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Bluetracker

Tracks Blizzard employees across various accounts.

Mute this thread if you don't want to hear my opinions on VIDEO GAME DEV MEETINGS. My experience comes from 22 years of working on PC & console teams ranging from 10-90 people. It might not be representative of all environments, but take it for what it's worth. 1/Too many

Mute this thread if you don't want to hear my opinions on VIDEO GAME DEV MEETINGS. My experience comes from 22 years of working on PC & console teams ranging from 10-90 people. It might not be representative of all environments, but take it for what it's worth. 1/Too many

  • jesawyer
    Posted 4 years, 2 months ago (Source)
    Mute this thread if you don't want to hear my opinions on VIDEO GAME DEV MEETINGS. My experience comes from 22 years of working on PC & console teams ranging from 10-90 people. It might not be representative of all environments, but take it for what it's worth. 1/Too many

    • jesawyer
      Posted 4 years, 2 months ago (Source)
      To state the obvious: it's unbelievably stupid that many devs work on teams where more than half of their day is frequently filled with meetings. The fact that this is common enough to be considered an industry trope should be embarrassing for everyone involved.

      • jesawyer
        Posted 4 years, 2 months ago (Source)
        Why does this occur? For these reasons (IMO, obv) 1) Meetings are called when they don't need to be. 2) Devs do not call for unnecessary meetings to be canceled. 3) Too many people are invited. 4) Organizers don't do legwork to save time. 5) Meetings are poorly organized.

        • jesawyer
          Posted 4 years, 2 months ago (Source)
          1) Does something actually need to be a meeting, or do one, two, or three devs need to be assigned tasks to address outstanding needs?

          • jesawyer
            Posted 4 years, 2 months ago (Source)
            Are you calling a meeting to answer a specific question with gathered information (good) or are you calling a meeting to ask a question and do the gathering in the meeting (dogshit [exception: structured brainstorming meetings])?

            • jesawyer
              Posted 4 years, 2 months ago (Source)
              2) Devs should speak up when they feel a) a meeting is unnecessary or b) their presence is not required. I know countless developers who complain about being in meetings that they believe are unnecessary but they don't say anything about it. They just accept it. Don't!

              • jesawyer
                Posted 4 years, 2 months ago (Source)
                3) "Maybe this person possibly could want to be there." Stop. Invite the people who are strictly necessary to solve the problem. If the meeting itself uncovers that someone else needs to be involved, that can be an action item to follow up on. Incredible.

                • jesawyer
                  Posted 4 years, 2 months ago (Source)
                  4) The person running the meeting needs to do legwork ahead of time. This means gathering/disseminating information to everyone in the way that is MOST LIKELY to result in them ACTUALLY USING IT. It also means asking questions in advance to smooth the process. MINIMIZE SURPRISES.

                  • jesawyer
                    Posted 4 years, 2 months ago (Source)
                    5) Finally, it means explicitly structuring the meeting: We're meeting to answer this question/solve this problem. Here is a bulleted agenda with simple descriptions of what we're doing and approximately how long we'll spend on each thing.

                    • jesawyer
                      Posted 4 years, 2 months ago (Source)
                      Leave time for a summary phase with action items to follow up on. RUN the meeting. Do not let the meeting "happen". Keep people focused and moving along.

                      • jesawyer
                        Posted 4 years, 2 months ago (Source)
                        If some people do not need to be present for the entire meeting (especially if many people are in the meeting), try to structure their involvement at the beginning. When their involvement is no longer required, EXPLICITLY ASK THEM TO LEAVE THE MEETING.

                        • jesawyer
                          Posted 4 years, 2 months ago (Source)
                          "You can leave if you want." DIE!!! *Werner Herzog voice* Never say this. You are putting the responsibility on the dev to leave and will make them self-conscious about looking bad. "You can go now." It sounds blunt because it is. Get the fuck out. Be free from Meeting Hell.

                          • jesawyer
                            Posted 4 years, 2 months ago (Source)
                            There is another category of meeting, the recurring/progress/stand up meeting, that generally is run much differently. However, it must be RUN, and it's even more important that it be carefully structured to minimize wasting time.

                            • jesawyer
                              Posted 4 years, 2 months ago (Source)
                              Tell people how much time they should be spending on their updates, what you want to hear about, and what you don't want to hear about. If people stray, get them back on topic and move things along. You don't have to be an asshole, but being brusque helps.

                              • jesawyer
                                Posted 4 years, 2 months ago (Source)
                                Do recurring meetings happen at the right frequency and for the right duration? Just because they were right in pre-production doesn't mean they're right in production or beta.

                                • jesawyer
                                  Posted 4 years, 2 months ago (Source)
                                  As devs and managers, speak up when everyone could benefit from a meeting being reduced in frequency or duration -- or from being canceled outright. Speak up when half of the people in the meeting don't need to be there - or only need to be there for the first 10 minutes.

                                  • jesawyer
                                    Posted 4 years, 2 months ago (Source)
                                    You may think, "It's easy for you to say, Josh. You've been in the industry for over two decades and have chosen to follow the Demon Path in your advanced age."

                                    • jesawyer
                                      Posted 4 years, 2 months ago (Source)
                                      This is true, but also at some point you have to look at devs' schedules and ask, "Is this really what we want to spend half of our salaries on? People sitting in meetings NOT making the game?" A little effort can go a long way in minimizing and focusing meetings for everyone.

                                      • Iksar
                                        Posted 4 years, 2 months ago (Source)
                                        @jesawyer How often do you have meetings with your direct reports? Curious how many 1 on 1 meetings you have on your calendar in general.
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