life passes by

let's check in on what we've done

As a busy mother, I often find myself wondering what I’ve spent the day doing. So many small tasks are completed in a day that they flow past in a blur. I know that taking a moment at the end of the day and reflecting on what I've accomplished can alleviate the sense of the daily grind. I can feel satisfied that I’m achieving what I need to amid the chaos that is raising young twins.

Most of us are deeply familiar with Kanban boards and Product Backlog Items, but these aren’t the only ways of visualising what we’ve achieved. I have a to-do list and a habit tracker. I use bullet journaling to keep track of my ideas and use many digital note-taking apps to expand those thoughts into the writing I publish (or don’t).

This same principle applies to our work as coaches. Visualising the work we've done can provide a sense of personal satisfaction. It's a guiding principle that resonates with the agile manifesto. We need to maintain clarity and organisation in our work, and visualisation techniques can help keep track of our professional achievements as well as our daily tasks. Having this data can help us promote ourselves when the time comes, such as during employment reviews and job interviews. Taking stock of the milestones we've reached and the challenges we've overcome improves personal satisfaction and equips us with tangible evidence of our impact.

It's important for our teams to see what they've developed and accomplished. Not just so we can analyse the performance data we’re generating. But also because it can help provide a sense of satisfaction for the team and ease engagement with stakeholders, customers, and users. By visualising the work completed, teams can better communicate the value they bring to the organisation and check they’re having the impact everyone expects. Everything in agile relies upon our ability to have effective conversations. Therefore, artefacts that can facilitate alignment and collaboration between participants should be a priority.

As coaches, we play a critical role in facilitating this visualisation process. So consider what else you can do to support the team’s wellbeing on top of cumulative flow diagrams and sprint burndown charts that support the team’s critical reflections. We’re so often looking for lessons in our failures that it can be easy to overlook the overwhelming amount of success we’re really having.

So, take a moment to reflect on what you’ve accomplished.