while i might not be a team of people, it’s crucial to continue to inspect and adapt the process. i wanted to simplify the process for a single person, without sacrificing too much, and make it easier to adhere to.
1: The Plan
The sprint is kicked off at Sprint Planning. While typically timeboxed at 8 hours, mine is a bit dialed down. Sunday night I spend no more then an hour outlining what I want to do. I’ve already created my “Product Backlog” which is everything I want to get done, ordered by value and impact. I spend the sprint planning pulling items from the product backlog, or ultimate goals, and moving to that week’s sprint goal. I also get to add/edit/refine my product backlog based on whatever is currently happening (ie: event coming up requires specific items done, or an urgent house item needs fixing that’s impacting our day to day). I have my goal, and I have outlined how to get it done with most time estimations. In under an hour, you’ve set yourself up to hit the ground running. Feels good.
2: Take Action
My ‘daily scrum’, usually takes me less than 10 minutes. It’s spent outlining the things I want to get done today, reviewing what I’ve done the previous day, and revisiting the goal and progress. Agile is a great approach to personal productivity, leaving room for the unexpected while adhering to the goal. Life happens, and things can get derailed and get very complicated quick. Example, completing a woodworking project that’s project for a total of 3 hours, I realized my table saw needs callibration, and through that process it’s discovered I need a new table saw fence which costs money and requires 4 hours of installation on top of researching and purchasing. I document and adjust, and move forward.
3: Review and Reward
Being one person, in this process I do a lot of talking to myself. In the review especially, and it’s important that I have that conversation with myself. Honest inflection, usually with a journal. Am I blaming, or taking responsibility? Have I convinced myself of something, outside of what is actually happening. For me, personally, this is absolutely the place to congratulate yourself. You got through the sprint, you completed xyz, and while there is space for improvement, you should be proud of these things. I like to revisit the ‘why’ behind the goals, and write out what impact these items have, or will have. This is an absolute must, and can tip the field to get consistent momentum in a better direction.
Takeaways
Every event is incredibly important. Without the planning, the goal and estimations are unclear, and starting a task or project seems like an impossible task. I might have an idea in my head “Start a Blog”, and when I review it in my head the first step is unclear, and all I can see is every single task that is needed. Without a foothold to begin the journey, it seems far more daunting then it is. The daily (self) scrum is imperative, even if I miss it in the morning because, well life happens, I have to jump back in asap to get a plan, and really remind myself of the goal and they ‘why’. The review and retrospective (which I combine into a simple review for myself), is really the only path to improvement. What happened, and why, and how can I be better next week. It demands attention and honesty