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October 05, 2006
Project management in games
This is a subject near and dear to me, as project management has been a focus of my career.
Gamasutra recently posted a summary of a relevant talk by LucasArts' Chris Williams at the London Game Career Fair that just completed.
One passage of interest:
"(Williams) says that crunching for more than two weeks out of an eight-week period is a failure on the part of the project manager. 'If we’re smart about our development tactics, then we can deliver the game on time,' he says. 'It shouldn’t be typical that you’re working 60 or 70 hours per week on a regular basis,' he says, recommending that developers who are in that situation ought to look for another job."
Fortunately, none of us have worked anywhere where that happened...
Extended crunch is fundamentally an issue of scope, schedule and resources. Peel the onion on those, and you surface factors such as feature creep, productivity, and estimating skill. Project managers need to track vs. the plan and identify issues and potential solutions.
The ability of project managers to control the situation, however, varies with their role. Some have the authority to determine the "development tactics" and make decisions on things like scope and personnel, while others must rely on their communication and influencing skills.
Ultimately, successful project management depends on the project manager's ability to effect change, either directly or through receptive line and executive management.
-Michael
Posted by MichaelHeller at October 5, 2006 10:27 AM