#project management

[prokopetz]

"I wish I could make a game but get other people to do all the art and writing and programming and" you literally can. It's called being the project manager, and all you have to do to get this job is be willing to write all the emails, make all the phone calls, set up and moderate all the group chats, schedule and lead all the meetings, monitor and follow up on all the deadlines, coordinate with all relevant third parties, and personally chase down the answer to every question that anyone might conceivably ask about anything. If that sounds like your idea of a good time, there are any number of projects that would love to have you on board.

[zzzzzestforlife]

👩‍💻 How to Prep for an Important Presentation 🗃️

even if you don't start out on the right foot, every decision you make starting now can still ensure your success ✨

last week, i scheduled an important meeting for the end of the day today for everyone on my team to roast review the plans i had made for our upcoming project. i wanted to give myself as much time as possible to prepare for it, but things don't always go according to plan. when that happens, don't give up. all it takes is one step in the right direction to change your trajectory 🌠

Have All Presentation Materials Ready

i was multi-tasking up until yesterday and overestimated my ability to finish preparing everything on top of writing code and bug investigations, so i finished within hours of the meeting 🤡

Get Enough Sleep The Night Before

i went bouldering and then had dinner with friends last night, so not only did i not go to bed early, but i also had arms/wrists so sore that typing up all my presentation materials that i left to finish the day of became unusually difficult 🤡

Circulate Agenda / Relevant Documents

i know exactly one person besides myself reads the circulated documents prior to any meeting, but i circulated the completed document two hours before. at the same time, i know more notice would have been ideal not just for attendees, but for me to get early feedback that would've allowed me to present better 🥴

Practice Presenting, Answering FAQs

i had time for one run-through and while i couldn't help but be flustered during some portions of the meeting, i definitely felt more prepared than i would have been without any practice and honestly, my peace of mind and striving for my personal best is what's most important to me ☺️

Be Open to Actively Solicit Feedback

i notice there is a world of difference in response at times when you say "i am open to any feedback or questions, so feel free to jump in" vs. "does anyone have any questions, thoughts, concerns before i move to the next section" or even specifically calling people out based on what you know to be their area of expertise! ☺️

Post-Meeting Tasks, Follow-ups

got (positive!! 🙏) feedback from my manager ☺️

organized meeting notes 🗃️

scheduled follow-up meeting ⏰

reached out to other colleagues whose input we still need 💬

🍃✉️: whether you're preparing a presentation for school or work, hope this helps! 💚 do you have any go-tos when preparing presentations? 👀

[nr1-logo-design-inspiration]

Designer meme 😅

Leave a comment if you find yourself in this meme, and in what position? 💬👇

[fayrobertsuk]

It's been a long year and it's only February…

Well, it's time to put this out there: I've had a fairly shitty few years (like, haven't we all, obviously), but it's included a long, expensive legal battle against unscrupulous cysts, which is finally concluded satisfactorily save being left somewhat skint on the other side of it. Doesn’t help that said battle meant that I had to move house - not exactly a low activity on the expense and stress scales…

So I'm looking for extra work, to help while we wait for the Luxury Space Communism to kick in (I'd settle for Universal Basic Income or an end to the Housing and Cost of Living Crisis, tbh).

Things I do to a professional standard include:

Creative Mentoring and Tutoring (writing and performance techniques, especially for poetry - bespoke or standard workshops available for groups as well as one-to-one).

Project Management (feeling overwhelmed by a project you want to get off the ground and/ or run within budget and timescale? I can help with that).

Business Change Management (you need to expand or shift your business focus? I can help that happen in a well-managed fashion).

Performance Poetry (got a bunch of poems, 18 years' experience delivering them live, and a nice voice).

Writing to Commission (especially poetry, but I write both fictive prose and essays too).

Voice Acting and Narration (I've acted in audio dramas and narrated short stories, training videos, and so far one documentary).

Book and Pamphlet Production (I operate a small press).

Basic website setup and maintenance.

Training on any of the above.

I have a sliding scale of rates depending on customer circumstances, and you can book me for a free initial consultation via my website: https://www.fayroberts.co.uk/crass-commercialism/services/

And if you fancy just sending me money because you're generous, I have a ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/fayroberts

[phoenixyfriend]

Chef/Diner sims are unironically a great way to teach younger people the basics of project management and planning/scheduling.

You have this much time to do a thing. This part can be done and sit indefinitely (prepping ingredients). This part needs to be addressed within X time upon completion or there are constraints (taking it off the burner). These two parts need to finish within two seconds of each other (the food of the first will start to go cold) but they take different amounts of time to complete so you need to plan out the order in which you start them. You need to order in new ingredients and the resupply takes time so you have to factor that into your planning, because sometimes multiple tasks require the same ingredients and you only have the one unit left.

You juggle timing, supply, consequences, prioritization, lots of stuff!

Maybe business schools should just require undergrads to get a neopets account. They do have an entire economic simulator with stocks and shops and so on ...

[pandiongames]

While I was cleaning up our project folders today, I finally created a Project Template that I can just copy/paste when starting a new project.

I figured since it took me hundreds of hours of procrastination and 18 months of disorganized frustration to finally get that setup, I'd try to save someone else the trouble of doing the same, and released the whole folder and its templates zipped up on itchio.

The zip file includes:

The full folder structure we use when starting a project.

ProjectName.gdoc - A writing template with basic headers and our in-line project management method.

We use this for our core writing, collaboration, editing, and project management.

ProjectName.afpub - A basic A5 zine layout setup for print, with basic master pages configured, page numbers, CMYK color profile, margins, and bleed.

We don't like baseline or grids by default. They're not configured in this file.

Images Folder - We store all game export images here. Such Page or Spread exports, marketing images we've assembled, etc. We don't store images that will be imported into the game here. That's in Resources.

Images/Itchio_Socials_Template.afpub - This template has all of our common needed image sizes setup for marketing and setup of our itchio project pages.

PDFs Folder - This is where we export PDFs to. Final PDFs ready for upload go into "Itchio Final" and Print-Ready PDFs are uploaded to "Mixam Final".

We work really hard to only keep the most current PDFs in the two "Final" folders. If you want a v2, v3, or v1.2.222.final.v8.pdf in the main folder, that's fine. But I highly encourage you to spend the time to keep the "Final" folders clean.

Tip: Check out the "Manage Versions" feature in Google Drive. 

Press Kit Folder - Contains our press kit gdoc template, an assets folder, and another PDF folder.  We end up sharing this entire folder out for Press, and link to this folder within the Press Kit document itself.

If you want more information how to write a Press Kit, check out PlusOneExp's fantastic video on that.

Resources Folder - This is where we put inspirations for the game along with art and design assets to use in the game itself. This folder gets pretty messy by the time the project is done.

[taylorannnx]

I need to gush about my upcoming game

[Alt text: A graphic with floral corner borders in the bottom left and top right corners with Chefs de Partie written in the center. Above the title reads hashtag Chefs de Partie. Below the title reads served on January 24th 2024 only at DriveThruRPG.]

Chefs de Partie is a co-op minigame for your ongoing RPG campaign that runs on Iron Core. Gather your party and cook a meal together, narrating your successes and failures with either heavenly or disastrous results.

This one page game includes the core rules (written by me) and six recipes that demonstrate how the game interacts with four different systems: D&D 5e, Blades in the Daek, Fate Core, snd Lasers & Feelings. The recipes are written by some of TTRPGs rising stars (literally my dream team!!!):

Austin Taylor, of Secret Mysteries of Nerd Histories fame whose game design you'll have seen in Deimos Academy and Til the Last Gasp

Basil Wright, a Storytelling Collective 2023 Creative Laurette and game designer of Pelegos

Danny Quach, author of Digital THICCNESS, AP superstar, and Roll20 angel

DT 'Honey' Saint, whose food based TTRPG contributions I've admired since she DMed Spice of Life at Roll20 Con three years ago, and whose charity work "Honeybunches of Hope" is incredible

Erin Roberts, a game design role model of mine whose name you may know from Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel

Poorna M, one have of Weave Games, who recently made one of my all time favourite games, a Christmas rom com duet called Love is on the Cards with her design partner Armaan Babu

As if that wasn't enough, we've got the one and only Nala J Wu on graphic design (they have perfectly brought to life my vision of a restaurant menu for the layout) and Marielle Ko from Tales of Sina Una as our editor!

Biggest one page RPG? Maybe (it's A2 dimensions)

Most designers on a one page RPG? Possibly

But cooking is best done with friends and I've implemented that philosophy throughout the creation process. I'm so freaking hyped to bring the world this game (the recipes range from brioche cinnamon rolls to podi masala dosa) because the dish descriptions are something incredible!

My hope is that we reach 51 sales* in the first month. With royalty split and $3.95 per sale, my writers should make $0.10 a word if we reach our target goal. I've priced this so everyone gets paid fairly.

*at full price. There will be options in the game description to buy the game for 50% or 100% off because games shouldn't be gatekept by disposable income.

This game is a little silly downtime activity and I love every contribution with my whole heart. I'm so excited for it to release next month and I hope you consider buying it if you can!

[pratchettquotes]

The demons of critical path analysis swarmed around his brain. There was always something that you had to do before you could do the thing you wanted to do and even then you might get it wrong.

Terry Pratchett, Raising Steam

[nixcraft]

[borderlinebelle]

home sweet home 🏠 🥹♥️

[askagamedev]

You say that petitions don't work, but in 2011, a group of fans started a campaign called Operation Rainfall to localize three Wii games to the West. The campaign succeeded in its goal and it helped bring Xenoblade Chronicles to a wider audience. Without Operation Rainfall, Xenoblade wouldn't have become a major Nintendo IP today. Doesn't this campaign prove that dedicated fans can create an impact?

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. On occasion, under rare circumstances, the stars align and things happen. Despite the odds, there are also lottery winners chosen regularly. That doesn't mean it's a feasible or repeatable strategy for success, or that it's a good idea for the multiple millions of lottery losers to keep playing in hopes that they, too, will eventually win.

Honestly, petitions fail the vast majority of the time because there are just too many mission-critical elements outside of the petitioning players' control. The licensor not be willing, the funding might not be there, the size of the spending audience might not be there, the technology might not be there, the dev team might already be busy with other projects, the slot in the release schedule might not be there, the executives in charge at the publisher might not be willing, the console generation might be about to turn over, and so on and so forth. There are so many separate individual pieces that must align for a specific project to get the green light. Any single one of them not being there spells doom for the project. Player enthusiasm is only a single piece of a much bigger puzzle.

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Got a burning question you want answered?

Short questions: Ask a Game Dev on Twitter

Long questions: Ask a Game Dev on Tumblr

Frequent Questions: The FAQ

[prokopetz]

I totally understand the sentiment behind applying the "I want shorter games made by people who are paid more to work less" meme to tabletop RPGs, but speaking as an editor and project manager, convincing tabletop RPG authors to write less is often precisely the problem. Like, no, Steve, a special ability whose mechanical effect is "you get to reroll a die" doesn't need 275 words of flavour text. Put the worldbuilding bible down, Steve – don't make me get the garden hose.

[zzzzzestforlife]

@zzzzzestforlife's Software Engineering Masterlist 👩‍💻💻🗃️

🍋 mostly for zesty to refer to when she needs motivation, but you can definitely use it too 💛

in case you're confused, this is not a kpop masterlist, i just find this man to be particularly motivating for my career 🤭

timestamps

🚲 build me up buttercup

☔ i am a lucky girl

🐝 drive it like you stole it

🍁 don't quit on a bad day

diaries

🐥 first-time project lead releases first feature

🏃‍♀️ romanticizing sprint kick-off

♀️ for my fellow women in tech

😇 chill day

🙀 if nothing else, it's a good story

🐣 baby zesty was so sweet and innocent

🌤️ if nothing else, it's a good story pt. 2

💕 small, consistent efforts accumulate over time

🎊 project completion wooo!

🌄 realistic day in the life

🏢 project diaries: a week in the life

🎯 career goals

🍃 coming soon — ordinary days of growth

asks

🧠 why i'm studying psychology as an engineer

💻 coding projects as a beginner

[screamingfromuz]

Small tip for activism, or project managing in general:

know the limits, you have limited amount of time, and if you are not available to do something properly, just don't. In those kind of things you prefer someone who can take it to the end. Don't take too much or everything will fail.

[ecruvian]

Project Management for the Desperate

I noticed that I have a routine, and I am nothing of not a technical communicator, so here is a very simple flowchart! This method is mental illness and poverty friendly, although it does require some executive function (EF) skills. EF tips vary wildly person to person, so I didn't include anyhere.

When I find myself thinking about my progress on a project or professional endeavor, here is the flowchart:

Reflect on progress (basic steps):

Check-in: List things that have been done. Include even very small items, such as making a to-do list.*

To-do: Consider things that can now be done, because those previous things have been done.

Next steps: Choose one or two things to do next. Include even very small items, such as doodling a concept for a project.

*If the answer to step 1 was null:

Check-in: Consider if progress has been made recently. If not, determine why. Common answers include: Depressive Episode, Lack of Resources, and Infirmity.

Recovery: Determine what can be done to recover from the limiting situation. Common answers include: warm blanket on a couch, talking to a friend, doing flashcards to remind self of terms.*

Damage control: If nothing can be done to recover, determine what can be done to reduce the damage that the situation does.

*When repeating the "Reflect on Progress" routine, Recovery counts as a "thing that has been done" during check-in.

IMPORTANT: Please note that if progress has not been made on a project, Step Two is ALWAYS Recovery. Doing Tasks can sometimes help with Recovery. Doing Tasks should not be done if it is not a part of Recovery.

An advanced version is below the cut, if you are fortunate enough to have a lot of spare spoons and good executive function at the moment!

Reflect on Progress (advanced):

If you're fortunate enough to have good executive function, you can use these steps.

Check-in: List things that have been done. Include even very small items, such as making a to-do list.*

To-do 1: Consider things that can now be done, because those previous things have been done.

Future planning: List things that you hope will happen in the future. Include even very broad items, such as becoming an expert in a topic.

To-do 2: Consider things that can be done immediately that will serve those future goals.

Next steps: Choose one or two things to do next. Include even very small items, such as doodling a concept for a project.

*If the answer to step 1 was null:

Check-in: Consider if progress has been made recently. If not, determine why. Common answers include: Depressive Episode, Lack of Resources, and Infirmity.

Recovery: Determine what can be done to recover from the limiting situation. Common answers include: warm blanket on a couch, talking to a friend, doing flashcards to remind self of terms.

Damage control: If nothing can be done to recover, determine what can be done to reduce the damage that the situation does.

Self-Esteem Management A: Consider things that you hope for the future. Pay special attention to ideas that do not give you very much anxiety, either because they are very easy and familiar or because they are such distant dreams that they do not feel real.

Self-Esteem Management B: Choose one or two very small tasks that serve the goal in step 4. Examples include reading a Wikipedia page on a topic you hope to study one day, making a sketch that might one day become a portfolio item, or daydreaming about how you would solve a career problem if given the opportunity.

[chevrotainn]

Day 04/ Productivity Challange

It was an awesome day. The TT session went so well, studied some PM, I finally exercised after almost two weeks of no physical exercise at all. Very happy with today’s results and I also made some dinner, very delicious btw!

Tomorrow it seems a more relaxing one as I don’t have big plans. I will plan my Thursday in the morning in a way that studying PM is involved and also the literature essay. Crossing my fingers that I’ll be energetic enough to run. Hopefully I’ll feel like it and not need as much coffee as previous days. I believe I can keep up a pace that doesn’t force me and that I still deliver a level of productivity that suits me.

X,

RP.