What do you do if your VR team members have different skill sets?

As is true with any good team, you must find out what everyone's superpowers are. When approaching any new or emerging medium it's easy to try to fit in and "make it work" but the most effective thing you can do is see where your talents can fit naturally and apply them that way. I feel we often try to understand how different a technology is, but it's far more effective to find out what is similar to what you know.

VR development requires a slightly different approach to team building when compared to more established disciplines like VFX or games development. It is a very difficult medium to work with due mainly to the technical requirements of the hardware. This coupled with a largely unchartered creative landscape make VR a scary proposition for the risk-averse. VR needs a team that has substantial experience in the more established areas for best results. The trickiest VR of all is mobile, and for that developers need to understand first principles rather than leaning on the latest real-time solutions from platforms like Epic games Unreal Engine 5. VR developers need to be as close to the 'metal' as possible.

This reads like it was written by AI, and that's really not a good thing. The content is so generic that you could swap VR for literally anything else and it would still read the same and still have no value.

To carry out a “skills assessment program” we must first define which skills are necessary to successfully develop our VR project. In this phase we define the "target profile level" that each team member should possess to complete their task well. Then each team member's “current profile level” is compared to the “target profile level”. Finally, as a result of this analysis, the manager can understand the skill gap and define the training plan for his team. We used to have a data base of VR skillsets and different levels of user profile: junior, medium, expert.

Promote the idea of getting data, presentations and business KPIs as a standard included for goal measurement. Encourage employees to include more points for their final evaluation to have a better standing. The SMART goal concept is a good guidance though reflect that some tasks are longer-term...though relevant.

Now that you know what everyone can do, decide what your team aims to achieve. Is it creating the most immersive VR game or an educational experience? Clear goals help everyone stay focused and contribute where they're strongest.

Well, well, well… :) Management is a skill. There is no fixed rule that is applicable with all the teams but there are some points which can be implemented with a large team 1. Identity the key people of your team who works well 2. Identify the different modules of your team/project 3. Assigne one team lead for each module 4. This way you can manage your team You can always take the kmputs from the module leads. 5. To be in touch with your team members you can always talk to your all the team members and help them.

Soooo what is a VR team member?! Is this someone who knows VR? Or a Unity developer? Or? Since our company is an XR company... "if our teammates have different skillsets"... I say things like "Thank goodness!!!" bc they play a vital role in positions I'm not suited to or would rather not do.

Delegating tasks in a VR development team involves knowing each member's strengths, defining clear tasks, and matching them accordingly. Break down the project, assign tasks based on skills, and offer training where needed. Encourage collaboration and provide support. Regular check-ins to track progress and celebrate achievements to boost morale. This fosters productivity and ensures project success.

The obvious answer is to delegate tasks based on each team member's strengths. A more holistic approach requires empathy and understanding of individuals and the team as a whole. This means asking questions and listening to ideas your team members may have and asking where those ideas may have come from. These insights are often born from unexpected or unrelated experiences such as an individual's upbringing, fears, or passions. Assigning the same tasks repeatedly to team members that are good at completing them risks stagnating their potential and limits diversity of thought. If you have difficulty understanding why this approach can be powerful, consider looking into learning about active listening techniques.

You create a united front where different skill levels come together by encouraging a team-wide approach to testing. This process of 'brain fusion' fosters a strong team bond and helps identify individual strengths. There's a learning curve for everyone, but if you're familiar with similar content and test it, you'll be able to make progress. Creative tasks can motivate and inspire, while some technical tasks may be seen as more mundane. By matching tasks to team members' strengths and interests, you can keep engagement high. In my opinion, a well-managed VR team embraces a culture of testing and learning through collaborative problem solving. You should pay attention and try to keep the project dynamic and the team connected.

Think of delegating tasks like assigning missions to your superheroes. You wouldn't ask the Hulk to do stealth, right? Give tasks to those whose skills align best with them. This ensures tasks are completed efficiently and with a touch of excellence.

It doesn't always have to be mentoring (which might get less adapted in companies), but the rule that every piece of development needs to be reviewed by another (senior) team member...which also has a teaching component for the less skille employee.

Diverse teams win every time. Through collaboration you can discover your team members super powers and promote a high performing dynamic. Get that going and start your launch count down.

I was speaking to a friend of mine (a master of set lighting) about skill sets. When I mentioned he's a master of lighting, he said "No, I'm a student of light." WHOA! Having this approach creates a genuine desire to always be learning. With XR it's no different. Collaborating with your teams and finding out their processes and approaches, not only expands your knowledge base, but it builds incredible relationships and makes you a better creator. When you collaborate don't just aim to get the project over the line, aim to have a better understanding of how you got there.

Virtual reality (VR) has revolutionised collaboration across diverse teams. From my perspective, enabling professionals like architects, engineers and project managers to visualise complex ideas, foster mutual understanding would give better benefits. Organisation should facilitate dynamic brainstorming and workshops, enhances training by simulating real-world scenarios, and allows for real-time, global teamwork. Engaging in these activities will refine processes in virtual settings before physical prototypes are developed, saving time and resources. Providing open communication will thereby improve project outcomes and promoting a unified, creative organizational culture.

Establish a culture of learning and collaboration among team members. Motivate team members to participate in cross-training sessions so they can pass on their knowledge and skills to one another.

Building an AR/VR application in any case requires a diverse set of skills. For instance, there is the UX team that designs the look and feel of the app, then there is the modelling team that builds the models like the machine we will be dismantling and then we the team that builds the interactions on these models. However, since there is a fairly new technology and is still evolving, one can easily get trained on it and catch up. I for instance, was on a maternity break for a year and learned about this technology when back. I grew the capability in Accenture India from a 3 to 35 member team and was responsible for the first few industry prototypes, vendor partnerships and clients. It was the most exciting phase of my career!

Each team member brings their own unique experiences to the table, and tapping into these can enhance the training process. By respecting and incorporating these different backgrounds, you create a practical and relatable learning environment. It's about finding the sweet spot between perfection and 'this works', fostering a sense of achievement and engagement. Small, dedicated teams often thrive when training is personalised and team members feel valued. Staying at eye level is crucial - it means creating an inclusive atmosphere where ideas and skills are freely shared. This collaborative dynamic encourages mentorship and a united front, strengthening team bonds and overall performance.

Even superheroes need to upgrade their skills. Offer resources or time for team members to learn and grow. This could be new software, programming languages, or design techniques. Keeping skills sharp ensures your team can tackle new challenges head-on.

I am a firm believer in on the job training. This approach doesn't feel like an additional burden or a cost incurring task. Many companies lose projects because they lack the right skills at the right time.So, what's the solution? Invest in a team within your company that focuses on hiring freshers & continuously invests in their trainings. The individuals from these sessions will be prepared to take on tasks alongside their more experienced colleagues. This way, you won't lose any projects due to a lack of resources. Also, you will be able to control costs, as most of the work will be carried out by freshers under the leadership of a senior tech lead. This approach ensures an optimal blend of cost efficiency and talent development.

Implement a skill-sharing platform where team members can upload tutorials and guides covering various VR topics. Encourage peer-to-peer learning through regular knowledge-sharing sessions where team members can discuss challenges and share insights. Additionally, organize periodic workshops focusing on emerging VR technologies and best practices. Provide access to online learning resources and subscriptions to VR development platforms for continuous skill development. This approach fosters a collaborative learning environment, empowering team members to learn at their own pace while staying updated with industry advancements.

Apart from proactively keeping the team up to date with the domain knowledge, and having rituals of shared learning experiences, incorporating active individual learning as part of roles and responsibilities will massively help with staying on top the competition. Formal training is essential but informal training sessions such as brown bags, guest speakers and hackathons are also massively useful.

I am not a proponent of closely monitoring processes. Instead, I endorse on the job training. The outcomes of such training will naturally manifest in the quality of their work. It's the lead's responsibility to cultivate a team culture where, instead of imposing monitoring, team members proactively seek validation for their work products.

Keep an eye on how things are moving. Are you on track to meet your goals? Regular check-ins help catch any issues early and adjust plans as needed. It also allows you to celebrate small victories, keeping the team motivated.

We leave the initiative for further training to each team member... they say "it would be handy if I knew a bit more about xxyyzz" then we/they find a course that offers what they require. It's called trust... and without that, there is no team. Some members do 3 trainings a year... others only 1... depends on interest and other knowledge... and of course it all helps to build a stronger and more diverse team.

One of the amazing aspects of new realities, including VR, is that all skills are needed. Nurturing an open and safe space for team members to share their thoughts, experiences and ideas, even from considered unrelated perspectives would help building the next level experience. Won’t you agree that someone’s personal skills in gardening could be useful in building a virtual environment?

In this case, the way to combine them as i see it is for one of them to learn how to work on the other one' skills. How? Let's just say that one of them is a unity engine designer, and the other one is an unreal engine programmer, what i must do as their leader is to compare and see, is it easier for the designer to change his environment to unreal or for the programmer to change his environment to unity? Because we don't want to get stuck at teaching one of them while it's easier to teach the other one, it's about time management.

Keep it lite. While ensuring your team can accomplish its goals, help them enjoy working together. Find out what makes them tick and help expand their strengths and provide opportunity to explore weaknesses to turn those toward strengths.