team management skills
DESCRIPTION
Team Management Skills. WOLFGANG HAMANN Radical Entertainment. What We Will Learn. Finding your own personal management style Hire “ Character ” not just “ Skills ” Developing Core Values for your company and your team Retaining your best employees - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
To Make Better Games
SessionⅡ
Game Development Seminar
Team Management Skills
WOLFGANG HAMANNRadical Entertainment
Game Development Seminar
What We Will Learn
Finding your own personal management style
Hire “Character” not just “Skills”Developing Core Values for your
company and your teamRetaining your best employeesYou can never have enough “Soft Skills”The importance of team and company
building skills
Game Development Seminar
Two Short Movies
Movie #1: – Team management in the video game
industry is like managing a football team!
Movie #2:– How NOT to manage a team!
Game Development Seminar
1. Determining Your Own Personal Management Style
Self Analysis– Determine
Your Personal Goals – are they in line with your company’s goals? Your team’s goals?
Does your company & team see you they way you see yourself?
Your strengths Your challenges Improve your strengths/shore up your
weaknesses
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A B
Commander Facilitator
C D
Bureaucrat Entrepreneur
Directive Facilitative
Relational
Independent
Management Style Matrix
Game Development Seminar
Management Style Matrix (cont’d)
Commander: “Captain Kirk of the Enterprise” Decisive, controlling, competitive, highly demanding,
perfectionist, confrontational, results oriented, power conscious, dominating.
Combine the directive interpersonal style with a strong relationships orientation. Commanders like being in control and thrive on using legitimate power to achieve excellent results.
Game Development Seminar
Management Style Matrix (cont’d)
Facilitator:
Characterized by people-pleasing, spontaneous, informal, sharing and participative, sensitive, accommodating,
non emotional, conflict-avoiding.
Are relational like commanders, but they prefer
to facilitate (guide, encourage, equip) team members
rather than to overtly direct them.
Game Development Seminar
Management Style Matrix (cont’d)
Bureaucrats:
Like to be: organized, efficient, politically
sensitive, closure-oriented, concern for routine, planner, formal, detached, information-focused, detail oriented.
Like to use formal, official policies and
procedures to efficiently direct ministry activities in a way that permits independent action and decision-making,
minimizing the need for group deliberation and group management. Bureaucrats favour orderly, routine
operations run "by the book."
Game Development Seminar
Management Style Matrix (cont’d)
Entrepreneurs: Characterized as: change-oriented, innovative,
persuasive, visionary, non traditional,
questioning, long term focus, experimental,
activist, controversial.
Prefer to operate independently of
organizational bureaucracy with an eye toward
facilitating change and innovation. They yearn to start projects with visions of making great games that no one has made before!
Game Development Seminar
Management Style Matrix (cont’d)
Which one are you?The best managers adapt to the situation
and use the right technique at the right
time or a combination of techniquesYou will not always succeedTakes time and a great deal of practise
and patience!
Game Development Seminar
Situational Management
Effective managers manage the situation “Reading” the situation quickly is
importantFlexibility is importantListening is importantCommunicating effectively is important
Game Development Seminar
Situational Management Examples
Simpsons:a) Communication problems
b) Team motivation problems
c) Conflict management problems
The Hulk:a) Conflict management problems
b) Team casting problems
Game Development Seminar
Situational Management Examples (cont’d)
CSA – Critical Stage Analysis This process
a. Discovered these problems and others early
before they became major issues
b. Facilitated team input to solve these
problems
c. Acted as a “feed back loop” and team
building mechanism
d. Does away with Postmortems
Game Development Seminar
2. Hire the Right Team Members
Important to have team members who are “self actualized”
Even when the going gets tough, team members with character will do whatever it takes to make the team successful
Important to have an extensive interviewing process
Both you and the prospective team member must have a clear and thorough understanding of each other before an offer is made
Game Development Seminar
Hiring (cont’d)
If you can’t wait to hire the right team member, hire the best talent on contract to get the job done
And keep on looking until you find the right fit
It may cost a bit more in the short term but save you plenty in the long run
Game Development Seminar
3. Developing Core Values
Important to have a company and team mission statement
Make sure these are “marketed” internally on a regular basis
Everyone must understand these Everyone must support theseThose that don’t should be encouraged to
“leave the ship”
Game Development Seminar
Mission Statement Examples
Company:a) Work hardb) Have func) Balance personal life with workd) Respect each othere) Share your knowledge
Teama) Help your team mates become better artists,
programmers, designers…people!b) Make the best RPG game ever
Important to have participation in developing these from all relevant parties
Game Development Seminar
4. Soft Skills
Such as Conflict Management, Time Management, etc..
These are not just for “managers”Internal and external courses to raise the
level of learning
Game Development Seminar
5. Employee Retention
Is not about paying the most $$$$$It is about constantly getting feedback
about what your employees deem the most important
It is about making these changes in a positive way
You will not be able to make everyone happy all of the time
But it is important to show that you are trying
Game Development Seminar
6. Company and Team Building
For your team and company to grow, they must grow together as a team and as a company
This means the company/team must grow as a “learning unit”
Important to set a unified directionImportant to have “buy in” from allIndividuals learning on their own is not
sufficient
Game Development Seminar
Be A Team Player!
Game teams today are developed by
“teams” NOT “individuals” In order to have success your team
must have success! It is not a question of having
disagreements (disagreements are healthy!) But a question of how you resolve
those disagreements.
Game Development Seminar
Team Player (cont’d)
A team member must effectively
manage: a) Themselves
b) Their team mates
c) Their boss!
A good technique is to treat everyone
…………….like your “boss” Even if you are “The Boss”!
Game Development Seminar
Team Player (cont’d)
Communication style is important Effective communication is made up of:
a) Listening
b) Understanding and
c) Speaking effectively
Feelings ARE important and should
always be dealt with first
Game Development Seminar
Team Player (cont’d)
Techniques for better communication
include:a. Blending - any behaviour by which you reduce
the differences between yourselves to find
common ground ie. “I understand you are also a
football fan!”
b. Backtrack – repeat what the other person said ie.
“in other words….”
c. Redirecting - any behaviour to change the direction of
the interaction to something positive
ie. From conflict to cooperation
Game Development Seminar
Team Player (cont’d)
Very Important!
Blend before you redirect
Game Development Seminar
Team Player (cont’d)
Five step action plan for better
communication:a) Blend verbally and non verbally
b) Backtrack some of the other person’s words
c) Clarify their meaning and intent
d) Summarize what you have heard
e) Confirm how the other person felt
Game Development Seminar
Team Player (cont’d)
Artists – Think differently than
Programmers who– Think differently than
Designers who – Think differently than
Sound artistsAll have their own language and ways of
communicating verbally and non verbally
Game Development Seminar
Team Player (cont’d)
To work better together, each should try
to learn each other’s language, style and
way of doing things
Game Development Seminar
Famous Quote
“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you will help them
become what they are capable of
becoming.” – - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Game Development Seminar
Team Management Summary
In creating great games it is our job to help everyone we work with become the great person we know they can become
If we can do this successfully there is no telling what kind of great games we can develop
Game Development Seminar
Finally
Great game concepts developed by great people in great teams make even better games!
To Make Better Games
SessionⅡ
Game Development Seminar
Team Management Skills
WOLFGANG HAMANN
Project Manager/Manager Sound Depart
Thank You!