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Theinterchangeabilityofteammembersisanotherfactorthatcaninfluencethedecisionaboutthesizeofmicroteams.Forinstance,ifthethemeoftheHackathonisLet’sfindanewlayoutforourblogposts,andifyourteamischaracterizedbyahighdegreeofspecialization,youmightwanttohaveteamsmadeupofonebusinessanalyst,onegraphicdesigner,andonecopywriter.Ifspecializationisnotanissueinyourteam,thenyouhavemorefreedominformingmicroteams.Iknowitisreassuringtoworkwithsomeoneweareusedtoworkingwith,butbreakingthishabitcanleadtosurprisinglyinnovativeresults.Allmicroteamswillworkonthesameactivityforthelengthofthetimeboxyouchose.WindupthetimerforallthemicroteamsparticipatingintheHackathon.ForeachPomodoro,youwillannouncewhenthefirst5minuteshavepassed,whenhalfaPomodoroisover,andwhenthereareonly5minutesremaining.Yes,Iknow,thisisthefirsttimeIhaveusedonetimerforalltheteams.Infact,thisistheonlysituationinwhichIwouldrecommendsynchronizingthePomodorowhenworkinginateam.BecauseIwanttoprotectthePomodorobreaksinacontextcharacterizedbychallenge,complexity,andurgency.Peoplelikechallengesand,especiallyattheirfirstPomodoroHackathon,mightthinkthattheycanworkthroughfourPomodorosormorewithnobreaks.YourroleistoremindthemofthepurposeofthePomodorobreaks.Thechallengeisokay,butwedon’twanttofeelexhaustedafterfourPomodoros!WewanttofeelincontrolandlucidduringeveryPomodoro.Youwanttohelpthem.Forcingthemtotakerealbreaksinthiskindofchallengeishelpful.Announcethewinner.AttheendofthetimeboxyouassignedfortheHackathon,theJuryassesseseverymicroteam’ssolution,andselectsthebestone.IusuallysetonePomodorofortheJurytoassessthesolutionsandonePomodoroforthemtoshowthewinningsolutiontotheparticipants.ButmyfavoritescenarioistheonewheretheJurycomprisesalltheHackathon’sparticipants.Inthiscase,inthefirstPomodoro,eachmicroteamcanquicklypresenttheirsolution,andinthesecondPomodorothemicroteamsassessandvoteforthebestsolution.WhydoIlikethisscenario?First,becauseallparticipantsintheHackathoncanhaveasharedknowledgeofthesolutiontobeimplemented,andsecond,becausemoreoftenthannotthisisthemomentwhennewideasemergethatimproveonthesolutionthatwasfound.Ofcoursesuccessisnotguaranteed.WhatifnoeffectivesolutionhasbeenfoundinthetimeboxyousetforyourPomodoroHackathon?Youcanthensimplyorganizeanotherround.Ifthisisthecase,though,givetheteamsalongerbreak.ForthefirstroundoftheHackathon,Iwouldnotrecommendrotatingcoworkersbetweenmicroteams.However,inanysubsequentrounds,itisagoodideatoswapmembers.Inmyexperience,itisoftenthemicroteamsthatdonotlooklikeagoodmatchonpaperthatendupproducingthemostcreativeresults.Whenyourteamfeelsstuckandneedsanimmediate,innovativesolutiontoanoftencomplexproblem,beingabletohaveandcompareseveralsolutionsisincrediblyvaluable.ThedisadvantageisthatallthemicroteamsinvolvedinthePomodoroHackathonareunabletoworkontheircurrentactivities.Irememberreadingthedescriptionofthis,thesimplestwarmachine,bytheRomanarchitectandwriterVitruviusinhisworkOnArchitecture.InRomantimes,almostnofortificationcouldwithstandit.IfacopyofOnArchitectureshouldevercomeyourway,itisdefinitelywortharead.Today,thewallswefacearetheseeminglyimpenetrableproblemsthatpreventusfromreachingourgoals.Ourbatteringramisourabilitytogenerateandapplyavarietyofsolutions.Everynewideawetestontheproblemislikeablowoftheramhittingthewall.Whenyoufeelstuckinfrontofthatwall,encounteringanotherperson’sperspectiveincreasesthechancesofcomingupwithanewidea.Themoretimeswecanrepeatthisprocesswithnewpeople,themorelikelyitisthatthewallwillbeunabletowithstandourblowsandwewillreachourgoal.Eachofthefourpairsisworkingonadifferentactivity.Themicroteamworkingonitisstrugglingandhasnoideahowtoproceed.Completingthisactivityisessentialifthewholeteamistoreachitsgoals.Theirworkcannotbeinterrupted.Microteam#1hastriedrepeatedly,butunsuccessfully,tocompletetheactivity.Itseemsnecessarytofindawaytoapplythecollectiveintelligenceandproblemsolvingabilitiesofthewholeteamtothisproblem.Suchapracticeisparticularlyusefultocompleteactivitiesontimeinordertoavoidcreatingbottlenecksfortherestoftheteam.Microteams#2and#3canswapfromthenextPomodoro,whereasMicroteam#4preferstoswapaftertwoPomodoros.AteachPomodorotherewillbeanewcoworker.AteachPomodoro,theramwillhitharderandharder,batteringdowntheproblemthatneedssolving.InthefirstfiveminutesofthePomodoro,KatrinfromMicroteam#1explainsthedifficultytheyarefacingtothenewcoworker.Inthefinal5minutesofthePomodoro,Katrinwillaskhercoworkerforfeedback.ThepersonresponsibleforActivities#2,#3,and#4goesthroughthesameprocessoftaking5minutestogetthenewcoworkeruptospeedandthelast5minutestogetfeedbackfromthem.IfafterthefirstPomodorotheproblemhasstillnotbeenresolved,thepersonresponsiblefortheactivityremainsandthenextrotationshownintherostertakesplace.AnnalenareplacesStephanandstartsworkingwithKatrin.Simply,thepersonresponsiblefortheactivitystaysputandtheotherpeoplerotatearound.Inmicroteamsmadeupofmorethantwopeople,itisadvisabletorotatenomorethanonepersonatatime.Inthisexample,KatrindrewuparosterbasedonthreePomodoros.Whathappensifthisisnotenoughtosolvetheproblem?Ifnecessary,thepersonresponsiblefortheactivitycanapplythePracticeoftheRamagain.Thepersonresponsiblefortheactivitywheretheproblemhasarisenisabletoexplaintheissuetotheteammembersand,withtheirhelp,quicklycomeupwitharoster.Inthiscase,thePomodorosunderwayineachmicroteamkeepticking.Iftheinterruptionhasnotbeenmanagedandtherosterisnotreadywithin30seconds,thepeopleresponsiblefortheactivitiesmustvoidtheirPomodoros.Thirtysecondsmightseemtooshorttomanagetheprocessofexplainingaproblemanddrawinguparoster.Practicemakesitpossible.Thepersonwhoasksforhelponlyinterruptswhentheyaresuretheycandescribetheprobleminonesentence.Atarequestforhelp,theothermicroteamsimmediatelyinterrupttheirworkandfocusonthatrequest.Thecoworkersworkingintheothermicroteamswhothinktheycanhelpwiththeproblemimmediatelyconveytheirwillingnesstovolunteer.Thepeopleinchargeofthosemicroteamscanbenefitfromswappingcoworkers,becausethiscanleadtothesharingofknowledge.Thedisadvantageofthispracticeisthatitrequiresinterruptingalltheteammembersinthevariousmicroteams.HerearesomeobservationsthathaveemergedfromtheexperienceofpeopleandteamsthathaveappliedthePomodoroTechnique.Masteringthetechniquetakesfrom7to20daysofconstantapplication.Whenitisusedbypairsorteams,it’seasiertoimplementthetechniqueconsistently.Experienceshowsthatapplyingthetechniqueinteamsororganizingworkinpairsresultsinashorterlearningtimeandmoreconsistentresults.Inthesecases,eachpairworkswithitsownPomodoro.ThePomodorohastorepresentaneffectiveatomicmeasureofwork.Theproblemisthat,aseveryoneknows,alltimeisnotequalintermsoftheoutputofeffort.Decemberisshorterintermsofthenumberofproductivedays,andsoisAugustinMediterraneancountries.Wedon’tmakethesameeffortineveryweek.Noteveryhourproducesthesameamountofeffort,mostlybecauseofinterruptions.Asaunitofmeasure,muchsmallertimeintervalssuchas10minutesmaynotbeinterrupted,buttheydon’tallowustoachieveappreciableresults,andtrackingbecomestoointrusive.Thus,asfarasthisfirstforceisconcerned,halfanhourseemstobeideal.Inthelightofthesetwoforces,we’vecometoconsidertheidealPomodorotobe20to35minuteslong,40minutesatthemost.InvariousworkgroupsthatexperimentedwiththePomodoroTechniqueinmentoringactivities,eachteamwasallowedtochoosethelengthofitsownPomodoroontheconditionthatthatchoicebebasedonobservationsofeffectiveness.Breaksattheendofasetshouldlastfrom15to30minutes.Forexample,ifyou’vekeptupanintenserhythmthroughouttheday,attheendofthenexttolastsetofPomodorosyourbreakwillnaturallylast25minutes.Ifyou’reespeciallytired,it’spossibleandevenbeneficialtolengthenthebreaksbetweensetseverysooften.Butbreaksthatconsistentlyexceed30minutescaninterrupttherhythmbetweensetsofPomodoros.Moreimportant,thissetsoffanalarmsignalingtheneedforrestandfreetime.Itwouldbeaseriousmistaketotakeshorterbreaksbetweensetsbecauseyou’reunderpressure.YourmindneedstimetointegrateoldinformationandgetreadytoreceivenewinformationtosolvetheproblemsinthenextPomodoro.Takingashorterbreakbecauseyou’reinarushcouldleadtoamentalblockinfindingsolutions.Forbeginners,oncethelastPomodorointhesetoffourisup,it’sagoodideatosetthetimerfor25minutesandstartthebreak.Theaimhereisn’ttoimpose25minutesrigidlybuttoensurethatyoudon’tgoover30minutesofbreaktime.Thisshouldbedoneonlyatthebeginning.Intime,you’llrealizehowtiredyouareandunderstandwhenyou’rerefreshedandreadytostartagain.ThesamecanbesaidforbreaksbetweenPomodoros,whichshouldbenolessthan3to5minutes.Whenyou’reespeciallytired,youcanstopworkingforupto10minutes.Remember,though,thatdowntimebetweenPomodorosthatconsistentlylastsmorethan5to10minutescanbreaktherhythmbetweenPomodoros.Thebestwaytomanageyourresourcesistoworkstrategically,firstbyincreasingthebreaksbetweensetsandthenbyextendingthebreaksbetweenPomodorosifnecessary.


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