While the weekly module content focuses on measuring performance, our team is still settling into a comfortable mode of working. Staying organised and planning our tasks for each sprint helps us increase our output and worry less about organisation.
Detailed log of events
(10/07/2021)
I wrote a blog post about the previous week, and made a start on the Interim Retrospective post for the module.
Metrics collection pt. 1
(12/07/2021)
This week’s challenge activity involved identifying some metrics relevant to our team’s performance, and collecting data. We were encouraged to use the Goal Question Metric Approach – identifying team performance goals first, then deriving relevant questions that ask of the goals are being achieved, and finally listing metrics that can be used to answer the questions (Huether 2013).
Being mindful of the team’s busy schedule, we assigned this task to a single person this sprint. Individually, a draft could be made, then an improved revision, and finally a completed version, all while receiving periodic (asynchronous) feedback from the team. This would save time compared to having every team member involved in a meeting focused entirely on the strategy (we used a similar approach for the team charter document).
Using our team’s SWOT analysis from earlier, I listed out goals and put them up for voting on the Miro board. Ideally, we would be able to pick between one and three goals (each additional goal would significantly increase the amount of metrics to collect in order to track those goals).
Personally, I felt that we needed to make sure that we kept contributing our individual skills to the development of the artefact. I also felt that the technical issues caused by poor connection, source control issues, and general software problems, would be our biggest obstacle to a smooth delivery.
Sound design
(13/07/2021)
I finished the audio asset list – both Elliot’s and Matt’s work have been very useful here. The document (posted on Confluence) is split by audio type – including sound effects (diegetic and non-diegetic), music, and dialogue; focusing on the importance of each for conveying for short, mid and long term goals respectively (Gibson Bond 2018 : 97). The LinkedIn Learning course completed in the previous week helped provide an example creative brief for an interactive audio project, elements of which I was able to use for this document (Mars 2017).
I have decided to use the Ableton Live DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) to create a sound mood board. I have previously edited sound using video editing tools, so this will be a good opportunity to experience working with a more standardised industry tool while also helping the team.
The room ambience sounds will come first. I believe they will be pivotal in establishing the world space.
Work on the metrics collection document continues – the team has agreed on two goals.
Metrics collection pt. 2
(14/07/2021)
I reviewed James’ first draft of the Team Charter, and provided feedback. My comments were regarding the Mission Statement, which in the draft included becoming a high-performing team. Knowing that this is only a 12-week part-time project, and that relatively few teams ever that high up the performance curve (Katzenbach and Smith 2015 : xvii), I thought it would be reasonable to scale down this goal.
I continued working on questions for each goal of the feedback document, however I ended up with too many, and wasn’t sure whether the ones listed were valuable. Below is an example from an earlier draft:
- Continue drawing from the individual skills and experience of all team members for the benefit of the project.
- What domain-specific knowledge is everyone contributing to the project?
- What are the gaps in domain-specific knowledge that we need to fill?
- Does everyone have an opportunity to add regular and meaningful contributions?
After going back to the notes, I took the time to review Belinda Waldock’s advice on Agile practice, specifically advice for choosing the right metrics from Being Agile in Business – “Are we doing the right thing? Are we doing the thing right?” (2015 : 110) (The entire chapter has been a great and concise read to help raise the right questions around choosing performance metrics).
It appeared to me that the questions I had so far did not answer whether our efforts were effective in bringing us closer to the goals (“Are we doing the thing right?”); and so in this case I added a question:
- …
- Do the skill contributions have a positive impact on the project?
I also realised that I was keeping the document as a Word file, whereas we have agreed before as a team to document things on Confluence. I uploaded the current version promptly and asked the team for a quick review.
Retrospective
(15/07/2021)
As planned, our team held a sprint review, retrospective and planning tonight. We also had a meeting with our Supervisor, Matty. All discussion topics are covered in a document on Confluence.
Most relevant to my personal involvement was the discussion about the time spent on extra-artefact tasks dictated by the module’s weekly challenge activities. My ability to stay on top of those activities and involve the rest of the team to keep them in the loop was praised; however it was also noted by other team members that because of my limited time during the week, I end up not being as involved in hands-on Unreal Engine work as I had initially hoped.
It is true that gaining more experience with in-engine work was my personal goal. At the same time, I understand that the purpose of metrics collecting is to help get us focused on team performance, which is one of the qualities posessed by potential and real teams vs. fake teams (Katzenback and Smith 2015 : 90).
As of the end of the week, the exercise remains incomplete as the metrics were for each question were not identified. However, if there is value to the exercise at this stage, it would be the opportunity we had to once again express what we thought were the most important team goals. This team values individual contribution to the project, and creating opportunities for each member to learn in line with their personal goals.
I turned to my previous entries in this development log:
- “I will be mindful of whether the direction we are going in as a group allows everyone to succeed with their individual goals“
- “I certainly have a skills gap compared to many of the other members of the team, as I have no experience with Unreal Engine yet. Having a working understanding is both my personal goal (a new valuable entry in my development toolset), and is essential in helping me contribute real work to the team.“
- we make sure that our team efforts are beneficial to everyone
Although I did consider the personal goals of other members of my team before, I have so far not been very focused on my own. Therefore, in the coming weeks, it may be smarter to prioritise my involvement in the codebase over other tasks.
References
GIBSON BOND. 2018. Introduction to Game Design, Prototyping, and Development : From Concept to Playable Game with Unity and C#. Upper Saddle River, Nj: Addison-Wesley.
HUETHER, Derek. 2013. “GQM: How Do You Know Your Metrics Are Any Good.” LeadingAgile [online]. Available at: https://www.leadingagile.com/2013/07/gqm-how-do-you-know-your-metrics-are-any-good/ [accessed 12 Jul 2021].
KATZENBACH, Jon R and Douglas K SMITH. 2015. The Wisdom of Teams : Creating the High-Performance Organization. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press.
MARS, Nate. 2017. “Audio Design for Interactive Projects Online Class.” LinkedIn [online]. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/audio-design-for-interactive-projects/ [accessed 10 Jul 2021].
WALDOCK, Belinda. 2015. Being Agile in Business : Discover Faster, Smarter, Leaner Ways to Work. Harlow, England: Pearson.
Cover image
IVANOVA, Veri. 2015. Old Pocket Watch. Unsplash.com. Available at: https://unsplash.com/photos/p3Pj7jOYvnM [accessed 23 Aug 2021].
inverted ↄontrols 