I am studying game design at Uppsala Universitet, Campus Gotland. That is, I am majoring in game design, with a minor in project management. There are three other minors available: Graphics, Programming and Design. It turns out though, that the majority of project work within the education is focused on you applying the skills of your minor and not so much on being a game designer. This can lead to problems during said project work, especially for people studying project management as a minor. The projects are supposed to be done using the Scrum approach. That means, that as a project manager I would be the one taking over the role of the Scrum Master. A Scrum Master is supposed to facilitate the groups way of working as well as coaching the team in the practice of Scrum. This creates a conundrum for project managers. We came here wanting and expecting to involve ourselves in the making of the game, but a Scrum Master is not supposed to be a true member of the development team (in the sense that the Scrum Master is not supposed to write code for example). But I want to be a member of the team, I want to influence the design of the game and incorporate my ideas in the making of it and most of the other project managers in my class feels the same way.
So how can one walk the tight rope between fulfilling one’s duties as a Scrum Master and participating in the making of the game? According to the theory one cannot. But let’s take a closer look at the unique situation that I am (and most other project managers here at university are) in. Contrary to how Scrum theory describes our role, team members want direction not coaching. They want someone else to make the final call on an issue and the education tells them that person is the project manager/ producer of the team. So, on the one hand the education requires me to be a Scrum Master, a facilitator, a coach, a neutral observer. On the other hand, the education wants me to be a producer, that has the power to veto the team’s decisions to make sure the scope of the project stays reasonable. Those two roles already are conflicting to an extent, but it really gets complicated when I want to involve myself in the work of the team.
The issue is one of communication: When is something that I say perceived as giving direction and when is it only a suggestion or an idea that I am throwing out there?
Communication is a two-way street, there is a source and a receiver. The source has an intention behind the message, which the receiver cannot be asked to know. The receiver interprets the message in her own way. In my recent work in the group I sometimes failed to make sure to communicate the intention behind my information. I also failed in regularly checking that the receiver of the information interpreted it in the way I intended. This recently led to a lot of confusion on what to focus efforts in the last stretch of making our game and led me to think about the issue more.
With that in mind, how can one solve the problem that comes with being a direction giver (project manager/ producer) and someone offering an idea (designer)? We need to make sure that both ends of the communication, the source and the receiver communicate and know about the intent behind the message. Is what I just said to be taken as direction by my team members or is it to be taken as a suggestion or an idea? This needs to be made clear by the receiver and confirmed by the source!
As a reader you might ask: “What is this game he keeps talking about?”
It’s called Beelonging and is a space-shooter (Shoot ’em Up) aimed at children (7 to 10 years old) and their extended family. Since I do not have kids of my own and seven to ten year olds do not tend hang out in universities a lot, I want to take this opportunity to ask for anyone with kids in that age group to download and play the game with them. If you yourself are older than ten but still intrigued to try it, you are still more than welcome to!
The controls for the game are:
Movement: “Arrow Keys”
Shooting: “Space Bar”
Using the Honey Comb Formation: “X” (holding it down)
Disclaimer: The game is still in Beta and you might therefore experience bugs or unwanted behavior. If so, please let me know!
Have fun playing!
Managing Game Making 