I've posted a summary (http://www.rainfallstudios.com/Articles/RemoteTeamManagment/summary.html) of Dave Myers and Justin Mette's IGC session on managing virtual teams. It was a very informative session and one that I feel is relevant to Indies everywhere.

Thanks for posting this. I look forward to reading any other session summaries you write up. I'm keeping my company small for now, but I've encountered many of these team management problems in the past. I'm sure I'll butt heads with them again. ;)

Hi Dan,

Were the team members payed a fixed salary or did they also get a share of the profits? Were the profits shared equally? How was trust built? Could each member access the online sales report of the game at any time to see how their game was doing? How did the team handle the taxman? Did they file return individually? Or did they start a corporation? What game did the team complete? Has the team gone on to make more than one game? Was their any additions to the team, removals?

Did you hear them speak anything about it?

Thanks for your report. It would be nice if you could let readers add their comments on the report itself. If you use PHP, this publishing software pmachine could come handy: http://www.pmachine.com/

Thanks again for your work. Looking forward to read more!

Originally posted by jaggu
Hi Dan,
Were the team members payed a fixed salary or did they also get a share of the profits?


They didn't mention if they were actually paying anyone up front, though I did get the impression that they were paying for content like art and sound.


Were the profits shared equally?


No I believe the profit sharing was decided on when a team member joined up based on the work they committed to do for the team. If they exceeded their agreed upon work the core team would work with the team member to get them more reimbursement.


How was trust built?


21-6 Productions is something of a poster child for the Garage Games community as an example of a successful indie developer who is on the way up. I believe they established trust by conducting themselves in a professional manner, interviewing new members on the phone etc.


Could each member access the online sales report of the game at any time to see how their game was doing?


The didn't mention anything like that but did stress how important it was to keep team members involved and up to date.


How did the team handle the taxman? Did they file return individually? Or did they start a corporation?


It didn't come up. They did mention that they hired a lawyer to write their NDA so I think it's likely that the are a registered business, but l'm only speculating.


What game did the team complete? Has the team gone on to make more than one game?


Their first game was "Columns" which is published by real arcade. There's a link to it in the article. Their second game "orbz" is scheduled to launch with the Garage Games Player site in the next month or two under Garage Games "blast" line of products.


Was their any additions to the team, removals?


Yes, at one point they had a team of 17 members which both agreed was far too large for a virtual team. I think their at about 6-7 members now.

The next one i'll type up is the talk on makeing money as an indie developer. I have two more on branding for $0 and managing feature creep.

The next one i'll type up is the talk on makeing money as an indie developer.
Please write very, very quickly. ;)

Seriously though, thanks for taking the time & effort to write these reports.

Kudos to you Dan... Wish I could have been there. But thanks for taking the time to write up these summary(s).

Thanks,

Wow, Dan. You do detailed write-ups. I think your coverage of one session might be as long as my coverage of the entire event... ;)

My write-up should be posted on GameDev.net within the next few days.

-David

Thanks David, you know it's my intention put all of the gdnet staff to shame by writing volumes ;) Actually my notes aren’t as detailed as I might like, a lot of the content comes from memory which is why I’m working so furiously to get these things out. There's so much great information that was shared and I'd like the rest of the community to benefit from it as well.

Speaking of great information, I just finished the first draft of a 1700 word summary of your session. I'll probably be emailing you after I tidy it up to make sure my memory hasn't put any words in your mouth. If all goes well I might be able to get it published on the site this evening. (and post the link here)