Production is often a role that is overlooked or otherwise seems invisible in many team settings. It is an unspoken side of game development that, without realizing it, is embedded into the team by either an individual or through a group collective effort in order to stay organized and have the production pipeline run smoothly. Without a well versed or well organized production, games and teams fall apart. This not only affects the end product, but the people involved.

The problem I have set out to resolve is the effectiveness of our team production which has been affecting both morale, efficiency, and our game. This incomplete game production pipeline is something that impacted our team dynamic as well as our game production which in turn affected everyone. What we lacked in our team was a strong leadership position, that guided the team to planning and organizing deliverables and goals. I decided, along with the support from a majority of the team, that through my organizational skills I would develop a pipeline plan to carry us into the completion of our game.

Team Dynamics

This was the start to the slow downhill trend of our production pipeline. Making our team, it ended up being composed in an interesting combination of 3 pairs to form a group of 6. As a result, not everyone knew of another going into the project. Which is normal going into most projects, but it did begin with a slight divide within the team of people able to pair off. In addition, as with any team, roles have been assigned, but it was clear not everyone was completely happy with their assigned role.

As a result by the middle of the semester, there was an obvious rift formed within the team. With everyone having a different idea of progression and having a different capacity of taking on workload it led to unsaid mistrust and resentment building towards each that was unwanted by anyone within the team.

Communication

The biggest contender for our general mistrust within the team came with our lack of communication. This is a common problem in almost all aspects of life. However, this was devastating to our overall enjoyment working as a team, and working on tasks and assignments. With no communication, there was a sense of mistrust building. It impacted morale, due dates, and overall workflow. Things as simple as meetings were affected which was not beneficial to the team.

Organization

Finally, organization. The biggest hurdle of the team. It was made very clear to us very quickly into the semester that just as we started we were already behind. We lacked organizational tools, and it very much felt like we dove in ill-prepared. Overall, though we implemented weekly meetings and general plans for production, we lacked cohesive planning and organizing our production.