Tag Archives: Teamwork

Hey there! I know it can be difficult to know what to say in standup. One of the most important things you can do to keep your team in the loop is to share a meaningful standup update on your progress. Think of it like a relay race – each team member needs to know where the baton is, how fast it’s moving, and whether there are any obstacles ahead.

When I enter standup and giving my update, I like to ponder: “What info can I give to the team that might be meaningful for a standup update?”

Tips for sharing meaningful standup updates

Update the team on your current work status
Let your team know how close you are to meeting milestones, deadlines, and if you’ve encountered any issues. For example, “I’m 85% complete with the License/phone selector for site settings and should have it ready for review by tomorrow morning.”
Communicate any changes that may impact others
Let your team know of any changes to your work that may impact or unblock the work of others. For example, “I’ve finished the API bits for both site and account phone/license, which should now unblock the UI stories for the rest of the team.”
Customize your updates
Tailor your updates to your team members’ interests and needs. For example, provide more details on a technical challenge for a team member who’s interested.
Be proactive in sharing updates or asking questions
Don’t wait for someone to ask for an update. For example, “I wrote up a bug I believe I noticed a bug in production, I would like to see if we should address it now or a future sprint.”
Provide context
Share not only what you’ve done but why you’ve done it. Providing context can help non-technical team members better understand the value it brings, and how it fits into the overall vision. For example, “I’ll be starting work on the date pickers, this is part of the new reporting view we’re building.”

Why do Good Standup Updates matter, you ask?

Well, here are a few reason:

Keep your team up-to-date
Regular updates help everyone stay informed about the progress of the project and any potential roadblocks.
Identify and address issues early
Sharing updates on any issues or challenges you’re facing can help your team address them early on, preventing them from becoming bigger problems down the line.
Foster team cohesiveness
Sharing updates can help your team understand each other’s work and goals, leading to better communication and collaboration towards a shared vision.

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
– George Bernard Shaw (1856 to 1950)

So, the next time you’re in a standup meeting, don’t just rattle off a list of tasks you completed – instead think of your standup updates like a baton in a relay race – an opportunity to keep everyone informed, stay on track, and work together to reach the finish line.

Ask yourself: “What info can I give to the team that might be meaningful for a standup update?” and you’ll build a strong team culture that values open communication and collaboration, leading to more productive and successful projects.

Book Reviews

Debugging Teams – Book Review

December 24, 2021 Jonathan Stassen Leave a comment

Debugging Teams is a short, clean, and to the point read. It’s a great book to pick up, read a page or two & set down and ponder. Every section speaks lightly, yet bluntly about team culture & being a great team member.

Rating

(Higher is better, 5 is neutral)

Would I recommend? 9 / 10
Did I learn anything? 8 / 10
Did I learn anything I can apply? 7 / 10
High Information density? 8 / 10
Would I re-read? 7/10

Buy Debugging Teams on Amazon

Debugging Teams Overview

Debugging Teams speaks honestly and cuts to the chase. It provides practical advise with how to work with (and around) bad culture and defines what good culture looks like.

It reminds us that good team culture starts with ourselves. We have to be humble to grow ourselves to be an example of what good culture is.

Debugging Teams sets that bar of what that good team culture should looks like and thusly what bad culture looks like.

Who should read Debugging Teams?

Pretty much everyone! Specifically leadership, managers, and junior to senior devs.

I consider this essential reading for any of team member as an introduction to thinking about team culture.

My main takeaways

Culture is important from day 1, bad culture from one teammate infects an entire team and pushes away good talent. It’s hard & nearly impossible to override one toxic teammate with many good ones, it just doesn’t work.

Therefor don’t tolerate having the Brilliant Jerk on the team. They aren’t worth it. They set bad culture and diminish the team around them.

Be the example of the culture you’d like to see, be humble, you likely have faults as well. We need to be aware of our own ego.

If you liked this book, next I’d recommend:

Going deeper on team culture: Elegant Problem
Going deeper on leading with positive impact: Multipliers
Going deeper on project management: Waltzing with Bears
Going deeper on managing a team: Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager

Favorite Quotes

“Software development is a team sport”

“If you spend all your time working along, you’re increasing the risk of failure and cheating your potential for growth”

“Relationships always outlast projects”

“Understand the difference between constructive criticism of someones’ creative output and flat-out assaults against someone’s character. […] If you truly respect someone, you’ll be motivated to choose tactful, helpful phrasing.”

“Your self-worth shouldn’t be connected to the code you write – or any project you build.”

“When you stop learning, you get bored. It’s really easy to get addicted to being a leading player; but only by giving up some ego will you ever change directions and get exposed to new things. Be willing to learn as much as teach.”

“Admitting you’ve made a mistake […] is a way to increase your status over the long run.”

“A ‘strong culture’ is one that is open to change that improves it, yet is resistant to radical change that harms it”

pg 31

Project Management

Why We Should Consider 1 Week Sprints.

March 4, 2021 Jonathan Stassen Leave a comment

You know how 2 week sprints are the de-facto go-to pattern for many teams? I don’t believe they are the best for teams and we should all consider 1 week sprints instead, and I’ll tell you why.

The Downfalls of 2 Weeks Sprints

Longer meetings to plan for 2 weeks
Need more Context
Hard to estimate how much work can be accomplished
Over commitment is easy
Doesn’t accommodate changing requirements
Doesn’t accommodate newly discovered scope as well
Doesn’t accommodate surprises that pull for attention away from the team (support, external teams)
Can create anxiety when falling behind, especially considering work remaining
PMs have less certainty on sprint progress
Slow feedback cycle

The Upsides of 1 Week Sprints

Tighter feedback loops
Shorter meetings
Allows team to be more precise in their commitments
Forces team to think about the now (highest priority).
If scope or focus change occurs, only interrupts 1 weeks worth of work.
If over commitment occurs it is smaller and easier to correct.
Generally feels more exciting, each week starts anew.
Weekly routine lightens the mental load

Won’t 1 Week Sprints have more meetings?

Since we have only one week to plan for, we must have more meetings, and this take more time right? Surprisingly you’ll spend less time in meetings!

Touching base on a weekly basis there are fewer surprises and thus fewer ‘new’ topics that need to be introduced.

For instance, when we are driving a car, it’s natural to drift a little side-to-side within our lane. But, instead of large jarring adjustments every minute, we make many frequent little adjustments keeping us centered on the road and therefore moving smoothly around every turn along the way.

Similarly, frequent touch bases are simpler and shorter, and therefore also keep the team in sync moving smoothly through their work.

Now let’s take a look at what a 1 week sprint schedule might look like.

The 1 Weeks Sprint Schedule

Here is what a possible 1 week Sprint Schedule could look like.

Outside of this schedule there still may be additional team meetings such as Project Planning, Project Kickoffs, or Planning Quarter Roadmap.

A week calendar view showing the meetings on each day including standups, grooming, retros, and demos. There are only 6 meetings displayed in total. Standups shown every day at 10am, three of which are longer in length because they include Scope, grooming, and demos. Retro remains it's own meeting. — A sample 1 week Sprint Schedule

Standup (15min) – Everyday at the same time, occasionally bundled with other team meetings.

* Touch base to talk about work in progress
* Update team members of any changes or needs

Week Scope (30min + 15min Standup) – The kickoff for the week.

* Review Previous Sprint metrics, work completed
* Review Previous Sprints remaining stories that will cary over to this weeks sprint.
* Define the weeks big picture focus for the team
* Pull in new stories & Prioritize them
* Pull in/out stories until matches teams throughput (don’t compromise and over commit!)
* Confirm the scope committed to
* End with Standup

Grooming (15min + 15min Standup) – Looking forward to future work and estimating stories

* Start with standup
* Introducing upcoming work & projects
* Breaking down, defining, and estimating stories
* Delegating project leads for spike work

Retro (30min) – How can the team improve

* Depending on how well the team is running this can be every 2 weeks instead of every week.
* Retros should always focus on how the team can improve to become the best team.
* Retros can be sometimes heavy. Therefore Thursdays tend to be best to avoid ending the week with any weight.

Demos! (15min + 15min Standup) – Celebrating the weeks wins!

* Start with Standup
* End the week with great for team morale
* An open form where any team member may share work (in progress or completed) from the week
* Great for knowledge sharing
* Ends the week on a high note.

(expand each section above for a detailed description & structure)

Bundling Team Meetings with Standup

Folks tend to prefer fewer meetings. A clever tool to utilize – combine meetings together that have the same or similar attendees.

In the sample 1 week sprint schedule above, we’ve combined Weekly Scope, Grooming, and Demo meetings with standup. This takes 9 meetings down to 6. Everything is simpler and lighter.

Summary

It’s worthwhile to consider switching your team to 1 Week Sprints. They will give your team more energy and more accurate commitment to their work. 1 Week Sprints will set your team up for even better success.

What does your team use? Would you ever switch?

(cover photo credit: Jonathan Stassen / JStassen Photography)

Thoughts