A good read for all developers, both employees and employers.
When the whole "EA Spouse" thing came up the IGDA addressed the situation in an email. They listed a few companies that had great turn over rates etc and Blue Fang was on the list along with Bioware and a few other places.
I bet none of you would touch it but I love my Zoo Tycoon that Blue Fang did :)
That was a good read, and hopefully the kind of thing studios will aspire to in the future. However, do you think it could be possible for a studio to go too far with the quality of life issue, and end up creating an undesirable, clock-on mentality?
I?m all for fair working hours and I worry about overtime in my future employment, but at the same time I?m attracted to the easy lifestyle of the games industry. With strict work times I?m sure that easy lifestyle would be sacrificed somewhat; no late starts or long breaks, no playing games through the day ? basically a clock-on mentality.
Would working by the clock (and being forced to be productive at all times while working) have a stifling effect on the creative process?
I just think that there should be a happy medium. You don?t want burnt out employees, but at the same time you want a flexible, enjoyable and creative work environment. I think the medium to aim for might be general 40ish hour weeks with occasional crunch-time weeks before major milestones. The important thing is not to exploit the willingness of employees to work crunch-time and burn out the productivity of those employees.
That said, achieving more regular working hours must be a positive thing to aim for.
Im a firm believer in work hard, play hard - at least thats how I run Kalescent Studios.
Being forced into the hard yards by another person (moreso if the situation isnt clearly explained and not your fault), will create more harm than good - no matter what the industry - its human nature to not want to take the heat for a pompous manager or superior personells screw up. And quite rightly so.
That happy medium is a really interesting point Palantir because each persons "happy medium" can be quite different depending on the nature of the person.
Regardless of the situation your quite right, exploitation of employees is so far from the correct thing to do.
To add to this topic, I like to encourage growth and forward thinking in my employees.
Being locked down, restricted or stuck in a rut pumping through the same processes when its clear there is a better way or new tools available to make the same job easier JUST for the sake of a middle man saying "Just do it like that" - to me ( having been in that position ) was demoralising and UBER counterproductive regardless of whether I worked 1 hour or 12.
The target for me personally is to create an atmosphere and work ethic that people actually look forward to arriving at each day, and encourage the expression of any ideas or thoughts that anyone may have with regards to the daily work processes / formats.
quote:Originally posted by palantir
...do you think it could be possible for a studio to go too far with the quality of life issue, and end up creating an undesirable, clock-on mentality?
As they keep saying on those US court dramas, "Anything is possible counsellor." That said, I would very much doubt that in the sort of creative workplaces our industry* requires that it would be very likely.
If you were at your desk at 6am, and you're still there at 8pm though, your manager/team lead would be quite remiss if they didn't at least try to find out why - even if you just chose to 'cos you were in the zone. On the other hand, if you started at noon they probably wouldn't bother to ask about an 8pm night [:P]
*I love being able to say "our" industry now...
LOL ?Work hard, play harder. Just do it. Give it your all. A game a day helps you work rest and play. Obey you thirst. Stay hungry. Be all you can be.? [:D]
Sorry, but commercialistic clich?s are hard to take seriously. And while it?s very true that the Eastern work ethic is about working hard, I think the clich?s are most definitely American. [;)]
I agree entirely with you Hazard, the eastern work ethic is something we should aspire towards.
Actually, the main motivator behind the eastern work force dominance isn?t to focus on working/playing/living hard, but to focus almost fanatically on self-improvement and a never-ending increase in quality. By concentrating on how to improve ones self just a little bit each and every day, Eastern corporation went from shoddy workman ship and poor financial standing after the second world war, to being considered one of the worlds dominant economic powers. In fact, since 1950 the greatest honour a Japanese company can receive is the National Deming Prize, used to acknowledge the company that represents the highest level of increases in quality, service, management and worker support throughout Japan.
The basic principle that needs to change is the general attitude of ?how can we increase our volume and cut our costs?? to ?how can we increase the quality of what we do, and do it in such a way that the quality will not cost more in the long term??
It?s the eastern business core belief that has created their economic dominance, and it?s this same belief that all industries should adopt, including the games industry, in order to achieve greatness. This belief is simple, but powerful: a commitment to never-ending improvement and a constant increase in the quality of life.
It goes against western belief, but the fact is that improving quality costs less in the long run. Researching eastern business case studies will reveal that this is the way to a businesses financial growth: to gradually increase quality, not to cut it (quality in all area?s, not just product).
Agreed, that was a really good read. Nice to hear from a developer who's actually able to maintain timeframes and whatnot. One would expect a good overall morale at Blue Fang. Actually thanking employees goes a long long way (nice idea on the flowers @:-)