Best of Scrum in daily life

I?like?having?plans!?Plans give me?the?feeling of having?my?life under control. I?know what is coming and what to expect. In?most?cases,?if?something changes,?I’m safe because I have plan B, C,?and?D.?Well, that’s not a case anymore.

I?used to think:?"Follow the plan and you will be safe." I?would?forget that my plans?and?what is really going to happen?are two separate things.?For?example,?I?would?want to go on a trip,?so?I?would: Check whether forecast,?buy?a bus ticket,?pack everything needed,?and I would?set my alarm.?I am ready to go!?But,?the?next morning I?would?not hear my alarm,?I would?oversleep, and?of course?miss my bus!?The night before the?forecast promised?me a?sunny day, but it's?raining,?and I didn’t pack my umbrella.?This would leave me?two options, be angry as hell, go?back home swearing,?lock?myself in?my?room and?be in a?bad mood?until?the?end of the day OR?I could simply,?wait for another bus, check what else I can do?on rainy days?on my trip, adapt my plan accordingly and enjoy the day within given conditions!

I used to be the person?that would?go home angry at the whole word just because my perfectly prepared plan just failed!?It?has taken?me months to reshape my mind?so?I am not losing it every time something changes. I am still learning the fact that?the?only control I have is over my reaction to a situation, not?the?situation itself.

Learning this caused some silver hair,?but I’m grateful that my view has changed.?All it started with two things: Pandemic and my Scrum Master role.?

Hello Backlog

The pandemic hit and all my plans for 2020 were cancelled. I was freaking out. I felt like I was?losing control…panicking. I decided?to come up with?some steps to help myself?working in my?home office (I wrote about it?here)?with my main focus?being?on my work and how to handle remote collaboration with?my?teams. This?made?me?realize?the other side, that my focus on work helped me?apply?some benefits to my personal life!

When I?would?have?a problem or something to work on, I?would write?down some ideas how to solve it, what needs to be done and how,?and?what is feasible. Then I check my capacity and prioritize accordingly. And voilà, all?the things?I had?in mind to?solve the issue?was?written down on one list,?with separate to-do’s for each topic such as design a wardrobe, tidy up basement, road trip in Ireland,?or?fixes in my flat etc.

I?would?create my own?Backlog,?with Epics, User?Stories and?Tasks prioritised, understandable and doable in?a?specific time.?I?would?check my own progress,?where?I stand,?and whether I’m on track. Not from?a?time perspective,?but content and quality wise.

In this case the "product" is my life and I become my own product owner, development team,?together with?the Scrum Master in one person.

Let’s plan!

At?work, Planning happens every 2 weeks. Together with?the?Product Owner and Developers we discuss how we want to reach our Sprint goal. As?Backlog?is prioritised and?a Goal is given, now developers must say what can be pulled to Sprint and what is enough work for given time. In?the event?any doubts pop up, we discuss again, and adapt?the?Sprint?Backlog accordingly.

I have?begun?to adapt these?principles in my own life,?and now I only plan 1-2 weeks?ahead of time. Now I have?a?better overview?of?my plans?and?activities,?and most?importantly?- I feel better,?I’m?not stressed?or?under pressure of my own tasks,?and I’m no longer?exhausted by?having?too many things to do.

I feel more in control because I plan less, progress faster and if something changes, I can react and adapt immediately. With this set up I train my mind to be more flexible and less anxious about not having things under control.

Daily tasks check?

What I do daily?in my personal life, now mirrors my work life.

At work, we?have daily stand ups with?the?team.?That time is dedicated to developers to adapt their work and share progress and blockers.?After the daily,?I check my own Kanban board where I?keep?track my work tasks and plan the day accordingly. These are?the same?steps we take?as?the?squad.??Of course, I need to keep some buffer for unplanned tasks, but I’m getting better and better with forecasting my effort over the day and finishing 80% of my tasks!?I feel like this is such an achievement!

The same?principal is now?applied for personal plans and tasks. I check it every morning and once I finish the work, I already know what I am up to that day. I am not stressing out about next day or the day after. My focus remains on that one day and that’s kind of calming, relieving.?

Retrospective –?How it all went?

This is my favourite part!?When I?look back?and?acknowledge what?worked well, address what needs some improvements,?and set some actions to be better next time!?Sometimes?it is hard to admit?when?something didn’t go well, but?saying?it out loud?sometimes makes it easier. Being focused?on how to solve problem always help to avoid pointing fingers.

“The only man who makes no mistakes is the man who never does anything.”

President Roosevelt.

At work we hold retrospectives after each Sprint. It is safe space where we share our point of view on certain problems and opinions what we can do about them. We have a rule that we must come up with at least 3 action items?(improvement with one person responsible for driving each item). After 2 weeks we check these action items and whether these improvements are up and running.?

What I?take?from?my own?retrospectives is that?it?is important to stop for a while?and?look back?to?analyse how I was doings.?Then I can gauge?how successfully I achieved what I??planned, how?the?communication and cooperation went,?discover?what?I can?learn from my recent experience,?and how?to?apply it in next iteration.?

You don’t have to be a Scrum expert to use added values brought by this framework. But basic understanding definitely helps. You can read more in?Scrum Guide.