It may be difficult for managers to accept global development ideas that come from the trenches, just as development people don't necessarily deal in the dollars and sense of the business side, but without constant evaluation of our industry practices we may find ourselves challenged to compete with the large publishing giants and increasingly competitive third party developers. The fact somebody is an entry-level programmer or a texture artist doesn't mean that they are not aware of what is going on around them, or feel the effect of being in the grips of a poor development process. The expression of these effects tends to manifest itself in emotional and sometimes defensive communication. If your team is expressing concern over a particular course of action, the first instinct we have as human beings is to feel defensive. After all, if things are not working perfectly who gets blamed?

What does this have to do with improving the development process? Analyzing your own motives in response to a challenging question can be very revealing. Ask yourself this first and foremost: "What is best for the project?" Remember that we are in the business of making games. Stress makes remembering that point difficult if not impossible. We are creatures of habit and when the chips are down, we revert to reactive behaviors. Naturally, this is not an overnight process, and along the way, those of us assigned the responsibility and honor of leadership make many mistakes. However, if we take steps to minimize the stress placed upon a team's performance through intelligent structure and goal setting, the business of game development can really be a pleasure.

Obstacles to Good Project Planning and Management

It's doubtful that anyone who has worked in software development has not experienced a slipped deadline or milestone. This problem is not unique to the software entertainment industry. Andersen Consulting, now known as Accenture, highlights reports that focus on the highest risk business practices within any software industry. According to a publication promoted by Accenture called, The Attention Economy - Understanding the New Currency of Business , the single most critical problem that software companies face is not resource shortages or lazy employees; it is attention deficiency in the management of software development. Our own little ADD problem can only be attributed to a lack of clear goal setting within the ranks of managers that trickles down to the teams. When a lack of goal setting causes the project to slip, the blame falls mainly on the team leaders, and rather than examining the flaws of the global project planning process, it is common practice in our industry to terminate first, ask questions later.

Objectivity is a tough nut to crack when you've been accustomed to the luxury of becoming emotionally tied to your product. It is, however, critical to master objectivity as a tool to properly analyze your product. Why? Because the current trends we indulge in, as an industry, may soon die. Money, as it always does, becomes the determining factor in just how long a company can survive making the same old mistakes. Successful companies seem to recognize the importance of impartial analysis to get to the root of their problems.

One unpredictable wrench in the cogs can come from an unrealistic, overly enthusiastic client, generating feature creep fever. The producer must clearly emphasize, before production begins, that any deliverable agreements will be at risk with the incorporation of added features.