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 the case anymore.
I used to think: “Follow the plan and you will be safe.” I would forget that my plans and what is going to happen are two separate things. For example, I would want to go on a trip, so I would: Check the weather 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 was 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 world 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 canceled. 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 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 on 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 were written down on one list, with separate to-dos for each topic such as designing a wardrobe, tidying up the basement, a road trip to Ireland, or fixing my flat, etc.
I would create my Backlog, with Epics, User Stories, and Tasks prioritized, understandable, and doable in a specific time. I would check my 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, and 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 prioritized and a Goal is given, now developers must say what can be pulled to Sprint and what is enough work for a given time. In the event any doubts pop up, we discuss them again and adapt the Sprint Backlog accordingly.
I have begun to adopt 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 the pressure of my 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 adapting their work and sharing progress and blockers. After the daily, I check my own Kanban board where I keep track of 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 at forecasting my effort over the day and finishing 80% of my tasks! I feel like this is such an achievement!
The same principle is now applied to 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 the 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 favorite 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 a problem always helps 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 a safe space where we share our points of view on certain problems and opinions on 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 analyze how I was doing. 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 the next iteration.
You don’t have to be a Scrum expert to use added values brought by this framework. But basic understanding definitely helps.