EFFECTIVE
C
OMMUNICATION
In This Chapter
• Written Communication
• Oral Communication
• Nonverbal Communication
• Establishing Communication Norms
• Communication Challenges
8.1 I
NTRODUCTION
I
n the numerous postmortems published by Game Developer Magazine,
communication is often cited as something that needs to improve during
the game development process. But what exactly does improving commu-
nication mean? How do people know whether communication is bad in the first
place? What is good communication? These are hard questions to answer, be-
cause everyone has a different way they prefer to receive information, which
means different forms of communication are more effective for some people
than others. People might think they’re communicating something clearly, only
to later find that there was a miscommunication with the other person.
As a producer, it is your responsibility to foster good communication on the
team and ensure that everyone is receiving the correct and necessary informa-
tion in a format they understand. Types of communication happening on a daily
basis during any project are written (email and meeting notes), oral (meetings),
and non-verbal (body language). This chapter discusses some general ways to
improve in these areas of communication and some simple ways to deal with
communication challenges.
Chapter 8Chapter 8
134 THE GAME PRODUCTION HANDBOOK, 2/E
8.2 WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
During game development, written communication is usually the producer’s
primary form of conveying information. How many emails do you send and
receive in a single day? For most producers and leads, it can be upwards of
100 or more—which is a lot of information to read and digest in a single day.
Each email interaction must be clear and concise, so that you don’t spend all day
at the computer handling your email, instead of interacting with the team on a
more immediate level. Here are a few guidelines for writing clear and effective
emails:
■
Use informative subject headings.
■
Put the most important information at the beginning.
■
Keep the wording concise.
■
Include specifics, especially for deadlines and other important information.
■
Set up mailing lists to reduce internal spam.
■
Use the high priority label sparingly, or else people will ignore its importance.
■
Use correct grammar and write in coherent sentences.
■
Use bulleted lists to quickly convey major points.
■
Use a font that is large and easy to read.
When writing other types of documentation, such as meeting notes or sta-
tus reports, many of the preceding guidelines apply. In addition, create a stan-
dardized format so that people can better understand the information being
presented. In some instances of written communication, especially if the infor-
mation is critical, you need to follow up with people in person to confirm they
got the email, notes, or report and are interpreting the information correctly.
This follow-up only takes a few minutes to do, and if the information is vital, the
time spent is worth the investment.
8.3 ORAL COMMUNICATION
Oral communication is the most effective form of communication, especially if
you need to discuss sensitive topics (such as bad news) or get the team motivated
to complete a milestone. Communicating with someone face to face is more per-
sonal because people can interact with you, and get their questions or concerns
addressed immediately. However, it can also be unreliable, since verbal com-
munication is open to interpretation, and some people are guilty of “selective
hearing,” and only take away the information they choose to.
Meetings, be they formal or informal, are one of the main forms of oral com-
munication for a producer. So make the most of each of your meetings. From a
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION 135
process standpoint, set an agenda, take notes, and write down action items for
each meeting. (Chapter 18, “Production Techniques,” has more information on
running useful meetings.)
For meetings to be effective, you have to think ahead about what needs to
be said and how it can best be communicated. For example, if you are discussing
some major gameplay changes with the team that just got handed down from
management, don’t start off the meeting by complaining about management and
how ridiculous these changes are. Instead, focus on the positive aspects of the
changes and present the reasons these changes were made to the team diplo-
matically. You don’t have to sugar-coat the reasons, just be sensitive to how this
information is presented so you don’t rile people up unnecessarily—people are
likely to respond better to positive rather than negative communication.
Also, make sure that you understand what people are telling you.
Communication is a two-way street, and if you misunderstand one of your team
members, it can reflect poorly on you. Active listening is a technique that en-
sures you have a better understanding of what you are being told. This technique
is not easy to do effectively the first time, but you will become more skilled with
practice. Active listening means you are actively engaged in what the person is
telling you and show this engagement by occasionally rephrasing what the per-
son said to you. You don’t need to rephrase everything they tell you; that would
become an annoyance to the person trying to talk, and they might feel you are
just parroting back their words, instead of listening to them. Instead, focus on
rephrasing the key points of what they are telling you. For example, if some-
one is complaining about a co-worker, you can say something like, “so, let me
make sure I understand this, Joe is giving you a hard time because he thinks you
are behind on your tasks, when in reality, Sam is behind, which is impacting your
work.” If you are correct, the person will show agreement and continue with his
conversation. If you are incorrect, the person will tell you the information again,
possibly in another way, until you rephrase back to him what he needs to hear.
This can work in the reverse as well. If you are presenting information to
someone, such as changes to the production schedule, wrap up the conversation
by asking what the changes are and how these will impact the person’s schedule.
It isn’t difficult to get someone to rephrase what was said to them, and if they
are incorrect, tell them the information in a different way until you are satisfied
they understand. In most cases, you should also follow up conversations with
key information and decisions with an email. This way, a written record is always
available for reference.
When you are verbally communicating with someone, keep in mind these
basics:
■
Don’t mumble; be clear in your enunciation.
■
Don’t talk in a low voice, especially during meetings.
136 THE GAME PRODUCTION HANDBOOK, 2/E
■
Don’t use swear words.
■
Don’t talk over people; have conversations with people.
■
Pause every once in awhile, so that people have a chance to say something.
8.4 NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION
What you communicate nonverbally has just as must impact as what you say. For
example, how many times have you gone to ask someone a question, and they
act like you have disturbed them from something important (even if they were
surfing the internet at the time)? You feel like you are intruding, even when you
have a valid, work-related question to ask, and you are apt not to approach that
person again until absolutely necessary. Also, how often have you caught some-
one in a bad mood, for whatever reason, and they take it out on you just because
you happen to be around? What about people who don’t take you seriously; they
turn everything into a joke and act like you don’t know anything? Incidents like
these are not pleasant, are often annoying, and can impact how you perceive
people at work.
As a producer, you must be especially aware of how your nonverbal cues
come across to the team. As their leader, you must always be accessible for any
question (no matter how small), be able to turn a negative into a positive (and not
the other way around), and act in a decisive manner (even when asking people
for help). You don’t have the luxury of being moody, disinterested, or fake to
anyone—behaving like this will quickly diminish any respect or authority you
have with the team.
For example, if you are in an office, don’t keep your door shut all the time.
If you are in a cubicle, don’t constantly have your headphones on. Both of these
things indicate that you are unavailable and don’t want to be disturbed by any-
one. This indication can be off-putting to team members who feel more secure
in knowing you are always available to them. Remember that one of your main
responsibilities as the producer is to serve your team, not the other way around.
If someone approaches you to talk and you find them annoying, don’t roll
your eyes or sigh; instead, act like you are ready to talk to them and fix whatever
problem they are having. A friendly “hello” goes a long way, so when you walk
through the team rooms, smile, stop by people’s desks, and look at what they are
working on. When you show genuine interest in what the team is doing, they ap-
preciate the recognition.
Because nonverbal cues are so important and people each have a preferred
method of giving and receiving information, it is useful to read some books on
psychology to understand people better. In addition, much information exists
about different personality types and how they interact with each other, which
is useful to understand when managing large groups of people with diverse
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION 137
personalities. For example, the book Type Talk at Work discusses how the 16
Meyers-Briggs personality types are likely to function in a working environment.
The author discusses effective ways to communicate, set goals, build teams, and
so on with each personality type. Keep in mind that personality types are stereo-
types, so don’t expect everyone to fit neatly into a single category.
8.5 ESTABLISHING COMMUNICATION NORMS
Communication norms are guidelines that everyone subconsciously or con-
sciously adheres to when interacting with each other. These norms are formu-
lated in several ways: they can emerge naturally over time; they can be defined
up front; or they can be triggered by a problem that needs a solution. An example
of a norm that emerges naturally is making it a habit to stop by your boss’s office
first thing each morning to give a brief update on what you plan to accomplish
for the day. If you miss a morning of chatting with your boss, you both might feel
that something is off but can’t quite put your finger on it. An example of a norm
that is defined up front is when your boss requires you to stop by his office at
9 a.m. each morning and update him on what you plan to do throughout the day.
If you don’t do this, the boss will want to know why you missed your standing
appointment with him. And, finally, if there is an issue on your project that puts
the ship date at risk, your boss might institute a policy in which you have to sub-
mit a task list to him each morning—this norm is often established as a solution
to a specific problem.
Establishing communication norms for your team can help foster good com-
munication among them. Also, involving the team in defining a set of norms is
a great team-building activity—everyone has a say in what the norms are and
everyone agrees on the final list. After a set of norms is established, other norms
will be naturally evolve that will improve the overall communication between
team members, leads, the producer, and studio management.
Conducting a meeting to establish some communication norms is simple.
Get the whole team in the room, ask people to discuss some of the commu-
nication issues they are having on the project, and establish what areas need
improvements. When people define the communication issues, they can more
easily formulate a set of norms. After the problems are defined, explain to the
team what norms are and ask them to brainstorm on what guidelines will work
for them. When they have thrown out all their ideas, have everyone participate
in narrowing down the ideas and defining the norms. Here is an example of some
team communication norms:
■
Know who the point of contact is for your questions.
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Be considerate of other people’s time.
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