First Time Leading a Project

Getting Over The Fear

     The Jungle Jim project is my very first time assembling and leading a team in game development. In the past, I have mostly worked alone with a few exceptions for class projects and collaborating with some overseas friends.  Naturally, this task was very daunting! While I've been in management and leadership positions before; I've always had social anxiety, and reaching out to others for help was frightening. Luckily, my university has Practicum projects, where undergraduate students are required to put hours into upperclassmen projects. This was to my benefit, but I still had to ask for help.

     First, I wrapped up a bulk portion of the systems and gameplay design, as well as core programming. I then made a short promotional video about the project asking for assistance. Slowly but surely, I clawed my way into a state of mind that would allow me to ask for help- while also creating something that was intriguing enough for others to want to participate. With everything lined up, I positioned myself to have a decent chance of getting some reliable teammates. Shortly afterwards, the requests started pouring in.

Managing and Leading Others

   One of the principle goals of the project was to allow everyone to create something for their portfolio, so we could all work together and share the burden of creating something spectacular and increase our chances of landing roles. Some classmates have been able to get useful portfolio pieces from the project, while others were not even able to complete any deliverables. Throughout time, it became obvious who was here to stick around and who was only there to knock out some mandatory hours. Regardless, I kept the door open for everyone. As of this writing(11/12/2024), 15 contributors have returned deliverables in some form, while 11 did not complete any. 

    While this caused myself a bit of strain, I knew this outcome was possible from the start, so I tried to position myself so I could pick up any leftover pieces. The real challenge with this occurrence is the inconsistent rate of progress, which makes it difficult to properly chart out the project management timeline.  I started calculating filler time to implement depending on how much was relying on others work. Luckily, my predictions ended up being accurate! Though I think that was probably just pure chance or possibly the desire to work increasing as deadlines grew closer.  The project does not have a GANT chart or anything of that nature, though that would definitely help greatly. I have however, created a very loose and broad timeline for where the project should be heading in each season. 

    (Above: General timeline briefly explained in the onboarding doc.)

 In order to speed up development, I also created a discord community and an online drive to organize discussions and documentation. This was very effective, as it allowed everyone to see everything and find the right people to talk to if they had an issues or needed support. The drive was filled with many different documents from brainstorming docs to organized task sheet.

Task Sheet Sample: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1onTjimuV2f9bLFuLYLhLJ0CUFtqkUGEhF5QdfswH...

    (Above: Discord channel organization.)

As development continues, I try to be a supporter for the team.  As they struggle with issues or deadlines, I am supporting them as much as I can. If there are complex programming issues, I identity potential solutions for them to try. If they are swamped with 3D work, I step in to assist by creating textures, UVs, or models that are needed for their areas.

Community Through Empathy

     I feel that it is important for everyone in a team to feel comfortable asking for help, because I personally know just how hard asking for help can really be. I believe a team works best not only when everyone is aiming for the same goal, but also when everyone feels as if they can rely on each other. I still have a lot to learn about managing teams, but I think I have had a decent start. Hopefully when I enter the industry, I can bear witness to some methods of team management employed by other studios and take some notes.