“Problems, not Tasks: The Challenges of Managing Creative Projects”

In managing the development process of our projects, we break down the work into actionable items called tasks. We assign these tasks to team members, and their gradual completion moves the project towards the finish line. To define, assign, and manage the status of these tasks, various task management software is used. However, if you’ve been part of a creative project, you know that something is always missing in this process. There is always something that makes this process hard to manage. The world isn’t all pink and rosy during the project. What is missing?

To investigate the issue, let’s first consider what a task really is.

In the context of project management, a task is a distinct unit of work or an action item that needs to be accomplished within a specific time frame as part of a larger project. Tasks are typically assigned to individuals or teams and have clear objectives, deadlines, and deliverables.

Below, I will analyze the main aspects of a task with a simple example from game development.

1 — A Distinct Unit of Work

The task at hand must be well-defined. For example, a well-defined unit of work would be: “The character should move forward on the ground at a speed of 2 units/s when the player presses the forward button.” An example of a non-well-defined unit of work would be: “The character should move fast when we press the forward button.”

2 — A Specific Time Frame

Tasks require a duration to indicate how long it will take for a team member to complete them. For example, the duration for the character movement task mentioned above could be “3 hours.”

3 — Part of Something Else

A task is a component of a larger objective, which is the reason for defining the task. The objective is also part of the main project. Following this same relationship and logic, we can deduce that a task is part of an objective, which is part of another objective, and so on, until we reach the main objective, which is the actual project we’re working on.

In the example we’ve been considering, the task is part of the “Character Navigation” objective of the project, which itself is part of the “Platforming System” objective of the main game.

A task as part of other project objectives

4 — Clear Objectives

The outcome of a completed task should be well-defined. In the context of agile project management, particularly SCRUM, this is also known as the “Definition of Done (DoD).” These are all the criteria that need to be met for a task to be considered complete. In our simple movement example, the following could be the DoD:

1. The movement needs to support gamepad and keyboard input.
2. The character should always be positioned on the ground level.
3. Cancelling the forward command should make the character stop after one second with a linear descent motion.

5 — Deadlines

Tasks are usually part of a larger project, which means there are often deadlines associated with those larger chunks that then get imposed on tasks.

6 — Deliverables

The output deliverable of every task needs to be specified. In this example, a piece of playable code that can be tested along with a small technical document describing the main algorithms used for motion can be considered the deliverables.

The Challenges of Creative Projects

After analyzing a task, let’s consider the common challenges in managing projects with tasks.

1 — Challenge of Defining a Distinct Unit of Work

In a creative project, it’s not always possible to define a task with all the necessary details. Often, we don’t know all the details. We know the main requirement, but we can’t specify exactly what needs to be done to satisfy the requirement. For example, we desire “tight platforming controls,” but we’re not sure if that means moving at 2 units/s or 4 units/s. This example is simplified for argument’s sake.

2 — Challenge of Defining a Specific Time Frame

When there is uncertainty in defining a unit of work, there will also be uncertainty in determining the necessary duration for the task.

3 — Challenge of Part of Something Else

When working on a task, we should always keep in mind our higher level goals. These goals can’t be easily managed using our usual task management tools. Should we aim to achieve them at a certain point in time or iterate on them as the project progresses? For example, how can we judge the quality of the platforming system in our game during the project? Is there a single point in time when we can say that we have finished the platforming system?

4 — Challenge of Clear Objectives

In creative projects, we often need to explore and iterate to achieve something new. This means that we may not always know what objective we’re after or have a clear definition of done. For example, what is the clear objective for the statement “The character should move fast”?

5 — Deadlines Challenge

Meeting deadlines is a common struggle for every creative project, and is often a byproduct of the challenges that come before it. Sepcifically, not being able to define the task clearly without any associated risks.

6 — Deliverable Challenge

If the output of the work cannot be clearly defined, then the deliverable will also lack a clear definition.

Why do we experience the aforementioned challenges?

The main reason we face these challenges when defining project tasks is that we are actually defining “problems”. In the context of system design, a “problem” refers to a challenge, issue, or unmet need that the system is intended to address or solve. It may be related to user experience, functionality, performance, or other aspects of the system that require improvement or development.

Solving each problem requires devising a solution that breaks down the main problem into various sub-problems. This is known as the design process. Each sub-problem may be further divided into other sub-problems, and this process continues until we identify the actual tasks that, once completed, can be considered as having solved a sub-problem.

Regarding problems and tasks, the following can be stated:

• A problem may consist of several tasks.
• A problem can always be assigned a quality value. Tasks are binary, either completed or not completed.
• A problem requires many iterations to increase the quality value. Tasks must be completed.
• A problem requires design, which cannot be planned with certainty. However, tasks are about execution and everything about them should be certain.
• Problems are the reasons for the existence of tasks.
• Problems need to be validated to ensure their solution addresses the correct sub-problems. Tasks need to be verified to ensure they have been completed as intended. In other words, problems are about “Did we build the right product?” while tasks are about “Did we build the product right?”

It is important to differentiate between problems and tasks as these two units of work need to be approached differently.

Project Problem Decomposition and Tasks

Signs that Indicate your “Task” Might Actually be a “Problem”

If you face the following challenges during project planning, there is a high chance that what you are dealing with is a problem, not a task:

• It is difficult to set a duration for the task.
• The assignee needs more information to understand what to do.
• The task remains in the “Doing” status for an extended period.
• It is challenging for you to evaluate whether the task is genuinely complete.
• More than one person needs to be assigned to the task.
• The same task needs to be repeated for the next project iteration.
• Many risks are associated with the task.

Summary

In conclusion, it is important for teams to distinguish between a problem and a task when assigning work to team members. The expectations and work procedures should differ depending on the classification of the unit of work.