Project management

Project management is the process of organizing a project team and applying knowledge, skills, organizational techniques, and management principles in order to achieve a goal. In the context of game development and visual novels, this usually refers to the management of a game's development or production processes.

Project Management Concepts

While project management is a broad field that differs greatly across industries and contexts, there are several common concepts and stages that can apply to all projects.

Components of a Project

The following is a partial list of the major components of a project, focused on the

• Project Management Plan: The document or framework that defines how the project will be carried out, monitored & improved, and completed.
• Requirements: The project's core necessities. These are not only the goals you want to accomplish but also things that you have to complete before the project can be finished. Within game development, this is often a list of features and narrative beats that make up the game itself.
• Process: The steps and activities that move a project toward completion. Project Managers often seek to improve the process and execution of the project in order to ensure the work remains within scope and working towards your outcomes.
• Scope: The size and scale of your project, including both the length of time it takes, the amount of resources it requires, the complexity of the project, and amount of tasks required to complete the project. See Scope for more information.
• Outcome: The ultimate product, effect, or other end result of the project as a whole. In a game development context, this usually refers to the launch of a game, not just the finished software itself. You can also consider the support efforts you make for a game post-launch, as well as goals you might put on a roadmap, your expected outcomes.
• Quality: The state of your outcomes in comparison to your Requirements. Keep in mind that this is not an absolute quality standard; it specifically refers to how well you have achieved the goals set forth in your Requirements. Short jams with restrictions, such as O2A2, will have very different Project Requirements than a multi-year game production.
• Monitoring & Control: The act of checking on the process or outcomes of the project and, if needed, changing the process to improve the outcome. While this can include QA work on the game itself, the project manager is also responsible for working to improve workflows, team meetings, task checklists, and other parts of the project's process.

Project Lifecycle

The lifecycle of a project is a conceptual outline that separates your project into five major steps:

1. Initiating: Everything that goes into defining, pitching, and beginning a project.
2. Planning: The decisions and discussions that determine project Scope, define project Requirements, prepare the tools and resources you'll use, and your communications.
3. Executing: The process of carrying out a project. In game development, the creation of the game occupies most of this stage in the Lifecycle.
4. Monitoring & Improvement: The processes involved in tracking tasks, examining workflow, coordinating with team members, and troubleshooting the development itself.
5. Closing: The things you do in order to bring a project to a formal close. In a game jam, this may be the submission of a game or a postmortem after the jam has concluded. In a larger production, this could be the game's launch or it could be the completion of a post-launch roadmap.

These lifecycle steps aren't concrete or all-encompassing. They're most useful when you think of them are broad categories that the different phases of your project exist within. The relative length and work intensity of each phase will also vary based on your scope.

Work Breakdown Structure

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) refers to the division of tasks and labor within a project. In other words, it's literally the breakdown of the work you'll need to do in order to create and launch your game. It can be helpful both for organizing project tasks and for defining your project's scope.

At the start of development for any game, consider all the work that will have to be done in order to complete that game. This includes practical steps, such as writing the script and creating sprite art, but also the structural steps like organizing team meetings or managing version control.

More than being exhaustive or precise, your work breakdown structure should be useful. It only needs to be as detailed as your team needs it to be - so long as everyone understands the work they have ahead of them and the project manager can keep track of it all, you be as general or specific about the tasks that make up your work breakdown structure.

Project Management for Visual Novels

Visual Novel development teams may have a dedicated project manager, or another member of the team may take on project management duties. The Director or team lead of a game often serves as a project manager, though this is not always the case.

The project manager is responsible for coordinating the work of game development, which can include scheduling meetings, maintaining a current list of tasks, maintaining an issue log, team communications, and improving workflows.

Useful Tools for Project Management

• Communications: The methods you use to keep your team members connected are a vital part of project management. Consider both how team members collaborate but also how to communicate tasks, issues, and any project changes.
• Version Control Platforms(such as GitHub): Ensures changes are tracked and work is backed up
• Collaborative project and task tracking software, such as Basecamp: Allows all team members to clearly see what work is going on, what's up next, and helps you identify any bottlenecks or possible issues in your schedule.
• Project Management References: Such as the The PMBOK Guide