Prerequisites

• EAE student (non-EAE students require permission of the instructor)
• This is your first year (will graduate in 2-years)

Topics

1. Determine popular methods used in game project planning, tracking & reporting
2. Establish processes for setting up game projects with an emphasis on Agile Scrum.
3. Establish popular methodologies for gathering game project forecasts & status reports.
4. Identify possible risks to production.
5. Determine options when dealing with various game production constraints, ie, scope, timelines, attrition, scope creep, skill level.
6. Compare various team structures and their impact on game production.
7. Compare personality profiles and methods for improved communication.
8. Establish commonality and variance in technique when managing tech, creative & art.
9. Establish differences in managing team and stakeholder expectations. E.g. owning the message and managing up.
10. Understand leadership styles and situational awareness in team building, performance improvement, motivation and accountability.
11. Describe methods for improved critical thinking when faced with production changes.
12. Describe factors that impact delivery and milestone quality.
13. Determine methodologies for attending to securing delivery releases on time.
14. Determine the features required based on an existing game and reverse engineer the tasks required in producing the sample game.
15. Setup and prioritize a backlog.
16. Establish a project Gantt projection.
17. Establish a Roadmap/Storymap with Scrum in mind.
18. Set up sequential, sample sprints and determine project velocity.
19. Establish burndown and burnup charts based on the sample sprints.
20. Forecast production targets based on velocity.

Methodology

To meet the listed objectives the class will occasionally pair into teams. Teams will change from one class session to the next, ensuring broad cross-over in perspectives and dynamic.

Teams will leverage material from the Rapid Prototyping course work for contextual relevance. We will break these production efforts down the feature sets, build out a production plan and attend to factors introduced over time.

Cards or dice rolls may be incorporated to add unpredictability to the planning and project progress and status.

Roleplay may be incorporated in into exercises emphasizing soft-skills and communication techniques.

The final class will require a student presentation demonstrating key learnings from the course.

Learning Outcomes

1. Students will be able to make product design assessments establishing and grooming a product backlog. Categorize project feature needs, itemize production needs and list resource requirements, organizing this information into a backlog that is suitable for production planning.
2. Students will be familiar with Agile methodologies including Kanban and Scrum. Composing asset requirements into a user stories format from a stakeholders perspective, then apply a scoring/ranking system to establish a roadmap/storymap, sprint plan and a prioritized backlog.
3. Students will understand differences between project planning and tracking methods including Agile and Waterfall. Organize a project a feature list into Milestone Based Gantt Chart, a time-boxed Scrum and an tabulated Kanban Board.
4. Students will be able to compose reports including charting waterfall, gantt, burndown and burnup graphing techniques. Present valuable information including risk assessments, planning, prioritization and decision making practices.
5. Students will understand variants in team structure and expectations of roles per team member in the production environment. Team building and personnel management, anticipate methods for attending to team and talent needs in the production setting.
6. Students will recognize variance in communication style and personality profiles. Leverage soft skills, leadership styles and communication methods for improved team health, culture and accountability.

Assessment

We will employ the Industry Experience Rubric:

• Promotion - Exceed expectations
• Retain - Meet expectations
• Fire - Below expectations

Communication

Instructor

I encourage you to engage. Slack being preferred for quick chats, you can reach via the following contact points:

• Slack: @mike.lott
• Email: mike.lott@comcast.net
• Text: I will provide my number in class
• LinkedIn: I will provide my address in class
• Contact hours: 8am-9pm

Group

The class will employ Slack and Canvas for group communication outside class. We will leverage the #producers for group communication on some assignments.

• Slack Group Message: eae-mgs.slack.com
• Slack EAE Producers Group: #producers
• #producers is an open slack channel. If traffic is too heavy, we will establish a dedicated #c8producers slack channel
• Group Email: We will establish an email group for Cohort 8 Producers

Course Material

Books & Media

The following list includes required content and supporting supplements.

1. Required: "Primal Leadership" by Daniel Goleman
2. Required: "Strategic Project Management Made Simple" by Terry Schmidt
3. Recommended: “TED TALK: Start With Why” by Simon Sinek
4. Recommended: Start With Why by Simon Sinek
5. Recommended: “Competing Against Luck” by Clayton M. Christensen
6. Recommended Paper: “The Eight Archetypes of Leadership” by Manfred F. R. Kets
7. Recommended Article: “10 Tips for a Successful Post Mortem” by Kyle Eliason
8. Recommended: "Art Fundamentals" by Gilles Beloeil
9. Additional reference material may be provided throughout the course

Hardware

PC’s & Lab

Software

• Slack
• OneNote
• Google Drive, Sheets, Slides
• MS Excel
• Canvas

• TBD (Trello, Survey Monkey, Cardboard It!)

 

Workload

Time Commitment

This is a 3 credit hour class, so we expect approximately 10 hours of work each and every week. This is a course focused on production management in which timeliness, presence and follow-through are fundamental to success in this career path.

• Showing up for class is REQUIRED
• We may take attendance every day
• You will lose points if you are late

Homework Due Time

• Date and time for task completion is specified in each assignment
• Unless stated otherwise, you MAY NOT turn in homework late

Quizzes and Exams

We do not plan any quizzes or exams, but reserve the right to add them should we see the necessity.

Copyright Notice

This class has an opt-out policy, by virtue of participation, you are granting the instructors and the University of Utah at large permission to use your assignments and work related product for educational, not for profit use.

Student Code

Make sure that you follow the University guidelines (Links to an external site.) for individual work when appropriate.

Flake Out

We plan to carefully monitor all work and anyone that flakes out on their duties will be in danger of failing the class. If you see this happening on your team, please notify the instructors immediately.

Appeals Procedures, Withdrawal Procedures, Repeating Courses, Adding Courses, and Americans with Disabilities Act

The information on these topics is college wide and provided here: COE Guidelines Fall 2017 (PDF Download)