The Shrine

I'm having issues.

Someone on my team is failing to work appropriately hard for the needs of the project. I don't think he's realized yet that the game industry has the reputation it does for insane hours for a reason. There are professions where harder hours are expected, but not many (medical, investment finance, or military are the ones I can think of offhand). I've been picking up the slack on it so far, but I don't know if that's the best thing for me to do anymore. My new girlfriend and I are already having issues, and most of them are related to the fact that I'm just working and pushing myself too hard.

I've already taken on duties of animating all our concept art to aid inexperienced artists, and if I don't do something it looks like I may take on sound design as well. I can probably do it, but I don't want to, and I'm also beginning to have issues with the fact that my projected revenue share if we do sell the game will be the same as that of people who are working perhaps a third as hard as I am.

Does anyone have advice on handling situations where one of your team members is not handling his or her share of the project? I do not want to cause unnecessary drama, but he needs to understand the reality that our caliber and quality of product requires more work than he is currently putting in.

I don't want to just be the guy who goes "this isn't fair", since life rarely is anyway and it's always seemed immature to me, but this is causing problems in my life that could be avoided were he to step up his commitment.

Well, in typical fashion, I managed to answer my own question. I talked to him, and he's going to pull a bit harder on it. He's actually the "boss" of the project, as it were, since he's paying for it, but he realizes that I've been working too hard on it and is willing to push dates back and things, and is going to take on more of the sound programming. I also had managed to forget that since he's doing the porting work for larger companies in order to fund us, he does have plenty on his plate even if he hasn't been killing himself on our project.

Still, since I'm increasingly interested in founding a company of my own someday, I'd be interested in hearing people's management techniques.

Personally, the first thing I'd look at is your own abilities to manage your workload. I'm not criticising on a personal level here, or suggesting you're doing anything wrong, so please take this as it is intended. (my take on the situation and nothing more...)

One of the biggest problems and one that it seems to me you've fallen foul of is an overactive desire to get things done and see them done right. This means to the cardinal mistake of not saying 'no' to stuff or taking on responsibility for other work in addition to your current workload. The first step to sorting out a situation like this is to look carefully at what has the highest priority in terms of importance as it relates directly to you. Focus on this and talk to people about the other stuff. Let them know what work you are doing and what you have identified still needs to be done. You can even ask around and see if anyone else is willing to take on an item from the 'to be done' list. Do not take it on yourself, as this will lead to you working way more than others, and the quality of all your workload will suffer as will you personally.

If there is a designated project manager, it is primarily their role to see that this happens in an effective way. If it is not, then perhaps a meeting to discuss the current strategy and areas where it isnt performing as it should i.e. people feeling the need to take on other work.

I would be speaking to people a lot more. I would be willing to bet that only you know how much you're actually doing and everybody else will be like 'whoa....' when you talk to them about it.

Say NO to extra stuff above your current priority and talk to people. If you get an impression that a team member is not doing as much as you feel they should, talk to them about it. Ask what they're working on, offer help and advice. It may be that they're stuck on something or have also taken on too much and have become demotivated under the scale of their workload. By asking about what they are doing, and not about why they ARENT doing x y and z, it maintains a much better atmosphere, which will make working together more pleasant anyway. If you identify any problems that are preventing them from working to a level you want, then these can be addressed and solved. It will alos give you an opportunity to show what you are doing and this can inspire greater effort and gain possible help for your workload too.

I'd tend to go with a 'by example' approach which has zero effect unless people know what you're doing. Only acheived by talking with them. By talking about what people are doing rather than what they arent, it avoids conflict and may (as seen) reveal information you didnt have.

So in summary, examine your own working practice and priortise work to the exclusion of extra work. Examine if the project managment strategy is working as it should. Talk to people about what they are doing, see if they need any assistance or can assist you in any way.

I tend to make that mistake of not saying no, too. People from dept that I don't even work for any more bum me for scripting projects. It's usually not that big a deal, as it's not really very large scale, but it puts me in a position that forces me to maintain the script, which is annoying. It seems like everywhere I go, I try to automate what I can, and then I need to support the work afterwords.

I've gotten in the habit of delaying projects that I don't care about, including stuff from other depts.

First off, it's good you talked to the guy. It's easy to forget what other people are doing and it sounds like this guy is doing a lot that benefits your project financially. It's bad to forget stuff like this, so always think about what people bring *to* the table before getting all over them.

BTW, since you quit Jamdat (nice office off the 405 btw), how are you funding this?

As far as management advice goes, I'd say be as encouraging as possible and lead by example...the usual stuff. If the someone is seriously underperforming or is in some wayvery detrminental, then you have no choice but to boot him off the team. Better to make a clean cut than let him drag the project down. You'll have to make the call for when you think that line has been crossed.