Category: Article
-
How I Recharge My Social Batteries
After four days of an intensive offsite, most of my colleagues were quiet and tired. It’s that type of business trip that makes you dream about a vacation to recharge your social batteries. But what do you do when your working week consists of calls, meetings and other human interactions? I wrote about efficient meetings…
-
Discipline Is Freedom
A few weeks ago, I was at an offsite, getting to know my new colleagues. Casual chat about hobbies somehow segued into one of those “How do you find time?” conversations. I asked my fellow managers about prioritization and planning outside of work life. Some considered this a part of professional deformation, others embraced it…
-
From Courtrooms to Game Rooms
Lately, I’ve been reflecting on the sharp turn I took in my career and decided to write a post about the transition that changed my life. There’s a certain expectation in life that if you work hard, follow the rules, and do everything right, you’ll eventually reach your goal. That’s what I believed when I…
-
How to Identify Risks and Navigate the Unknown
Imagine launching a major feature only to have the servers crash under the load. The chaos, the angry users, the weekend of crunch – these are the consequences of underestimated risks. You can’t really live a life without taking any risks. It is an unavoidable part of any project you start and yet it’s often…
-
The Art of Delegation
Have you ever found your team drowning in work, thinking “Is it faster if I just do it myself”? If so, you’re not alone. Let’s talk about delegation, a skill that is often seen as fundamental for managers, team leads and anyone in a leadership position. On the other hand, it’s also one of the…
-
How to Keep the Spark Alive?
Hello, everyone! Today, let’s talk about motivation and engagement in teams, the two essential ingredients for success that often go beyond the typical paycheck. That’s right, compensation != motivation, or at least is not limited by just monetary part. In my experience, effective motivation is also about purpose, feedback, and a sense of impact. Having…
-
Learning From Others’ Mistakes Does Not Work
In the world of self-improvement and business advice, a common mantra is to “learn from others’ mistakes” with fancy quotes like “You can’t make all mistakes on your own” or “Learning from others’ mistakes is cheaper and faster”. The idea seems legit – by understanding where others went wrong, you can avoid the pitfalls and…
-
Fear as a Pathway to Growth
I’m afraid we have to talk about fear. Jokes aside, fear is always around, in our lives, professional and personal. The most fundamental emotions, known as the basic emotions, are those of anger, disgust, happiness, sadness, surprise and fear (hands up who pictured them as characters from Pixar’s “Inside Out”). The basic emotions have a…
-
4 Keys to Success Each Manager Should Consider
As we refine our understanding of effective project management in game development, this article revolves around four critical areas that every competent project manager or producer should master. Often overlooked, these elements are crucial for effectively steering projects within the dynamic game development field. Disclaimer: assuming that you are proficient with Google, I won’t explain…
-
Leading the Pack – Lessons in Building a Thriving Team
Recently, at the GamesForum in Limassol, Cyprus, I was approached by someone from an indie game studio seeking for production advice. After a brief chat, he mentioned he was a reader of both my blog and LinkedIn articles and suggested compiling all that material in one place. While I’m not planning to repost my blog…
-
Rules are like Recipes: Know When to Tweak the Mix
I can’t really cook. I’ve been saying that for a while. When my wife tries to argue with that, listing all the delicious dishes I made, I disagree: following the recipe step by step is one thing, while understanding the flavors, the techniques, and the essence of cooking itself is the next level of art.…
-
Value Stream Mapping
#1 tool with underrated Value Coincidence or not, several of my current and former colleagues asked me about this tool recently, so I thought: “Maybe it deserves an article to spare the repetitive explanation.” As all the managers, I have a myriad of different tools and rituals to make it through the production pipeline. You…
Retrieving Thoughts 