How Though?

When scheduling anything you have to have a high level overview  of all the items that need to be done to consider your project completed. Then you begin to break those key parts into their components (i.e. milestones). This illustrates everything that needs to be done to fulfill those higher level parts. 

If the project is large and requires multiple disciplines, like video games, ensure you consult those familiar with that process and each discipline to help create tasks that otherwise would have been missed without such breadth of expertise.  Make sure you document time estimates for all parts of the project, especially the granular details which will be summed up to more accurately estimate how long each milestone will take. 

Lastly, ensure that such a schedule can be sharable and digestible to other people as that's when a schedule's strength is revealed. It is still useful for individuals or smaller teams but its importance is exacerbated as teams get larger. 

My Gantt Chart for Ubisoft NEXT 2021

For instance, you can create a Gantt chart like above, to share this information. It is important to also update this document based on new project learnings and as new information arises (i.e. the core artist leaves the team abruptly). 

Why is it Important?

Simply put, it shows professionalism and skill when you put time and energy to think about how your project will be structured and its milestones. Otherwise, you are just guessing and you may be happy to do so but I'm sure if it was your money that other people were guessing around with this process will make you far more content with it being spent .  

Generally 70% of all business expenses are sourced from employee wages and benefits. The breakdown of tasks and who is required (and their quantity) to complete them and how long it takes  is used to create a budget for your project;  even if its an unpaid project,  you can  learn how much time you are investing and judge if its  time well spent.  Because of this high expense ratio, schedules help keep your project under budget so you can finish the game and not have spent 5 years developing only for the studio to go bankrupt effectively wasting that time. 

It is also a great way to predict any delays as Gantt charts show dependencies as delays ripple down to all future parts of the project. This gives you ample time to strategize around it and inform any stakeholders early on  as they have their own plans too (i.e.  recent Halo Infinite's Multiplayer surprise release coinciding with Halo's 20th anniversary) .  

Moreover, schedules keep projects at reasonable durations for a given scope. With games being software and technology growing so rapidly, studios who develop games for one extra year longer may see the need to incur costs (releasing for both PS3 and PS4 now having to develop for both) and the risk that their game will be outdated (design, visuals, subject matter). 

Lastly, It also can keep the team motivated especially for less structured student/learning/non-fulltime  teams who may find it difficult to maintain motivation when not scoping appropriately.  People love spontaneity and the draw of the new thing. Schedules help rally the team behind these milestones that make them feel great because they accomplished something while also knowing when it will end.  It will help you finish projects.  All of this will be used by my team and I on Under Choices.