What happens when you have to go remote?

Hello there, I am the producer of the student-run game project known as Matter of Great Import, located currently here on itch. Matter of Great Import is a three-dimensional space management game where the player takes on the role of a regular human accountant who has been abducted by aliens and thrown into the mix of their whacky business ventures. Through the nearly two years of MoGI's progress, not only have we as a team seen change but so has the world around us. 

We started this project in a classroom where we designed, pitched, and sculpted our vision to our professors and other industry professionals, taking their feedback to mold not only our project but also our own abilities. When we started off, we were in class twice a week, every week, meeting in person and having dedicated time in our schedules to communicate, brainstorm, and work on Matter of Great Import together. During this time, my producer role and my own mission were a lot more clear: I planned meetings, talked with all of my team members, and made sure there were no discrepancies in either work nor personally. I worked as a mediator whenever there were problems brought forth and solved them.

While the core sense of my duties has not changed, the method behind doing so has. Being made when it was, Matter of Great Import has faced trials that were in no way manageable by anybody: a viral pandemic.  We had to uproot the whole project's 'homebase' and restructure the way in which we worked. We were no longer able to meet in person and this not only limited our ability to truly communicate but also directly impacted our meeting schedules and availability. We had to essentially take a 90 degree turn out of nowhere, all while not losing track or stumbling in our design path.

When going remote, there were many lessons to be learned as a producer. As I stated above - the core responsibilities do not change, however, the method in which they are performed was changed drastically. Whereas I relied on personal check-ups and conversations to maintain my bond and relationship with my team members, in a pandemic world, this was not an option. This put it on my shoulders to be much more responsible and on-top of maintaining constant communication feeds. While it was sometimes a challenge, messaging my group members every day to check on how they were doing personally and how they were doing with the project was a key factor in managing the project's success. This allowed me to have a near-constant idea of where the different distinctions of the team were at in their weekly assignments and plan meetings accordingly around this feedback. This daily check-up was a necessity. It not only promoted work (as I checked every night to see if anything had got done), but also promoted what was most important to me: the connection with my team. 

On top of trying to keep a solid relationship between the interlocking members of the team, individual responsibility also increased for everyone. Whereas we were previously meeting in person and showing our work multiple times a week, when going remote, there were times when work did not see itself completely to fruition or was not shown due to the difficulty of some programs and accurately sharing the work. This created bumps in the road, and a major part of going forward was a personal drive. When there is nobody in front of you to ask you questions about updates or see you working, it's extremely easy to get behind. This is why the communication was important, as it promoted and pushed towards this level. While it may have been a struggle to start, it ended up making each member of the team more resilient and more reliable to get work done on their own and take initiative.