It’s time to work less efficiently

The (added) value of pause

In the last PI planning I organized, something curious happened. By the way, a PI planning is a 2-day session where the entire department – or sometimes the entire organization – comes together to plan for the next quarter.

So what happened in that PI planning was this: during the program, everyone listened nicely. During the interactive pieces, everyone politely asked questions. But during the breaks it suddenly happened. The really important topics suddenly came up unexpectedly. The doubts, the ambitions, the bottlenecks. People spontaneously sought each other out and had great conversations. Conclusion? An efficient program is not always effective.

Let it go once

My tip for the next meeting is this: shorten it to half the time. Or shorten it to three-quarters if half is not feasible. After that time, actually close the topic and then get coffee. In the newly gained time, just chat with each other. What comes up then is usually really important. You get to know each other better, or you discuss things that haven’t come up for too long.

Finding what you are not looking for

It is so simple and yet has a difficult word; serendipity. Steve Jobs was a fan of it, too. For example, he even integrated serendipity into the design of the Apple headquarters and the Pixar headquarters: you could only get coffee in the central atrium. That way employees would meet and the right conversations would happen. When you hear the stories of those employees, it really does work that way! They came up with ideas they weren’t actually looking for. That’s called serendipity.

Hybrid serendipity

With the new hybrid work, we must again look for serendipity and connection. As a Scrum Master (and Agile Coach), you can facilitate this. You can put people on the right track by getting them to be more conscious about pausing. You will see that the team will then operate even more Agile. Because the first sentence of the Agile manifesto is not for nothing: Individuals & Interactions over Processes & Tools.

Managing for results

Do you want a lot more leverage to get results? To work even more effectively as a team? You will find a comprehensive approach in the book Focus on Result by Anton Vanhoucke and Denise Visser! That book has recently gone on sale at Bol.com and Managementboek.nl.