Re: [teampractices] Team Canvas: a process for forming (or re-forming) teams

[Kevin Smith]

On Thu, Oct 26, 2017 at 12:53 PM, Max Binder  wrote:

> Thanks, Kevin. To clarify, is the use of "Working Agreements" in the
> "ongoing team norms" sense, or in the, say, offsite facilitation sense? My
> gut says the former.
>

​Yes, I meant ongoing team working agreements, not just for a short event
like an offsite.

However, the basic version is aimed at short projects, and only takes half
an hour, so it could be used for an offsite.

Kevin
​


>
> On Thu, Oct 26, 2017 at 2:01 PM, Kevin Smith  wrote:
>
>> Last night, I attended a meetup[1] where we learned about the Team
>> Canvas[2] approach to establishing how a team will operate. It roughly
>> replaces the "Team Norms" or "Working Agreements" development, and is
>> structured as a 2-hour session (or 30 minutes for the abridged "basic"
>> version).
>>
>> Rather than jumping straight to working agreements, the canvas has
>> time-boxed segments to have team members share both things about themselves
>> individually (e.g. strengths) as well as things about the group (e.g.
>> common goals). Within each segment, prompting questions give a structure
>> that makes it easy for individuals to participate.
>>
>> By the time the group gets to the point of listing rules, they have a
>> much better shared understanding, so that part goes quickly and smoothly
>> (at least in theory).
>>
>> The work can be done with sticky notes, or electronically. Some tools
>> (like Trello) actually include pre-built templates for the Canvas system.
>>
>> Some tips from the presenter last night:
>>
>>- It's important for each person to use a different color sticky
>>note, so their voice is visually represented in the shared space.
>>- Even if the paper output doesn't seem impressive, the shared work
>>done by the team is where the real value lies..
>>- At least for the "complete" version, an external facilitator is
>>important, so all the team members can participate fully.
>>- The team should understand the types of conversations that will be
>>involved, so they don't freak out when they arrive.
>>- However, it's probably better not to share the detailed materials
>>with the team in advance--you want their thoughts in the moment, not some
>>over-processed watered-down version.
>>- It's not just for forming: A team should probably go through the
>>exercise again every few months, or when members are added or removed.
>>
>> I haven't done enough team-forming/charters/norms/working agreements
>> work to know how this compares to other systems. But it sounded like
>> something I would be interested in trying at some point.
>>
>> [1] https://www.meetup.com/BeyondAgile/events/243808919/
>> [2] http://theteamcanvas.com/
>>
>>
>> Kevin Smith
>> Engineering Program Manager, Wikimedia Foundation
>>
>>
>> ___
>> teampractices mailing list
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>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/teampractices
>>
>>
>
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Re: [teampractices] Team Canvas: a process for forming (or re-forming) teams

[Max Binder]

Thanks, Kevin. To clarify, is the use of "Working Agreements" in the
"ongoing team norms" sense, or in the, say, offsite facilitation sense? My
gut says the former.

On Thu, Oct 26, 2017 at 2:01 PM, Kevin Smith  wrote:

> Last night, I attended a meetup[1] where we learned about the Team
> Canvas[2] approach to establishing how a team will operate. It roughly
> replaces the "Team Norms" or "Working Agreements" development, and is
> structured as a 2-hour session (or 30 minutes for the abridged "basic"
> version).
>
> Rather than jumping straight to working agreements, the canvas has
> time-boxed segments to have team members share both things about themselves
> individually (e.g. strengths) as well as things about the group (e.g.
> common goals). Within each segment, prompting questions give a structure
> that makes it easy for individuals to participate.
>
> By the time the group gets to the point of listing rules, they have a much
> better shared understanding, so that part goes quickly and smoothly (at
> least in theory).
>
> The work can be done with sticky notes, or electronically. Some tools
> (like Trello) actually include pre-built templates for the Canvas system.
>
> Some tips from the presenter last night:
>
>- It's important for each person to use a different color sticky note,
>so their voice is visually represented in the shared space.
>- Even if the paper output doesn't seem impressive, the shared work
>done by the team is where the real value lies..
>- At least for the "complete" version, an external facilitator is
>important, so all the team members can participate fully.
>- The team should understand the types of conversations that will be
>involved, so they don't freak out when they arrive.
>- However, it's probably better not to share the detailed materials
>with the team in advance--you want their thoughts in the moment, not some
>over-processed watered-down version.
>- It's not just for forming: A team should probably go through the
>exercise again every few months, or when members are added or removed.
>
> I haven't done enough team-forming/charters/norms/working agreements work
> to know how this compares to other systems. But it sounded like something I
> would be interested in trying at some point.
>
> [1] https://www.meetup.com/BeyondAgile/events/243808919/
> [2] http://theteamcanvas.com/
>
>
> Kevin Smith
> Engineering Program Manager, Wikimedia Foundation
>
>
> ___
> teampractices mailing list
> teampractices@lists.wikimedia.org
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/teampractices
>
>
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[teampractices] Team Canvas: a process for forming (or re-forming) teams

[Kevin Smith]

Last night, I attended a meetup[1] where we learned about the Team
Canvas[2] approach to establishing how a team will operate. It roughly
replaces the "Team Norms" or "Working Agreements" development, and is
structured as a 2-hour session (or 30 minutes for the abridged "basic"
version).

Rather than jumping straight to working agreements, the canvas has
time-boxed segments to have team members share both things about themselves
individually (e.g. strengths) as well as things about the group (e.g.
common goals). Within each segment, prompting questions give a structure
that makes it easy for individuals to participate.

By the time the group gets to the point of listing rules, they have a much
better shared understanding, so that part goes quickly and smoothly (at
least in theory).

The work can be done with sticky notes, or electronically. Some tools (like
Trello) actually include pre-built templates for the Canvas system.

Some tips from the presenter last night:

   - It's important for each person to use a different color sticky note,
   so their voice is visually represented in the shared space.
   - Even if the paper output doesn't seem impressive, the shared work done
   by the team is where the real value lies..
   - At least for the "complete" version, an external facilitator is
   important, so all the team members can participate fully.
   - The team should understand the types of conversations that will be
   involved, so they don't freak out when they arrive.
   - However, it's probably better not to share the detailed materials with
   the team in advance--you want their thoughts in the moment, not some
   over-processed watered-down version.
   - It's not just for forming: A team should probably go through the
   exercise again every few months, or when members are added or removed.

I haven't done enough team-forming/charters/norms/working agreements work
to know how this compares to other systems. But it sounded like something I
would be interested in trying at some point.

[1] https://www.meetup.com/BeyondAgile/events/243808919/
[2] http://theteamcanvas.com/


Kevin Smith
Engineering Program Manager, Wikimedia Foundation
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[teampractices] Fwd: FW: [BayALN] Invitation to the Remote Forever Summit

[Erika Bjune]

Hi all, my good friend and Agile mentor David Chilcott, who also runs the
BayALN meetup, is participating in an online summit focused on using Agile
with remote teams, and I thought some of you might be interested. It's free
for the live streams, if you can catch them, more info below...


*From:* bayaln-l...@meetup.com [mailto:bayaln-l...@meetup.com]
*Sent:* Monday, October 23, 2017 6:54 PM
*To:* bayaln-l...@meetup.com
*Subject:* [BayALN] Invitation to the Remote Forever Summit



Hey gang,



I'll be participating in the Remote Forever Summit

November 6th - 10th.



Location: Online (wherever you are)

World class experts in agile, leadership and remote work share their best
strategies and techniques to help you sharpen your agile coaching skills,
become a better leader and get equipped to improve your remote teams and
distributed organizations.



​Join us if you are so inclined...



For more info check it out at:  ​Remote Forever Summit




​Cheers,​



*D ;-)*





*David Chilcott*

Outformations, Inc.



510-655-7122 <(510)%20655-7122>  |  d...@outformations.com  |
www.outformations.com






*Keep Breathing.  Tell the Truth.  Be Fearless.  Choose Love.   Embrace the
Mystery.*







Schedule a meeting






Outformations Agile Enterprise JumpStart





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