Thinking about how to work at Beyond

Thank you for your hard work.
This is Matsuyama from the System Development Department.

What is my role (job title) at Beyond?
Previously, I spent my days making games as an engineer, but
now I'm probably a project manager (PM). Probably.

So (for what reason?), I thought I'd think a little about how to proceed with work this time.
I googled the term "how to proceed with work," and the following was the first hit:

Eight points

1. Understand the purpose of the work
2. Allocate tasks and determine priorities
3. Make plans and schedule
4. Always look back and reflect after completion
5. Leave ample time in the schedule
6. Thoroughly manage your daily time
7. Always communicate with those around you
8. Rely on your team members

I see, that's a very reasonable lineup.
These match the things I pay attention to myself, so I'll think about each item in relation to Beyond's work.

Understanding the purpose of work

The word "work" seems misleading, so let's think of it as a project.
By understanding the objectives that need to be achieved in the project,
I believe we can propose better plans (implementations) for the services, apps, games, etc. that we create.
I think this is the most important element of the "creating together" part of our company philosophy.

Also, by understanding what each individual task's function is for,
I think it will be possible to avoid discrepancies between requirements and implementation.

Identifying tasks and determining priorities

First, from a project perspective, identify the large-scale functions.
Consider the priority (implementation order) of these large functions. This
will also affect the next scheduling, but set milestones for completion and
allocate the functions to be included in each milestone.
(It is common to allocate the base functions as alpha and the overall functions as beta.)

Also, when thinking in sprint units,
the functions to be implemented that week are broken down into smaller tasks,
which clarifies the work content and allows progress to be checked.
In the Development Department, a sprint is one week long, and tasks are thought of in granularity of a maximum of three hours. (Mainly in the Yokohama office)

Plan and schedule

As mentioned above, the schedule is generally structured around milestones, and
depending on the project, each milestone may be divided into several intermediate goals (such as M1 and M2).
Towards this goal, sprints are set up on a weekly basis, and
progress is managed by breaking it down into daily tasks.
It is important to clearly define (visualize) what needs to be done and when, and to communicate this to the entire team.

Once completed, be sure to look back and reflect

The development department holds an evening meeting every day to share the details of daily work and progress with the team.
The main focus is on checking progress, and if there are any delays, we quickly follow up to find the cause and how to resolve them.

In addition, when a project is completed, the entire team conducts a review.
In the past, we have held postmortem meetings, but recently it seems that we often use the KPT method.
From each member's perspective, we identify what should continue (what went well) and the problems we are facing (what did not go well), and
the team decides what to try next.
Depending on the project, KPT may be held on a weekly basis.

Leave some leeway in your schedule

As a project progresses, things that were not originally planned, such as adding or modifying features, may arise.
Also, implementation may simply take longer than expected, or there may be work outside of the project.
For this reason, the schedule is made with a certain amount of buffer in mind from the estimation stage,
and when starting a sprint, adjustments are made by considering one day as six hours of work.
Six hours means the following:
- People cannot maintain concentration for eight hours
- Allow for about two hours to deal with interruptions

By properly managing scheduling, tasks, and progress,
you can reduce excessive overtime and working on holidays, while still meeting deadlines.

Strict daily time management

As mentioned above,
it is assumed that time management can be done fairly strictly by setting sprints and dividing tasks into fine-grained units.
Until you get used to it, there may be discrepancies between the plan and the actual results, but with experience, the difference can be narrowed.

also believe that being conscious of "speed," one of our core values,
is an important mindset for completing tasks on schedule.

Always communicate with those around you

Generally, projects are developed as a team.
Of course, we check progress and discuss it at morning and evening meetings, but it's also important to talk as needed. We
also have many opportunities to speak with people outside the company, such as coordinating with clients, so we believe communication is an important element.
"Communication" is also listed as one of our company's core values.

Rely on your team members

I think there are two ways to think about this.
1) Rely on other members for things you don't know (or can't do).
Of course, you need to make an effort to do things yourself, but
I think you can learn tasks and skills more efficiently by getting help from members who already have the knowledge.
Also, for infrastructure-related requirements, I think you should seek the help of the System Solutions Department, which are specialists.
There's nothing shameful about asking about things you don't know (although it can be embarrassing to ask the same thing over and over again).

② Delegating tasks that you can handle yourself but choose to delegate to other members
is something leaders and above should be especially mindful of.
When you're overwhelmed with tasks, the thought "it's faster and more reliable if I do it myself" can cross your mind.
While this may solve the problem in the moment, it could mean missing out on growth opportunities for younger members in the long run.
Concentrating tasks on one person can lead to personalization, and from the perspective of future work efficiency,
I believe it's better to distribute tasks as much as possible.
I understand the concern about delegating, but I would like to actively delegate tasks with the team's growth in mind.
Incidentally, delegating and leaving things alone are completely different things, so it's important to be aware of that.

summary

Now, I've written about each item from Beyond's perspective.
The key points are...
have a sense of purpose
, thoroughly manage your schedule,
and communicate
. I think it's important to keep these things in mind as you go along. What
you need to be careful about is that the things mentioned above are a means to the success of your work (project),
not the goal. While it's important to proceed with your daily tasks as planned, it
's important to always keep the project as a whole in mind as you go along, so that doesn't become the goal.
It's also a good idea to use tools for schedule management and information sharing.
I hope to discuss these points another time.

Well, that's all for today