Skills for Mentors and Team leaders

The game industry continues to experience rapid growth, increasing the demand for effective
mentorship to guide emerging developers and entrepreneurs. While mentorship programs often focus
on supporting mentees, the needs of mentors—particularly those already established in the industry—
are less frequently addressed. Being an experienced developer or entrepreneur does not automatically
equip someone with the skills or frameworks needed to mentor efficiently. Recognizing this gap, our
work has evolved from inspiring new mentors to actively supporting experienced mentors with
practical tools and resources.
In the BSG Go! project this work has centered on developing a tool and workshop format called the
Skills Matrix, a comprehensive tool designed to assist existing mentors and senior professionals in the
game industry. This tool provides a structured approach for the target groups to identify, assess and
peer-review their skills, and through that to better understand and navigate common challenges in
mentorship or leadership situations.
The work to develop the Skills Matrix system started in 2023, where the initial task was to compile a
list of meaningful skills and competences. We conducted a series of interviews to ensure the Skills
Matrix is informed by the real-world experiences of game industry mentors and senior professionals.
Based on this we designed the first version and ran initial workshops (prototype pilots) in early 2024,
with subsequent full pilot workshops conducted in the second half-year of 2024.
What started out as a “rough map” of skills that would inform the design of a training course program
for mentors in a peer2peer approach, has become so much more and we have come to understand
that the benefits of the matrix as a knowledge base provides users with an open range of opportunities,
of which we have piloted a valiant range described in the documentation but which will allow future users as an
inspiring source to discover new exploitation opportunities designed for their specific needs.

For the full skills matrix and specific demo versions, check the download section.

Programme Manual Online

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