Yr2 Week 4: Project Management and personality

This week in Critical Studies, we learnt about project management. The lecture gave us more insight into the different methods of creating a game, such as waterfall vs scrum teams and sprint reviews. Personally I have experience in both of these management methods, as luckily the two games I worked on used either one of these approaches, and I can definitely see and understand the pros and cons of both and why either would be used.

I did feel as though this lecture came a bit late; as we are almost at the end of the project, and a lecture teaching us to manage our work process by now is a little too late, however hopefully people may think more about this in future projects.

The seminars then had us complete the Myers-Briggs personality test with our group members. The aims of this to give us more of an understanding of how the individuals in our team work and their role in the team and what they contribute to the project.

I was a little confused on the results which I got, I received Innovator and Conductor. I do agree with some points that each have, but there are also reasons which I do not agree with them.

Conductor

Conductors introduce organisation and logical structure into the way things are done. They organise and systemise the world around them, by establishing appropriate plans, identifying and implementing correct procedures, and then endeavouring to make sure they are followed. They try to ensure that roles and responsibilities are properly defined and that appropriate resources or skills are available to undertake the work assigned.

However, others may perceive them as manipulative or overly bureaucratic, particularly if they try to dominate any group or steer it in a particular direction without proper discussion.

Whilst I prefer things to be extremely organised and structured, I don't think that I push this view on to others, and don't try to make other group member's follow these procedures, I think I am quite a passive group member unless I am required to take action when other people are not communicating correctly or fullfilling their duties, so I don't think this is a very accurate representation of me.

Innovator

Innovators use their imagination to create new and different ideas and perspectives. They observe the world around them, then use their imaginations to consider what they have observed from a number of different perspectives and dream up new ideas and insights. Innovators often produce radical solutions to problems, develop long-term vision and demonstrate and apparent understanding of what cannot be clearly known.

However, others may see them as 'up in the clouds' and inclined to disregard practical details of protocol. They can also ignore procedure and can be too preoccupied to communicate effectively with other group members.

The description of an innovator seems to completely go against that of a conductor. I'm not quite sure what I think of this one as only a few points stand out as being correct. As I said I quite like structure, so I think that the imagination part and disregarding protocol that this trait suggests seems quite incorrect.

Out of both of these, I don't feel like I identify with either of the roles very much at all, and after reading through the other roles, I feel like the one which I relate to the most was not mentioned. The role I feel like I relate to is Scientist.

Scientist

Scientists provide explanation of how and why things happen. They bring structure and organisation into the inner world of ideas and understanding. They analyse things, formulate hypotheses and explanations of how they function, and gather evidence to assess how true those explanations are. They produce mental models that replicate how particular aspects of the world works, and try to understand the full complexity of any situation.

However, they may not always work collaboratively with others, preferring to instead work and pursue ideas independantly.

Whilst there are a few points I don't feel reflect me, such as producing mental models, I do relate to many of these traits. I like to understand a situation fully and I prefer to work out solutions on my own and following my own techniques and understanding, often coming across as perhaps not the best collaborative worker.

I think that this personality test should be taken with a grain of salt, as no ones personality is that black and white and can be defined within such strict boundaries, but it does help to give an understanding of the role that other people may possibly play and why they respond to situations in such a way.