Game Dev Management Tips: Delegation

I wanted to do another Management focused post so here is another tip (also check out my first post).  Delegation!  If you are new to management and are promoted up to a lead position from being a worker (programmer or whatever) this concept can be hard to put into practice.  Usually the scenario is as follows.  You are a stellar developer and your development manager notices (with a bit of pointing out to some extent :-) ) and they need to fill a spot.  You want the experience and happily accept.

You may should fully understand that those you manage need to be utilized to 100% efficiency and through proper delegation this may be attempted.  The problem is you are so used to being that guy that gets to solve the big/cool problems it can be hard.  Not to mention you loved what you were doing before (that is why you did it so well) so letting go is something you need to come to terms with.

Game Dev Management Tips: The Power of the "One On One"

Before I tell you what I think about One on Ones I would like to give you some background on myself so you know where I'm coming from. The past year or so I was the lead of game development for the company I work for. I directly managed the development of eight game programmers and worked with all the other departments to get the job done. In addition to that experience I have had formal training from the American Management Association (AMA) and have used the resources over at http://www.manager-tools.com (which I highly recommend you check out if you are interested in that kind of thing).