Thinking about how to work at Beyond

Good work today.
This is Matsuyama from the Systems Development Department.

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

So (for what reason?), this time I thought I'd think a little about how to proceed with work.
I randomly Googled the phrase "how to proceed with work" and the following items were the first to come up.

Eight points

1. Understand the purpose of the work.
2. Identify tasks and determine their priorities.
3. Create a plan and schedule.
4. Always review and reflect after completion.
5. Allow for buffer time in the schedule.
6. Thoroughly manage your time every day.
7. Maintain constant communication with those around you.
8. Rely on team members.

I see, that's a very convincing lineup.
It aligns with what I personally pay attention to, so I'll consider each item in relation to Beyond's work.

Understanding the purpose of work

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

Furthermore, by understanding the purpose of each individual task, we
can prevent discrepancies between requirements and implementation.

Identifying tasks and determining priorities

First, from a project perspective, we identify the major functionalities. We then
consider the priority (implementation order) of these major functionalities. This
also relates to the next step, scheduling; we set milestones towards completion and
allocate the functionalities to each milestone.
(A common allocation might be α for the base functionalities and β for the overall structure.)

Furthermore, when considering things in sprint units,
we break down the features to be implemented that week into smaller tasks
to clarify the work content and monitor progress.
In the development department, we consider sprints to be one week long, and the granularity of tasks to be up to 3 hours. (Mainly at the Yokohama office)

Plan and schedule

As mentioned above, the schedule generally has milestones, and
depending on the project, there may be intermediate goals that are set by dividing the milestones into several parts (like M1, M2, etc.).
Towards these goals, we break down the work into weekly sprints and daily tasks
to manage progress.
It is important to clarify (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 a daily evening meeting to share daily work content and progress within the team.
The main purpose is to check progress, and if delays occur, we quickly follow up on the cause and solutions.

Furthermore, upon project completion, we conduct a team-wide retrospective.
While we have sometimes held post-mortem meetings in the past, recently we tend to use the KPT method.
From each member's perspective, we identify what went well (things to continue) and what problems remain (things that didn't go well), and
then the team decides what to try next.
Depending on the project, KPT may be conducted on a weekly basis.

Leave some leeway in your schedule

As a project progresses, unexpected things may arise, such as adding or modifying features that weren't in the initial plan.
Also, implementation might simply take longer than expected, or there might be other work outside of the project.
Therefore, schedules should be estimated with a certain amount of buffer
time from the outset, and sprints should be divided into 6-hour workdays to allow for adjustments. The
6-hour rule has the following implications:
• People cannot concentrate for 8 hours straight.
• Approximately 2 hours should be allocated for interruptions.

By properly scheduling and managing tasks and progress,
it becomes possible to reduce excessive overtime and weekend work while still meeting deadlines.

Strict daily time management

As mentioned above,
we anticipate that time management can be fairly precise through sprint scheduling and the creation of granular tasks.
There may be discrepancies between planned and actual work until you get used to it, but with experience, you can narrow the gap between planned and actual work.

Furthermore, being mindful of "speed," which is one of our core values,
is an important mindset for completing tasks on schedule.

Always communicate with those around you

Projects are generally developed in teams.
While progress checks and discussions during morning and evening meetings are essential, it's also important to communicate as needed.
Furthermore, since there are many opportunities to speak with external parties, such as clients, communication is considered a crucial element.
"Communication" is even listed as one of our core values.

Rely on your team members

I think there are two ways of thinking about this.
① Relying on other members for things you don't know (or can't do)
Of course, you need to make an effort to be able to do it yourself, but
I think you can efficiently acquire work and skills by getting help from members who already have the knowledge.
Also, for infrastructure-related requirements, I think you should ask for the cooperation of the System Solutions Department, who are specialists.
There's nothing to be ashamed of in asking about things you don't know. (It is embarrassing to ask the same thing over and over, though.)

② While you could handle it yourself, deliberately delegating to other team members
is a concept that leaders and above should especially keep in mind.
When tasks pile up, it's easy to think, "It would be faster and more reliable if I did it myself."
While that might solve the problem in the moment, in the long run, it means missing out on growth opportunities for team members (especially younger ones).
to prevent them from becoming overly reliant on one person and to improve future work efficiency
It's better to distribute tasks as much as possible
I understand that delegating can be worrying, but it's important to actively delegate tasks with the team's growth in mind.
By the way, delegating and abandoning tasks are completely different things, so it's important to understand that distinction correctly.

summary

Now, I've written about each item from Beyond's perspective.
The key points are...
having a sense of purpose
, thorough schedule management
, and effective communication
. I think it's important to proceed while keeping these points in mind as much as possible. What
's important to remember is that the things mentioned above are means to an end—to make the work (project) successful—
not the end itself. It's important to complete daily tasks on schedule, but we
should always keep the overall project in mind as we work, so that it doesn't become the goal.
Also, it's a good idea to use tools for schedule management and information sharing.
I'd like to talk about this in more detail on another occasion.

Well, that's all for today