jormajorma’s blogblog
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I believe in plans. I believe in contingency plans. I believe in backup plans, and rainy day plans. This is never more important then when a project is nearing a critical time constrained deadline. The basic fear of the deadline tends to make people jump into action without the safety net of a plan. This makes them feel like they are moving in a forward positive direction. “Look at me I have finished so much work!” Though this can work, more often then not will end with assets being made that will not work for many unpredictable reasons. I think the prevailing reason to jumping into the problem is that management feels that they can sort out the unknowns when the asset is done. That is if there is any time left over:-)

So as I said planing is the better option in my opinion. I think it is better to fight against the fear and take your time to think of all of the angles and problems. Get your naming convention upfront and have your meeting with design. Yes this does take time but in my experience the time spent planning is more then gained over trying to fit a square peg into a round hole when you hit your deadline. Also another benefit is to manage stress. Deadlines are stressful and as you get closer to the end things will not look the way you think they should. Trying to iron out as many details early on will allow for brain processing time to be spent on those items that could not have been planned out. Ideally if everything works out , the closer you get to a deadline the less unknowns there are and you are truly working out nuances and not broad strokes.

So what do you do with your staff while the boss is trying to sort out the details? They can’t be sitting on there hands. Well at least in games I have found that dividing up the scoping and fact finding can definitely keep everyone busy. This works well when you have a capable team and it gives the employees a sense of ownership and respect. Other then that I believe there are always tasks that can be worked on that are more isolated. Having a pile of assets in the wing that are meant for rainy days is always a good idea. For games animated props are a good example.

Planning is not a magic Bullet and can be taken too far. It is a great tool for keeping work manageable and as predictable as much as any entertainment task can be.

-cheers