Session Name: | Leadership: Working at the Heart of the Team 2019 |
Speaker(s): | Brian Sharp, Grant Shonkwiler, Steve Superville, Kim Swift |
Company Name(s): | Oculus, Shonkventures, Big Huge Games, EA Motive |
Track / Format: | Production & Team Management |
Overview: | Project management methodologies and processes in the video game industry have been analyzed ad nauseam, often sold as production cure-alls. While these mechanics of game production are indeed important, there's another critical facet that has been explored far less: the emotional and elusive feel of being a great leader/producer/project manager. Once processes are in place, in order to maintain the health of a project the leader must have their finger firmly on the pulse of the team and be able to diagnose situations that often call for drastically different solutions. In this session, the speakers will investigate facets of soft skills and share specific situations that they have encountered throughout their careers and how soft skills have saved the team and shipped awesome games. Topics include creating a new IP, leading a team through creative challenges, strong but flexible leadership, leading leads, setting clear goals, managing creative differences, how to convince people, how to ask the right questions and building a new software team. |