Top learnings from the SUGSA 2022 virtual gathering

The SUGSA Virtual Scrum Gathering 2022 was 2 days full of learning, networking and fun!

This was the first time that we attended a SUGSA event and, as much as it was overwhelming, it was also fulfilling at the same time. Different Agile coaches discussed 22 topics over the 2 days. We could really relate to the conversations and challenges that were touched on over the 2 days.

Our key takeaways from the event

• Scrum masters are more effective in producing desired results with development teams if only supporting one team.
• When committing to goals in a Sprint, it is the responsibility of the entire team to ensure that we achieve the goal that has been set.
• When changes are implemented in the Scrum team, the scrum master should be on the forefront of driving the change and involve all relevant role players.
• When doing estimations of work, make sure that the necessary conversations happen to understand the work and agree on how long a piece of work will actually take.

We found so much value in all the topics, however we wanted to highlight the following learnings.

Learning one: Goals provide purpose.

To have superior team effectiveness, the Scrum team needs to agree upon a common goal.

Team Agreement = How are we going to be together?

• What do I bring?
• What do I need?
• How will it be when things get hard?

Teams core values:

• Happy and sufficient scrum team
• Working software
• Valuable product to the user

Learning two: How do you get your team's attention during ceremonies/meetings?

You first need to get “through” the “Pinky Brain (firewall)”.

The Reticular Activating System (pinky brain) is responsible for our wakefulness, our ability to focus, our fight-flight response, and how we ultimately perceive the world. It can control what we perceive in our consciousness, essentially a gatekeeper of information. The level of consciousness and arousal are controlled by the reticular formation.

Things that break through “Firewalls”:

Novelty: Anything new to a person’s experience.

Meaning: Personal meaning/relevance.

Contrast: Things that are different.

Emotion: Anything that elicits emotion, either positive or negative.

Did you know we need two senses active for the brain to focus?

Learning three: Cognitive Neuroscience improves teams

Cognitive Neuroscience is the study of how the brain enables the mind.

Source: Mind Matters

IMAGES trump WORDS

TALKING trumps LISTENING

MOVEMENT trumps SITTING

DIFFERENT trumps SAME

SHORTER trumps LONGER

WRITING trumps READING

Learning four: Best practices for estimations inclusive of QA

If a team has a frame of reference, the more accurate they will be in ‘guesstimate’. If we do not know, we usually underestimate.

Value of estimations:

• We get a mutual understanding of the story
• We uncover things we did not know about the story
• We learn about our environment, systems and architecture
• We get a glimpse into the other competencies in our team
• We get to know if a story is the DOR
• Over time estimation normalises and we get to similar stories
• Trust from stakeholders

In conclusion, it was a full 2 days of learning. We really enjoyed the event, because of the various topics that were discussed, the different connections that were made and most importantly – the fun experience with such a large team!

We truly see the value in attending these types of events and we are eager to bring some of our learning experiences back into the working environment. We look forward to attending more events in future and representing Byte Orbit.