Game Dev PMO / Process Upgrade
Up-Level Operations With Lightweight Processes
That Scale With You
We help you design precisely the level of process that most benefits your teams and your business
Benefits of our Game Dev PMO / Process Upgrade
√ Green Light process for work intake
√ Roadmap preparation & management
√ Change control for Plan of Record
√ Scenario planning for changes
√ Effective org structure, teams & roles
√ Stage/Gate or Scaled Agile framework
√ Functional hybrid of Agile & Waterfall
√ Support Model that optimizes dev cap
√ Staff, recruitment & budget allocation
√ Efficient Operating Model for the org
How It Works
Every Game Dev organization has processes that work well for their needs, and others they have outgrown. When thinking about future growth, some processes will be easy to extend, and others will need to be replaced entirely. There is no "one size fits all." The Game Dev PMO presents a holistic framework of focus areas that work well together at any scale - although the precise model of how they work shifts as the scale increases.
We work with you to assess how well your processes fit your current and anticipated needs, and recommend a roadmap of upgrades in priority order of most significant positive impact to your organization. Then we collaborate on a plan to implement these improvements in a phased manner, so you realize tangible benefits quickly.
Focus Areas
Initiative Management
Clarify strategic objectives that drive a Green-Light Process and subsequent Roadmap Preparation for addressing strategically-aligned high priority work
Change Control
Enable flexibility through a Change Control Process that carefully reviews proposed changes to the Plan of Record, and Scenario-Plans the best way forward
Execution Framework
Build a repeatable Stage/Gate or Scaled Agile structure for achieving key business results, reviewing plans and progress, and course-correcting efficienctly
Product Development
Strike the right balance between Agile flexibility and Waterfall predictability, using appropriate estimation, planning, tracking, and delivery
Operations & Support
Establish means for updating, administering, and monitoring a live service, with a Support Model that serves your customers while shielding your dev capacity
Organization Structure
Define effective matrix structures for clear roles and responsibilities, as well as leadership, accountability, and auhority across strong teams
Resource Management
Define growth plans to meet key strategic objectives through staff and budget allocation, recruitment and hiring, and effective use of outsourcing
Performance & Growth
Institute Profressional Development Plans, standards of excellence, and clear delivery objectives to drive strong performance from teams and individuals
Operating Model
Establish an efficient cadence of meetings, processes, activities, and communications, along with a clear calendar of deliverables, and due dates to run the business well
Our Process
1. Kick-Off Call
First, we'll have a call to get to know each other and our organizations better. We'll talk about your current situation, your operations, what's working well, the challenges you're facing, and where you would most like us to focus our attention. We will also introduce the assessment, and which people and process artifacts should be included.
2. Assessment
We'll interview the people you identified as most relevant to the assessment, and review any appropriate materials that will aid in the assessment. We will evaluate each process against a baseline of industry best-practices using our proprietary Game Dev PMO Framework. We will then prepare recommendations for potential high-impact improvements.
3. Planning
Together we will review the recommendations and design a roadmap that will deliver the most valuable improvements to you in the most appropriate manner. Since every successful implementation relies on internal ownership of any process change or implementation, we strongly prefer and recommend you identify an internal owner to champion the process changes you decide to implement.
4. Implementation
We will work with your internal change owner to define the process upgrades, implement the changes, create new process artifacts (forms, trackers, reports), prepare training materials, and conduct training sessions to effectively roll out the updates to your organization.
5. Operational Advisory
We will partner with your internal change owner for an agreed period of time to provide operational assistance, feedback, and guidance to ensure the first weeks and months of your new process go forward smoothly, and achieve the desired results.
6. Optional: Additional Advisor Support
Based on the roadmap we prepared during this process, you may choose to partner with us to help you execute more of our recommendations via another PMO/Process upgrade engagement or one of our other structured improvement programs:
- Leadership Team Advantage Workshop to guide the team through ideation, planning, and execution
- Leader Results Accelerator Program to strengthen important skills in key leaders on your team
- Executive Coaching / Advisory (ongoing; quarterly sprints) to enable your continued success
We look forward to partnering with you to ensure your organization and leadership team is well positioned to meet your productivity and high-growth goals!
Is the PMO / Process Upgrade Right For You?
To find out more about how this would work in your particular situation,
book a free 30-minute Zoom session, and we'll walk through it together.
By the end of the session, you will know:
(1) Whether the PMO / Process Upgrade is right for you
(2) Which processes would be most valuable to upgrade
(3) Where to focus first for immediate positive impact
Testimonials
I have worked with Jason for many years during my time at Electronic Arts, and his professionalism, program management skills and devotion to getting the best results for both the project and the team he is working with, has placed him at the top of his field.
Jason has vast experience in interfacing with teams of many sizes and the ability to adapt to the current needs of an organization. I have been impressed in how Jason can identify weak links in process and quickly help teams address these issues, all the while working with other stakeholders, to implement sustainable solutions.
There are people you work with throughout your careers that can shape your view of 'what good looks like', and Jason is one of these people for me. I would welcome any opportunity to work with him again.
Brett Bourbin
Director of Engineering, Electronic Arts
