staff nominated and passed a referendum naming me the new CEO of the company.

I admit, I accepted the position thinking that I knew what was in store. But I didn’t expect the wild ride the last month has been. My first week on the job was very disheartening. A number of long time “employees” took long vacations or sick days, and the general morale of the company was at an all-time low.

My main priority focused on building employee confidence in the new direction of the company. Most of the HR-related problems were tackled with one-on-one sessions to address individual concerns. I worked through a number of issues, and now understand what a guidance counselor feels like.

As one of my first acts as CEO, I hand-picked two new company officers from the ranks to help rebuild the “office.” The new officers had a strong history in the “field” and were very good at teambuilding.

We needed heavy hitters and the new management staff worked around- the-clock checking applications and doing interviews with potential new employees. Advertisement for positions were posted on all of the major “job” sites, and what started as a trickle grew to a river of potential new recruits.

The addition of fresh new talent helped rejuvenate the team, and we were back on track the following week. Training was surprisingly easy, having established policies and procedures in the past.

Currently, the company has two main teams running projects simultaneously and our “company” growth has sharply increased. The resource shortage was overcome, and company morale has been restored.

This second job has taught me a number of important lessons, but the biggest lesson learned is that people have different personal goals and reasons for being with a particular company. But, no matter the reason, communication is the best way to resolve any problem. Lack of communication and being out of touch with your customer base is a recipe for failure.

I’ve also learned that success breeds success. I’m taking many of the lessons from this second job and continue to apply them here at The Planet.

As I finish up my first blog entry, I’m also getting ready to put on my other hat and log-on to my second job. Being the guild master of a World of Warcraft raiding guild is hard work, and I have to get my core team of raiders through the next dungeon tonight!

It was tough rebuilding the guild when the old guild master left, taking many of the core players with him. But we’ve managed to recruit and overcome the dungeon bosses we were stuck on. Isn’t it amazing the parallels you can draw from a virtual world … this is a new age we live in.

P.S. If you have a level 70 Warlock on the Illidan server, we have a spot open!

- Sassan