As a team, we have decided to meet at least once a week apart from our usual class meeting dates. Wednesday mornings seem to be the most preferred date amongst the group and work the most with everyone’s schedule. Our biggest challenge so far is trying to schedule a meeting with everyone being available to show up to the meeting as we think it's crucial for all members of the group to be present. Although we’ve had occasions of split group meetings, we would fill each other in later in the chat on what we talked about and if everyone agrees or disagrees.  We are going to attempt to make Wednesday meetings weekly at 12 noon, for at least an hour, going for as long as needed. We will make sure all are notified during the Tuesday class.

So far, we have spent our time as a group working on puzzle concept ideas and documents for class. We still want to work on our guidelines such as the Work Breakdown Schedule and develop our game mechanics to fully commit to designs and prototypes, hence we haven’t started that aspect just yet. Once we get that document complete, we will begin prototyping.

I like to write my current tasks down on a list and order them in importance from what should be done first to last. That helps me stay productive and get my work done. I prefer to complete tasks one at a time as I find doing multiple isn’t as effective for impending deadlines that are fast approaching. 

Hey Janna, that's great how your group got a method going for scheduling meetings! As you mentioned, it's great if all members of the group can make it to at least one meeting so everyone can stay on the same page and share a mental model of the game's design. I also really like your way of working on tasks, writing them down in order of priority and doing them one at a time. I work the same way and find it helps with lowering procrastination since you always know what to work on next instead of not knowing what to do.

Hello Janna,  I think having dedicated working meetings outside of class time is a very important factor in organizing and actually getting work done for this project. From my experience having these outside meetings is where I get my most efficient work done, as well as it gives avenues to discuss different design topics, as well as where you want to take this project. Also has a sense of accountability as coming to a meeting empty-handed without working on something feels pretty bad so it's an extra encouraging factor for group members to get the work done.

I love that you're already setting up meeting times, and I agree that it's important to try and find a time that works for everyone. At times where you can't find a time that works, or if members are too busy, I highly recommend having someone create jot notes about the meetings topics and keeping them in a shared space for the team. It's handy not only for the members missing, but gives you something to look back on for reference of ideation.

Hey there Janna. I think you are off to a great start with these team meetings. Having meetings like this gets the working process done faster than one normally would during class. At least this is how I get them done out of all the assignments I've been working on during the entire program.  Working in person, not only helps with getting this project done, but It also gives you a great chance to discuss other game design-related topics as well and get stuff done from those topics as well. I know it can be hard to have an in-person meeting since people are busy working on other tasks left and right. Usually, when it comes to this it's best to let everyone know about it ahead of time (usually 2-3 days in advance) to see if everyone is on the same page or not. This proves to be useful for not only absent team members but also gives you something to use every now and then.