French Fries! (important and fun team habits)

I work in a company that values work/life balance. This means that when people need to work from home for a good reason, they do. But this in turn means that they have to dial in for our standup and other meetings that day. Sometimes, it is hard to hear on the phone from home, especially when 3 people in the meeting room are looking at each other and talking over one another.

"FRENCH FRIES!"

Yeah, that would probably get your attention if someone yelled it out in the middle of a meeting, wouldn't it? Well, that's the phrase that the team created for our standup to state... "hey guys, you are making it impossible for me to be an equal member of this discussion; or even follow along". This is typically caused by people talking at the projector screen instead of the phone (too quiet), but it has other good uses also.

It's a silly phrase. It might seem unprofessional to some... but it's part of our culture. (Don't ask how we came up with the phrase, I honestly don't remember.)

My point?

Have fun in your team. Find ways to help the chemistry of the group work. Make sure people respect each other, and provide ways for them to communicate feedback in a constructive way.

The other day, a higher level manager yelled French Fries in a meeting where most people in the room hadn't heard it before (not people in our standup). It made me laugh because it shows that the idea is effective and is spreading.

Don't use a germ ball...

I know about the pattern where scrum groups use a talking token during their standing meeting. It's some random object that is used to signify who is in control of the conversation. If I'm holding it, it's my turn to answer the three questions. If what I say leads to a short conversation, I am responsible for reeling it in and getting the meeting going back around the circle.

Some groups keep it interesting with random rules around the token. Last one in gets it and starts off. We go in different directions each day which is decided by the first person. We can refactor our standing sequence to change order of turn mid-meeting. Some groups pass it to someone in random order to keep everyone on their toes.

This is all good stuff, but do me a favor. Don't make it a germ ball. I've had this happen in two groups now. The token is something everyone touches. The first flu season comes around and suddenly it's the germ ball. It's the reason that everyone is sick at the same time. No amount of anti-bacterial spray can clean that stupid thing, and the talking token doesn't work if everyone is scared to touch it.

In my group, we have a squishy rubber ball. We kick it around. The downside is that it gets disgustingly dirty on the floor. We call it the dirt ball, sometimes the snot bugger ball. BUT, nobody touches it with anything other than their shoes. Nobody gets sick from it.

We even built a house for it out of a shoe box. I'm sure the cleaning crew is confused by the dirtball house with the dirtball at rest at night... but we don't get sick, so it works for us.

Is the Product Owner part of the scrum team?

Michael James over at Danube picked up a discussion about whether the product owner should be considered part of the team. At first I thought he was saying no, but as I absorbed his points, I believe he was saying the PO is part of the team. Schwaber has come up with the term "scrum development team" to refer to the team without the PO. This point concerns me a bit... do we need other terms as well such as "scrum analyst team" and "scrum test team"? Why do we want to silo the team off?

The team is the team. It's everyone involved to deliver business value to the customer.

Not every member of the team is committed at the same level and the same way. How team members interact with their peers is important, and different people have different levels of authority when they speak. PO's have a stronger customer and market voice, usability and analyst roles have a stronger requirements and user voice, and developers have a stronger technical voice. But all voices impact each other so excluding any one from the group can be detrimental. Everyone on the team has to understand how to work as a team and not behave in ways that are harmful to the team. Just because a PO is a manager doesn't mean you should treat them that much differently when in the team circle.

What do you think?

Pit Bull for a moment...

To understand the pit bull reference, read my post about pit bulls vs. puppies that focuses on extreme personality types in the work environment.

Many of us have had a work day where we are facing a major problem. We stayed up all night trying to fix the problem and we are tired, grumpy, or even downright nasty. We go into a standing meeting and vent. We might even talk about how we should have seen the problem coming months ago and shouldn't find ourselves in this situation. Grumble, grumble, GRUMBLE.

STOP!!!

You are asking for help. You are attempting to point out a problem. You are calling attention to a cause that should rally the troops. Is your current attitude the best way to achieve this goal?

We all do it. Take a breath. Point out that you were venting and apologize. Start over on the topic.

If you want to solve a problem, it is important that you communicate things in a way that empower people to help you. Don't create a situation where they leave you alone for the day.

If you are the leader in the group, speak up. Don't let the temporary pit bull deflate the team's energy for the day. Protect the team, and provide the disgruntled support. They aren't grumbling for nothing. Remember, it is a frustrated cry for help.

TDMeetings...

Brett Schuchert of ObjectMentor extends the concept of TDD to driving positive meeting outcomes. It's a great idea, and this is the first place I've seen it. Meetings have the same problem of scope creep and deadline overrun that projects do.

The debate after the post led to other methods or frustrations about meetings. I strongly believe that "...there are no open laptops or phones in my meetings! I say, stay engaged or stay out. (unless it’s a CxO of course)"