Saskia Zwaak
The Problem: Losing Inspiration During Sprint Planning
In the opening phase of sprint planning, a team is often tempted to just dive into tasks and start assigning work. It's easy to feel that getting started with some type of task assignment is the best way to be productive. However, this can lead to losing inspiration for bigger ideas that may have come up in the brainstorming phase or during conversations around what work should be done. One technique you might try is using a live multiple choice exercise at the beginning of your sprint planning meetings. One example would be asking participants to participate in a live multiple choice quiz, to make the sprint itself a bit more exciting. Attendants of the sprint are, as a result, more likely to come up with creative ideas by thinking out of the box.
The Solution: Try This Live Multiple Choice Exercise
During the opening phase of sprint planning, ask your team to answer a live multiple choice question. For example, you could use online software like Sendsteps to display those live multiple choice questions on a big screen. Meeting attendants can answer these by using their phone and afterwards, discuss the answers. By getting them to think on their feet, they'll be more engaged and less likely to lose inspiration. The questions can both be related to the sprint and be random. Mixing up more serious questions and relatively funny ones gives your meeting a positive twist! Plus, it's an easy way to get your team prepared for the rest of the meeting. Here are some great questions you could try:
- What is one thing we could do today that would make our lives better?
- What is the purpose of this gathering?
- If you could change one thing about this company, what would it be?
- List three things you're most excited about doing today.
- What is something important that we need to do before the end of this meeting?
- What are we going to do first?
How to Do the Exercise
Getting your team on the same page during a sprint planning meeting is essential. It's important that everyone understands what they're supposed to be doing, how they're going to do it, and when they should be done. To make this process more engaging for your team, try conducting a live multiple choice exercise during the opening phase of your meeting. When you've collected everyone's thoughts, you can post them on the shared screen.
Sendsteps offers various interactive features, including multiple choice questions, to create a dynamic and engaging environment for meetings. This can help ensure that your sprint planning gets off to a successful start. The benefits of using these interactive features make it worth giving them a try, so let's get started!"
