59. Sharing The Playtest Report
Step 6. Knowledge Sharing
With the report written, it’s time to share the knowledge with the rest of the team, studio, and perhaps even a wider circle.
As previously mentioned, a report is ideal for sharing knowledge at scale. Reports convert tacit knowledge (what those present at the playtest know) into explicit knowledge (a report), which can then be distributed and converted back into tacit knowledge within each person (what everyone knows).
A few things you might want to consider when sharing the playtest report:
Who should this report be shared with? The team? The studio? External developers? Contractors? The Publisher? Investors? The public? If a group is excluded from this knowledge, why is that?
What is the process for sharing the report? How should people be aware that the report is available? How many different ways can this be messaged?
How easy is it to get access to the report? Is it on an internal system that someone external might find difficult to access? Have you created a playtest repository where all reports will be easily accessed?
If someone on the team is putting up resistance to reading the report as perhaps it’s not related to part of the game they are working on, do you want that behaviour? This mentality of ‘I only look at the parts I work on’ creates silos, and does not encourage the idea of a team on one mission together. What is the culture that you want to create?
Does leadership show an interest in these findings? Having leadership demonstrate desirable behaviours. such as presenting the key findings in meetings, shows that this matters, and can help create a culture of ‘we all engage’ with the playtest findings.
A clear next step. If there is going to be a presentation on the findings, let people know when that is, and who should attend.
Sharing the report is a good first step to building a learning organisation, but we can also transfer knowledge using other formats, for other reasons, as we’ll see next.
Key Takeaway
Playtest reports are ideal for sharing knowledge at scale. They can also help get everyone onto the same page, and break down silos.