Lev Perlman 🇬🇧’s Post

⏲️ We decided to experiment with a new meeting model that cuts down on meetings in favor of something more enjoyable. Instead of daily stand-ups, we now have check-ins twice a week (so 45 minutes a week saved if a stand-up is 15 minutes a piece) as well as hold a demo session to showcase progress and celebrate wins. The shift was motivated by a need to reduce meeting fatigue while still fostering a strong communication culture. With our hybrid working model, we wanted to find a balance that allowed for deep work without sacrificing team collaboration. We are just getting started, but the first demo session got a great reception from the team. I also appreciate the extra focus time that allows me to keep my work flowing on my own terms when we don't have any extra meetings. When running agile, the standard version of scrum or similar frameworks probably isn't the end goal, and you'll have to customize as you mature as a team. Understanding your team’s specific needs, gathering feedback, and being prepared to iterate on the model are all great ways to keep evolving your team's ways of working. Communication is key—ensure everyone is on the same page about the changes. Have you experimented with your meeting structures? I’d love to hear about it in the comments! #mattidreamsofcode #softwareengineering #agileleadership #remotework #teammanagement

🚀 Rethinking Daily Standups in the Modern Workplace 🚀 Recently, I came across a post highlighting how daily standups can be time-consuming: employees lose focus about 15 minutes before the meeting and need around 30 minutes to get back into the flow. This got me thinking 🤔: In today’s world, where many developers work remotely, we can leverage tools for asynchronous communication to discuss impediments and progress. However, if we stick to daily meetings, there are two main approaches: person-based (classic SCRUM) or goal-based. Here’s my take on both: 🧑 Person-Based: Pros: - Provides a clear view of individual contributions and progress. - Helps identify if someone is facing challenges. Cons: - Works best with small, dedicated SCRUM teams (4-6 people) and single projects. - With multiple projects, it’s hard to track overall product progress and delivery. - Context switching can be challenging if team members work on parallel projects. Solutions: - Reports and burndown charts can help, but they require accurate estimates and thorough logging. - This approach can feel like micromanaging and babysitting. 🎯 Goal (Project)-Based: Pros: - Offers a better understanding of progress towards specific team goals. - Clarifies how much work remains to meet delivery promises. Cons: - Some team members might stay silent, especially in pair programming or collaborative tasks. - Individual issues might only surface during goal discussions. Solutions: - Reports can still track individual performance if needed. ❓ What are your thoughts on this? Which approach do you use in your teams? 🤔💡

The simplest way to make a meeting quicker and more efficient - is to start with a check-in and spend 5 mins on a small talk😁 Every time I suggest this to people, I meet a mysterious smile, like: 😏 "yes, yes, very cute, we'll consider it when we have enoug time and money for it". I understand, three, five, sometimes even seven meetings a day is tough. Lack of time, a lot of projects, deadlines everywhere. So: "We'll wait until everyone gathers" (a couple of minutes of tense silence 😬) "colleagues, let's start the meeting, today we are discussing..." Working with my team and consulting other teams, I notice that such an approach to the start of a meeting is like riding a rusty bicycle. It seems to be moving, but it's heavy, it squeaks and irritates. 🚲 You would hardly argue that for a good meeting you need: •engagement, where everyone is attentively listening to each other; •trust, when you don't get hung up on the small stuff, and can timely spot serious risk zones. The practice of check-in improves these two factors. The team spends 5 mins, telling a story from childhood or the most vivid impression of the weekend, and: •switches from tasks, problems, and previous meetings to each other; •establishes basic trust: "the people in front of me are just like me". Try starting a few meetings with simple check-ins, like: 💸 How did you first earn money and what did you spend it on? 🤸♀️ Which sport did you have the highest hopes for? ❓ Ask any non-work-related question to any person at the meeting. Watch and try to compare the discussions during such meetings, and meetings that start without check-in. I'm sure you'll be surprised 😃 #team #meetings #scrum #agile #facilitation

Excellent discussion Ivan. One important point from my point of view is to ensure that the right people are invited to my meetings. If important people are missing, the team might go off in the wrong direction.

Let’s prioritize relevance and value over ceremony. Daily stand-ups are a pointless ritual for most teams. For projects with longer cycles—like design—they’re mostly noise. Somewhere along the way, someone decided this one-size-fits-all process was the answer to everything. And now everyone blindly follows. Because it’s easier to copy than think. The point of updates is to keep work moving, not to kill momentum. If there’s a blocker, you don’t wait until the next morning’s stand-up to raise it. You ping someone when it’s needed. If there’s progress, move the Jira ticket. Update the Slack channel. Share visuals, links—whatever’s relevant. Asynchronously. Updates work best when they’re shared when they’re ready, not at a forced time every day. If you need help, tag the right person. If something’s urgent, jump on a quick call. Dragging 20 people into a verbal update doesn’t make teams agile. It makes them slow. For creative work, it’s even worse—it kills flow and delays getting into the zone. It’s time to ditch the ceremony and rethink how updates actually add value.

Effective Strategies for E𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 P𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 from Everyone on your Team.

Today, about meetings👀 The kind that come one after another… or sometimes overlap, or happen simultaneously. Sound familiar? And then someone comes and says “Let’s try Agile”. Guess what? There are even more meetings there! The natural reaction, of course, is to turn around and run in the opposite direction. I often hear this question: if Agile is all about efficiency and solving problems quickly, why does it involve so many meetings that leave no time to actually get things done? The thing is, inefficiency often comes from doing work that later has to be redone, becomes unnecessary (or maybe wasn’t needed in the first place), or could have been done faster and better if only we’d known how. And so on. This is where Agile regular meetings come in to help – BUT only if they are organised properly. In Agile, every meeting has a clear purpose and agenda. Task boards and a shared understanding of responsibilities within the team help focus on the important things and move forward, instead of endlessly discussing everything and going nowhere. Agile or not, well-structured and effective meetings can take a team’s productivity to the next level and help solve problems that seemed impossible. What are your tips and tricks for running effective meetings?

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝗿𝘂𝗹𝗲𝘀? In any kind of „meetings“… Before we go for the answer, let’s take a look at the common problems first: You probably know meetings where there are some rather fuzzy or seemingly no rules. Know work sessions or „events“ in agile frameworks where only some people talk. Some participants do not engage, for different reasons: They are more shy than the ones who usually talk, might think their own opinion is less valuable or might be „not really here“, thinking of other topics. 𝗜𝗻 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲, 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿, 𝗰𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 of these „meetings“: Would you 𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗮𝗹𝗹, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲, 👁️ 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 on the actual, clear targets of the meeting? Soon you can find the name of the „box of tricks“ and at the end of the post you learn where you can experience in a gamified, light 🦋 way that * clear rules and targets are perfect, also for totally different characters * strict facilitation as well is crucial * in these structures you can unleash much freedom and creativity, and they help engage and hear every participant in a way also the shy ones feel appreciated: 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗟𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 (LS). Some of them more for reflecting on participants‘ own, some in small groups, making listen all and build one’s on the other‘s idea, some very energizing, some more calming down and helping to synthesize and summarize, together, also in huge groups of 80+ persons. You can implement single ones of these and can combine some of them, with clear story lines and different energy levels (activating, focussing…). 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗿𝘁 🎁 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝟯-𝟰 𝗟𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲, 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘂𝘀 are the people offering the meetup for the „LSUG Stuttgart“ (see link in comment)!!! This User Group is growing for the great experiences and inspirations ❤️ and I and many others are very grateful to Carolin Köhler Sarah Schmidt Oliver “Oli” Kopp and Sascha Miller. You know: We love and admire you guys!!! 🙌🤸♀️ For how you combine the Structures and explain the rules! For how you complement each others in your strengths and characters! For how much fun and love you give in your preparations and during these evenings with us hungry and pleased to learn with and from you people!!! People like Corinne Hellmann, Kim Schneeberg, me and around 35 more open people today, most of which I just „know“ by first name 😉 Thank you, also to you, for tonight and the meetups ago!!

Hey there! 🎉 Today is Day 10 of my marathon of helpful posts, and I’m excited to share some working tools that helped me transform my department from chaos to a system. If you’re struggling with disorganized workflows, unclear priorities, and constant firefighting, these strategies can make all the difference. Here's what worked for me: 1. Mapping and Visualizing Processes 🛠 First, I visualized all key workflows to identify bottlenecks. A simple diagram that shows who is responsible for what can quickly bring clarity to the team. 2. Task Prioritization System 🔥 Separating urgent from important tasks helps cut through the noise. We used a matrix to ensure we're focusing on strategic goals, not just daily firefighting. 3. Automating Repetitive Tasks 🤖 We automated repetitive tasks like reporting and email follow-ups. This freed up time and reduced human error. 4. Clear Communication Framework 🗣 Tool: Slack (with dedicated channels) + Weekly syncs We set up structured communication to avoid endless threads and confusion. With clearly defined channels for specific topics, everyone knows where to find the info they need. 5. Regular Check-ins and Reviews 🔍 Tool: Google Calendar + Asana Introduced weekly reviews to assess what’s working and what’s not. This keeps us agile and able to quickly tweak processes when necessary. By using these tools and techniques, we turned chaos into a smooth-running, efficient system. If you’re struggling with similar issues, try them out and watch the transformation! 💪