Finding the right people to work with

[Cluly]

So, I've been thinking about getting involved in a commercial project. But the biggest thing I come across with the type of thing is finding the right people or project to get involved with. I'm not the sort of person who can work on a large scale project alone, I've worked on a released a mobile game before with a programmer and it was the best way to work I found. But have the problem is finding the correct people, how do you guys go about this?

 

[mlogan]

Honestly, my opinion is to take time to get to know people, whether here or elsewhere. In the last year, I've gotten to know many people well. Some of them I would trust their abilities and commitment level enough to work with.

If you feel like you don't have that kind of time, look at their work history. Have they proven themselves to be able to work and follow through with a project? Have they demonstrated the skills and talents you would need someone to have? Then, after that, spend some time chatting and seeing if you are compatible.

I don't think you necessarily need to be best friends with them or anything, but to know that you can communicate well and get along is important.

I'm sure there are other aspects to take into consideration, but that's what comes to my mind first.

 

[Kes]

You also need to be careful to establish what particular skills potential partners have.  There's no point have 2 people who are both brilliant at art, but neither can event competently.  You want complementarity of skills as well as being someone you can get along with.

 

[phoenix_rossy]

Trial and error my friend. 

 

[Shelby]

Trial and error my friend. 

Sadly yes, over the years it seems to just be hit and miss, now you can look at work history to help out and skillsets but at the end of the day you don't know until you work with them.

 

[TheRiotInside]

Get your best creep on and stalk 'em hard!

Find out what their contributions to projects were in the past and how people seemed to get along with them. Don't rely solely on asking the person about their past projects, as they will usually give you an interview answer that might not paint the full picture.

Also this might not be much of an indicator or a successful business partnership, but check out some of their forum posts. See how they respond to others and see what their stronger opinions are on different subjects. You'll usually find out naturally if you're attracted or repelled by their behaviour. Again, this might not say too much about working with them on a project, but if you think you can get along with someone and level with them when needed, that can go a long way.

Also what others have already said. Make sure they can actually bring what you need to the table.

But really though, go full creep and stalk them hard until you decide if it's worth contacting them. Just don't do anything that'll get you arrested!

 

[Shelby]

"creep and stalk them" lol I don't know about that. I already have a Spanish stalker on this site and yea I do not like it...

 

[phoenix_rossy]

Sadly yes, over the years it seems to just be hit and miss, now you can look at work history to help out and skillsets but at the end of the day you don't know until you work with them.

I've worked with people with a fantastic portfolio/work history who have totally let me down, and others with no discernible track record who have come up trumps (and weren't super expensive).

For me, I'm more than happy to hire someone who has the skills, if not the work history. If they let me down, well, goodbye any future business from me. I have a short but sweet contact list now for freelancers who I know won't mess me about, but only through trial and error.

 

[RadiantCadenza]

Even if you're an equal partner with someone, treat it in the same manner as you would with hiring an employee. 

Ask for a resume and portfolio of anyone you want to work with. Seriously! That lets you see and verify what kind of skills they have. And you should give them yours as well. 

Check out any public social media pages they have, twitter, facebook, tumblr, personal or company websites, etc. 

If you'd like to dig deeper, if they've done any past collaboration projects you can contact people the people they worked with and ask about them. 

As for the trial and error thing, yeah, that's inevitable regardless. A good way to hedge your bets is to not have too ambitious a first project with a new team. Start with something smaller and shorter while you get used to working together, and also you lose less if things don't quite work out. 

And ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, have a contract, especially if money will ever become involved. Make sure it spells out what everyone's duties are, who retains the copyrights to project assets and IP, how any profits and expenses will be divided, etc. Even if it never needs to be enforced, working out the contract itself is basically a pre-negotiation for any disagreements you might have later, so it settles all that junk ahead of time so you can better focus on just getting stuff done.