Creating a workspace
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As a project manager I have made it a point to promote productivity with the help of a communal environment. I want my team members to work in a space where they feel like they are working together, where we can promote the feeling of togetherness and also where we can just talk to each other as friends and take real breaks. To achieve this I decided to set up my apartment for this. A sturdy kitchen table and a large white wall to put post-its and a whiteboard was all I needed. It became clear early on that the whiteboard would take a while as CSN decided not to cooperate for the first few weeks. Nothing I really accounted for to begin with. The team has met up several times to work in the apartment however, and they have felt it is a great way to increase productivity and community. I wanted to make sure there is a structure to the way we work however, as with a good group of people it can easily become a time for hanging out and chatting rather than being productive. With this in mind I made sure we took regular breaks in the work at least once every hour and just talked about anything other than the project. Mikael brought “fika” once, which really raised the morale and was an unexpectedly great learning experience for me. The team has become more close-knitted and significantly more social with each other, which was more than I’d hope for from what is essentially just an environment change. All in all, the progress of the game has had benefit from this environment move as I’d hoped. The group has become more of a team and we have greatly improved the team feeling. There is quite the way to go however, and I have a few things to work on to make this goal I have come true. For example, the creative space could use some work, I need the aforementioned whiteboard, more activity with post-its and some other bits done. I was thinking for the future to make sure the concept document and one page design would be available in physical copy as well, to help take the eyes of the screen and the fingers of the keyboard. I’m hoping this could help us think outside the box and do more interaction work rather than typing work. That being said, great success so far!  |
