Greetings, Developers! Hope all of you are doing well during these unsettling times. Please keep yourself and your loved-ones safe and healthy.
This month, we’ll turn our attention to deliberate communication. Twenty years ago, you could fill a few shopping bags with the number of books written on the subject of communication. Today, shelves-upon-shelves of texts fill bookstores focused on effective communication strategies. What I want to provide to you is both effective, but moreover, deliberate, communication. I’m very specific and intentional about using the word deliberate. The word “effective” speaks to the result; in essence, “what’s the effect?” With the word “deliberate” I’m underscoring the conscious nature of the action; in this case, communication. Each of these deliberate communication strategies have proven exceptionally successful for me during the past few years at The Professor’s Lab. The strategies: Initial Discussion, Establish a Schedule, and Provide a Discussion Synopsis.
One of the most important conversations you’ll have with a potential client is the Initial Discussion. This isn’t the series of short e-mails which you might exchange in advance, but the actual 30-min (or longer) initial discussion. The key elements include setting aside the proper amount of time for the meeting, conversing via video platform, and managing expectations. Performing each of these elements well will set you up for success.
While you may recommend a 30-min or 1-hr block of time, I strongly encourage you to allow the conversation to proceed organically. Between you and the potential client, you’ll detect a natural time to end the conversation. Again, even though you might have recommended a 30-min conversation, don’t rush your potential client off the call, as it may proceeds for another 10-, 15-, or even 30-minutes. Additionally, while a phone call can certainly meet your needs, I advise platforms such as Zoom, Skype, or even Facebook Messenger so that you can meet face-to-face. One of the key reasons for this strategy is that you’ll pick-up facial cues unavailable to you in an audio-only environment. Finally, manage expectations during the conversation. You may have a full-time job which will certainly take precedence with the client’s massive project or you may have other clients for whom you have a considerable amount of work to complete. Be upfront and let the client know your immediate and near-term availability.
If you decide to accept a new client (and by extension, if the client accepts you), it’s necessary, by my estimation, to Establish a Schedule for communicating during the duration of the project. While there’s no hard-and-fast rule about scheduled communication, you should discuss several key elements with your client. Establishing a schedule includes several interlocking elements: the size and scope of the project, frequency and duration, and milestones. The size and scope of the project will dictate and influence both the duration and frequency of the meetings, as well as the number of milestones. Using the Professor’s Lab list of services, I’ll provide some context to establishing a schedule.
Design Analysis: Typically one meeting, preceded by an e-mail, containing information about the game. The meeting lasts approximately one hour (it has extended to 90-min for some clients). After the meeting, I provide a several page write-up, critiquing the rules (not edited or proofread), components, and game-play. The invoice serves as the discussion synopsis, which I’ll discuss later.
Size/Scope: Small; Frequency/Duration: Once; Milestones: Final Report
Rules Editing: Depending on the length of the rules, there might be a few meetings The service provides for two 30-min Skype sessions, though there may be additional meetings required. While working on Compass Games’ The War: Pacific 1941-1945, the rules, numbering nearly 150 pages, required numerous conversations over the two-year long project.
Size/Scope: Small-Medium; Frequency/Duration: Multiple; Milestones: Rule Book Sections
Playtesting: While the service provides for two 30-min Skype sessions, the game may require multiple conversations due to changes evidenced by the results of playtesting. Sometimes, I’ve contacted a client amidst the 3-hour playtesting session as the playtest group has “broken the game” in some fundamental way, which reduced the efficacy of continued playtesting.
Size/Scope: Small-Large; Frequency/Duration: Multiple/Often; Milestones: Formal Feedback
For longer projects, such as the previously mentioned Compass Games assignment or my upcoming Proofreading/Editing assignment with Flyos Games, on more than 300K words for Vampire the Masquerade: Chapters, I suggested meeting at least once per week or fortnight. Establishing the schedule early-on will make it that much easier to carve out the necessary time. Use this time to discuss deadlines or upcoming aspects of a long-term project. Have an agenda! I’ve told everyone on my teams over the years from the Air Force to the FBI, if you’re invited to a meeting and the person running it doesn’t have an agenda, respectfully excuse yourself. This person has no business running a meeting which will no doubt waste hours of time. Let me take a moment here to also note that you, as the Developer, must remain situationally aware of your client’s time. Don’t extend the meeting beyond what is absolutely necessary unless you’re receiving positive cues to do so.
Finally, after any meeting, I suggest that you Provide a Discussion Synopsis. During the meeting, certainly take copious notes about the most salient aspects of the discussion and provide those in typed form via e-mail, to the client. This serves several purposes. First, it maintains a record of what was discussed, who had responsibility for what actions, and deadlines to meet. Second, it will greatly aid you when it’s time for invoicing accomplished work. Third, it’s an exceptionally professional practice.
I do hope these strategies will assist in your deliberate communication with clients. Again, by defining the strategies as deliberate, you’ll naturally become more effective.
As always, this is a discussion and I’m always curious to hear from those who have taken the time to read the blog. Have you used any of these strategies? If so, how did they work for you? Which of the strategies seem easier or more difficult to implement?