138 THE GAME PRODUCTION HANDBOOK, 2/E
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Don’t mumble or be a low speaker.
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Don’t yell or raise your voice.
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Be constructive with criticism, don’t complain.
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Act professionally toward your peers.
COMMUNICATION AND GAME DEVELOPMENT
Jamie Fristrom
Torpex Games
I have read several books on producing movies and television shows, as these
resources offer advice that is applicable to game production. What I’ve found inter-
esting is that film and television are mature industries, and accordingly, they’ve de-
veloped a shorthand that allows them to effectively schedule and hit their dates. It is a
simple matter of what shots are needed and what characters are in these shots. They
don’t need a really heavy scheduling system with Gantt charts or MS Project, because
they already have a system in place that makes production easy for them.
We will eventually get to this point in game development, where we will have a
similar shorthand, with the production of characters, levels, and other assets follow-
ing a standardized process, no matter what the game. We would still need to block
out the production plan, but if we had shorthand and common practices, it would be
much easier to accurately estimate when a game will be finished.
8.6 COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES
Communication challenges are to be expected in any situation, but clear com-
munication will certainly decrease many challenges. Some basic areas where
extra care must be taken with communication are resolving conflict, delivering
bad news, and giving effective performance feedback.
Resolving Conflict
Conflict happens on any project, so don’t be surprised when you see it on your
project. Some basic causes of conflict are personality differences, miscom-
munication, and disagreements over how things should be done or over what
things should be done. As a producer, you will be involved in conflicts and will
need to mediate conflicts between other team members. Don’t be afraid of
confrontations, because conflict will not escalate if it is dealt with in a timely and
assertive manner.
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION 139
One of the main points to keep in mind when there is conflict is don’t attempt
to resolve the conflict when emotions are running high. You or the other person
might say something that is regretted later, and the conflict becomes worse. For
example, if a feature is cut from the game for schedule reasons, and you find out
a few days later that your lead designer has instructed the designers to continue
working on it, don’t confront him while you are still visibly angry. Give yourself
some time to cool down, and then deal with the situation. The same applies
when you are mediating conflict between other people—they should only dis-
cuss the situation after each of them has cooled off.
Before discussing the conflict with the other party, take some time to figure
out exactly what the conflict is. With the example given previously, the conflict
could stem from the designer misunderstanding that the feature was cut from
the game, that the designer did not agree with this decision, or that the designer
does not respect your authority and is trying to undermine it. Whatever is both-
ering him, make sure that you fully understand it and formulate ways to deal
with it.
When you finally meet with the other person to resolve the conflict, start by
stating the facts of the conflict. Follow these guidelines as a starting place:
■
Don’t generalize the situation by saying words like “always,” “never,” and
“constantly.” Stick to the facts and don’t interpret or embellish.
■
Don’t assume you know what the person’s motivations are for doing some-
thing. There are many reasons why people act the way they do, and you
won’t know why until you ask the person.
■
Don’t confuse issues and personalities. For example, if someone misunder-
stands what you say, don’t assume it is because the person is stupid.
■
Don’t resolve conflicts publicly. If someone acts improperly during a meet-
ing, don’t reprimand them there; instead deal with the situation privately
after the meeting.
After you lay out the facts, describe the tangible impact this situation has
on the project, so the person has a better understanding of the cause and effect.
Give the person a chance to respond and then let the person know what needs to
be done to remedy the situation. Show them how an improved situation will be a
benefit to them and the project. Using the preceding example, the conversation
might go like this:
“The team agreed to cut the feature from the game because there was not
enough time to implement it. This decision was communicated to the team in
the team meeting and via email. On Wednesday, I found out from another de-
signer that you instructed the designers to continue working on it. This direction
has caused them to get behind on their design documentation for the UI, and
now UI engineering is held up until the documentation is complete. [Give the
140 THE GAME PRODUCTION HANDBOOK, 2/E
person a chance to respond. He may apologize, state why he wants to keep the
feature in, or have an emotional reaction. No matter what he does, be prepared
to assertively state your solution to the problem. However, you will want to tai-
lor your response appropriately to the situation.] The designers need to get the
UI design documentation finished, so please have them work on that until it is
completed. If you feel strongly about this feature, we will schedule a meeting to
discuss it again with the leads—maybe we can put in a scaled-down version or
replace another feature.”
Of course, every situation is different, but this format presents a good guide
for keeping the conversation focused on resolving the conflict. If the person has
an emotional reaction during this meeting, tell him you can’t continue the dis-
cussion and will set up another time to talk with him.
Delivering Bad News
There may come a point during game development when bad news must be
delivered to the team. Things such as project cancellations, layoffs, and key
people leaving the company might fall into this category. Although it seems
daunting to be the one responsible for telling people the project got cancelled,
or the ship date was pulled in, or that someone was fired, it’s not so bad if you
do it with honesty and compassion. First and foremost, be honest about why
something is happening. You don’t have to get into the nitty-gritty details, but
do provide the context of the decision and answer any and all questions as hon-
esty as you can.
Second, be sensitive about how the news is delivered. Even though some-
thing bad might be happening—such as layoffs—don’t overemphasize the nega-
tive aspects. People will feel bad enough already for their friends who may be let
go. Instead, discuss the reasoning behind the layoffs, what steps were taken to
minimize the impact, and what is being done to take care of the employees who
have to find new jobs.
Finally, deliver bad news in a timely fashion. People have a natural instinct
for when things aren’t quite right, and they will start jumping to their own con-
clusions about what is going on. In cases like this, the rumors are sometimes
much worse then what is actually happening, and by the time you actually ad-
dress the problem, morale could be at an all-time low., Concern among the team
that something bad is going on at the studio is likely, if you see groups of people
whispering in the hallway or by the coffee machine. As a producer, it is your re-
sponsibility to address these concerns quickly and confirm what the problem is.
If there is not a problem, and rumors have started circulating about something,
call a team meeting and ask the team what their major concerns are. Discuss the
issues and make sure that the team is satisfied with the results of the discussion
by following up with people afterward.
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION 141
Giving Effective Feedback
Most companies give annual performance reviews to let employees know which
areas they excelled in and which areas could use some improvements. These
performance reviews are an excellent learning tool for the employees, espe-
cially if they are working toward a promotion or want to improve their skill sets.
Providing feedback to employees at other times during the year is also important
(even when it is not a formal review), because it is not really fair to assess the
employee only once a year. If they are provided with regular feedback, you will
create stronger and more skilled employees. Also, regular feedback is critical if
the employee is having problems with his work habits or quality of work.
To fairly assess each employee, the producer and the appropriate lead must
be involved in the feedback process, as well as anyone else the employee reports
to directly. In this fashion, the employee gets a well-rounded assessment of his
project contributions and more constructive feedback. Most employees look for-
ward to receiving feedback on their work because they want to make sure they
are doing a good job or improving in areas of weakness.
Here are some general guidelines for giving effective feedback:
■
Base feedback on personal observations, not on what people tell you about
someone. If team members have given you feedback on a team member,
you should consider the feedback in making your own observations, but not
merely repeat the feedback as you heard it.
■
Give feedback often and in a timely fashion. If you see that an employee is
under-performing, don’t wait until the annual performance review; talk with
DELIVERING BAD NEWS
Stuart Roch, Executive Producer
Activision
As long as you have an existing relationship with the team of talking to them
straight and being honest with them, delivering bad news might not be as scary as
it seems. Although no one on the team likes to hear bad news, such as their proj-
ect being delayed, they look to the producers to be there to deliver such news and
answer any questions in good times and in bad. Keeping the team informed at all
times by communicating all types of project news might be difficult, but this com-
munication is a necessary part of the job and should be handled in an honest and
straightforward fashion.
142 THE GAME PRODUCTION HANDBOOK, 2/E
him as soon as possible. Similarly, seeing a task well-done, and providing
immediate positive feedback will strengthen your relationship with the
employee.
■
Be specific with feedback. Don’t just tell an employee he needs to improve
his work habits, cite specific examples of his bad work habits and then offer
suggestions on how to improve them.
■
Focus feedback on behaviors and not on individuals. For example, instead
of telling someone he is difficult to approach with comments, tell him that
because he constantly interrupts and cuts people off, he makes it difficult for
people to talk to him.
■
Be constructive with feedback, not destructive. You don’t want the employee
to feel badly about what he did in the past; you want the employee to under-
stand what he must work on for the future.
■
Whenever possible, offset negative feedback with positive feedback. With
this balance, the employee can see that you are not “out to get him,” but in
fact see his strengths and improvement areas. This approach lends credence
to your feedback. However, be careful not to overuse this method, as the
employee will be conditioned to expect negative feedback each time you
start a conversation by giving him positive feedback.
Keep in mind that even negative feedback can be delivered in a construc-
tive way. You don’t want the person to come away from the meeting feeling like
they’ve been picked on. But they should come away with a clear understanding
of what things they need to improve.
8.7 CHAPTER SUMMARY
Communication is a large part of any team effort, and good communication helps
build a stronger team. Because communication comes in several forms—written,
verbal, and nonverbal—it is important to understand how to use each of these
forms effectively. This chapter presented an overview of how to do that, along
with some practical types to enhance communication. The chapter concluded
with some guidelines on how to handle specific communication challenges.
The next chapter begins the section on technical production. In this section,
information is presented on how to schedule subprojects within the production,
such as voiceover shoots, motion capture shoots, and creating marketing assets.
These elements have a direct impact on the production process as a whole and
must be added to the production schedule.
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