Becoming a Stellar Games Industry Manager, Part 3: Communication

Pieces of the Pie

A very successful manager at a major entertainment company explains communication this way:

“Count the number of people at the table. Now imagine a pie divided into that many pieces and adjust the amount you talk accordingly.”

It’s a smart, simple way to gauge your participation in conversations and could make the difference between being seen as a facilitator instead of a tyrant.

One of your most important jobs as team leader is to keep everyone talking to each other. Good communication is vital to a team’s success (even the lone programmer in a room needs to share information at some point!). How your team communicates depends on its size, its physical location and the random factor of individual personalities.

Strong positive information links between a team, the rest of the organization and the client are vital. Some of the most effective communication occurs naturally – for example, in casual conversation – but teamwork doesn’t happen if one person consistently puts out (and shoots down) ideas or doesn’t let others speak.

A good example of team communication is the clan system in World of Warcraft (WoW). Online games, and in particular MMORPGs, promote communication. Using this social dynamic, players need to act communally to achieve their goals and enhance game play. The key to a successful clan is encouraging each member to be an active and vocal participant. The only way for a team member to be successful is to learn to relate and adapt to other players within the clan and work effectively as a team.

That is not to say that everyone who plays WoW heeds this advice (or needs to if they prefer to play solo). Some players are successful taking the ‘lone wolf’ mentality, but to experience all that a standard MMORPG has to offer, a player needs to build and/or participates in building an effective clan (team), or ‘clan’ -- and that starts with good communication.

You can’t stop the “grapevine” from working, thanks to email; it’s fast and often inaccurate, so use it to your advantage. Be accessible for face-to-face meetings and conversations. Create an intranet and establish “netiquette” rules. Don’t overlook traditional communication like regularly scheduled meetings, status reports and corporate memos, but tailor them to meet your team’s needs and the environment in which you work. Remember that all communication methods are a supplement rather than a substitute for face-to-face communication.

Email is the most pervasive mode of communication in the business world. However, as we know all too well, confidentiality is never assured (even when the header says so) and misinterpretation is a very real problem. Emails can pave a pretty solid road to factionalism, which is the kiss of death for a team.

If you’re going to monitor team emails, be honest about it at the beginning. Make sure everyone knows the rules, whether they are mandated by corporate or by you. The game business is hugely competitive but not everyone honors the NDA. Sadly, some people seem to feel compelled to get around the rules, even on the best teams. If you’ve got a zero-tolerance policy, don’t be afraid to enforce it.

Ideally, team members should have easy access to each other without encroaching on however much personal space the setting provides. If some team members are off-site, establish efficient communication systems (phone, fax, e-mail, video conferencing, etc.). No matter the size of your office area, try to provide an open space for brainstorming with at least one electronic white board. If your budget doesn’t support high-tech equipment, lots of white paper and markers and access to a fax/scanner can work too.

The point is having the ability to share ideas (more or less) instantaneously. In a game company, video conferencing is crucial, especially with artists, developers and publishers. This is one of those times where a picture is worth 1,000 words and way more than $1,000!

Choosing A Location for the Team

Team Meetings

Meetings are pretty much unavoidable. They can be a frustrating waste of time or a productive way of fostering teamwork and team spirit. Making team meetings effective is a major test of your leadership skills. The key to a productive meeting is to involve everyone without letting anyone hijack the agenda. Prepare agendas in advance with input from the team. Regardless of your team structure, someone should always take minutes and distribute them to the team (consider having a rotating secretary – don’t automatically assign that task to the girl on the team!).

Team and progress meetings should be held at least once every two weeks to keep everyone current. Ask everyone to come prepared. Start meetings on time and keep them moving (people lose their concentration after a hour.) Encourage everyone to have a say, but ask them to keep it relevant and brief. Be sure meetings don’t degenerate into arguments with finger pointing, me-too-ing or “off-topic” discussions. The point of the meeting is to keep to the task at hand.

You may need to take a group or a topic off-line, as it were, and get it resolved in a smaller meeting. And ask people to turn their cell phones and instant messaging off. Nothing is more infuriating than losing a game because of chatty teammates who won’t focus or play their characters according to their particular skills. When the party is lying dead on the battlefield, the cleric who decided she just had to be a tank might not be invited back. In a similar manner, unfocused work meetings can drag a team off course, sometimes fatally.

Be sensitive to schedules during crucial production phases. A pizza lunch may be a lot more effective than an entire afternoon off-site if deadlines are looming. Do the big celebrating after the product has shipped!

Match the Meeting to its Purpose

Support Your Supporters

The production department in a large entertainment software company just moved offices. Everyone has been told to wait until IT hooks the computers back to the network. Your team is on a tight deadline but because you’ve got a great relationship with IT (and you had the sense to talk to your contact before the move), your team’s machines were hooked up first. Good relations with your company’s IT group will satisfy both your team’s needs and corporate requirements, and make people happy.

Making IT feel welcome in your area instead of treating them like flunkies can mean a big difference in your level of support. People are people, no matter what they do for a living. Sure, someone your team might be able to hook up everyone’s computer in two seconds flat, but if you have to follow procedures, it never hurts to be on the good side of whichever department supports your technical needs.

If time and budget permit, take advantage of IT training sessions. Whatever technical solutions you choose/need for your team, invest in the most appropriate and reliable technology and be sure everyone is trained. Sometimes being able to troubleshoot before calling IT can save time and chargebacks (and keep your group from getting a reputation for being helpless and whiny).

Networking

Certain people (senior management and/or your client) have considerable influence over your team. Make full use of formal and informal connections inside and outside your organization to provide valuable support. Teams can always use “friends in high places.” Identify these people and seek their support and approval, preferably without sacrificing the integrity of team or the project.

A team sponsor is usually a well-placed, well-disposed individual who works outside your team. Team life is much tougher without these mentors, so cultivate any relationships that may be useful. A basic network can include a decision maker (maybe an executive or member of senior management), a liaison who may have the ear of senior managers (this might be you) and an approver, usually an individual whose official consent is required for key decision and milestone completion. Work the network in and out of the organization to find the support your team needs to be successful.

Every team needs to maintain four key relationships: within itself, with its sponsor, with upper management and with the client. The lines of communication should be strong and amicable. This becomes even more important if your team is based away from headquarters, for example in a factory or separate office building. In some cases, upper management may also be the client or the sponsor. Be flexible and work within the structure.

Confidentiality

Before you decide what is confidential, ask, “Who else needs to know this?” and “Would openness be damaging?” If the answers are “everybody” and “no,” circulate the information. However, if there is a real need for secrecy or if confidentiality is mandated by company policies and NDAs (non-disclosure agreements), be sure that there is no margin for error. Establish a procedure for dealing with information leaks and stick to it.

Teamwork and secrecy can be mutually exclusive, so a leader who isn’t open with team members won’t get the team’s best work. Try to give your team full access (where appropriate) to information relevant to their overall project responsibilities, but remember there will be times when you may have to maintain confidentiality. The more direct you are, the more accepting the team will be when you have to withhold information based on the “need to know.”

Points to consider before passing along information:

Points to Remeber

Conflict Resolution

The key elements in the art of working together are how to deal with change, how to deal with conflict, and how to reach our potential…the needs of the team are best met when we meet the needs of individuals persons. – Max DePree

Working and Playing Well With Others

On paper, your situation looks perfect – a great balance of skills and experience, a reasonable schedule and achievable goals. Then you add what is euphemistically called “human factor” (the actual team members). Conflict can occur on any level. Barriers to the team’s success come from just about anywhere -- an inflexible corporate tradition, disagreement about project goals and/or processes, the vision for the game. Internal and external forces can cause problems within the team. Work pressure, jealousy, self-protection and inflexibility can all disrupt the team.

Sometimes team members outside the company (possibly consultants) will blatantly disregard company rules and traditions. There are ways to work within pretty much all the most rigid system, but the team has to respect and acknowledge that a system exists. No matter how senior or well connected a team member is, be prepared to call them out, preferably in private, if they are not performing, not supporting the team or openly causing dissention.

Whatever the cause, figure out whether problems are localized (one or two people) or a sign of general dissatisfaction. If the team’s morale is low, work will suffer and you’ll have no choice but to rethink your strategy, the team’s structure and what can be done to get things back on track as quickly as possible. Although many situations can be resolved informally, head-on conflict still occurs.

Look for ways to use conflict constructively. Encourage open communication and the free flow of information to help prevent misunderstandings. Be sure that the team is fully aware of and respects each other’s talents and experience. Help the team find away to change obstructive group behavior.

Even after speaking directly with troublemakers, further action may be needed. Be as positive as you can and search for common ground to start rebuilding team relations. Spend a little time studying whether the intrinsic team structure might be contributing to the problem!

If after all of this, the problem still exists, you may need to call for arbitration from HR or remove people for the good of the team and the project. The same holds true (although perhaps with less financially-dramatic results), the strength of any team is only as good as its individual characters.

Personal conflict between team members is everyone’s problem and needs to be addressed the minute it arises. Provide an opportunity for everyone to talk to you directly about the situation but know that some people may use this as a chance to undermine others. It’s your job to figure out who and what is causing the conflict.

Is it one person? Is it a power struggle between factions? Is it a lack of training or lack of information about company procedures? Is senior management at fault? (Probably not much you can do about that one unless you’re in that level yourself, and if that’s the case, it’s best not to foster an adversarial relationship even if that’s how you yourself perceive it).

Use A Problem Log

Work-related problems can actually be opportunities for team improvement. Use a problem log and give all team members access to it to share lessons learned. You may want to appoint a team member to resolve the problem but be careful – no matter how adult people appear to be; most of them probably have not forgotten the heady power of the hall monitor!

Some relevant questions either you or the designated problem-solver wants to ask include:

Talk It Out

Once a problem is identified, discuss it with the people involved. This is basically a listening task – let them tell you how they see things. Assess attitudes and preconceptions. What they say, what they do, and what they feel may be different.

Are there hidden agendas? Are they withholding information and/or holding back deep-seated emotions and grudges? If an individual blames others to justify personal actions, confront and question defensive reaction. Track all rumors to the source as best you can. People’s reactions will show you the strength of their commitment to the team.

Other Kinds of Problems

Sometimes you need to hire consultants. This can be a great way to provide instant training for the team or it can create a management nightmare. Whenever possible, make consultants feel like they are part of the team but don’t give them responsibilities regular employees can or should handle. Keep a watchful eye on contract or temp employees who are angling to oust a regular employee and take over the job.

Cross-functional multi-disciplinary and/or interdepartmental teams are becoming more common in today’s business world. In some cases, there may not appear to be many differences between a team in Los Angeles and a team in London, other than time zones and accents. However, there are some significant cultural differences, especially between American and Asian business practices, so it’s a good idea to do your research and brief your team to reduce potential conflict.

One of the most difficult situations companies encounter in the workplace is sexual harassment. Most companies have a training program that all employees must complete but that doesn’t always prevent inappropriate behavior. Be sensitive to conversational overtones and innuendos.

Points to Remember