#mayo writes with scrum

[littlestsnicket]

sprint review/planning: no picture because i achieved nothing, oops. this week will be better. don’t need to suddenly read a whole book so i can give it back to the library or help host a baby shower! oh, and often i can clear my whole tuesday evening and get a lot done then if i’m behind, and at least get something complete, but i had food i needed to cook instead of giving up and ordering take away and i had to watch sirens of the deep :)

i did get some writing done today, but not enough to finish a task.

[zenspacedesks]

The Morning Huddle

Sir Richard Branson writes: “Living up to my love of screwing business as usual, I like to take a different approach to meetings. One of my favourite tricks is to conduct meetings standing up, I find it to be a quicker way of getting down to business, making a decision and sealing the deal” and we can’t agree more!

Times are changing and so as major businesses as we see small firms and corporations do more to take care of their employees. And we are not just talking about the trendy Silicon Valley startups. From reinventing organization design to improving employee experience, the latest workplace trends show that work can be less of a drag.

Standing desks, better health programs and ping pong tables are certainly in. Cool offices with comfy chairs and huge conference areas are a thing now to compete and attract great talents. But there certainly is more to stylish office furniture than good taste. The idea behind it is that brainstorm sessions and group discussions carried out in a conducive environment are supposed to foster productivity and collaboration. But why is it that team meetings are seen as one of the biggest time-wasters within organizations?

Team meetings are counterproductive and costly when done wrong the way. And this is why many forward-thinking leaders are ditching the old-school boardroom talks for the more agile standing meetings. Virgin Records CEO Richard Branson conducts walking meetings, while mobile games company Genera, likes to shoot hoops with the team, and many more businesses are doing the same.

Zen Space Desks Quattro Lifting System has been adapted to several electronic height adjustable conference tables around Australia. And now, is available with a stunning piece of Australian Hardwood, finished with a stringer through the middle to create a conference table for 10 people, that can quickly be turned into a ping pong table! Check it out in our store Here

Stand-up meetings or morning huddles are regular and consistent sessions that run for not more than 15 minutes and are usually done standing. Talking or listening while on your feet versus slouching on a chair promotes alertness keeps meetings short and focused. The huddles that teams implement today are said to have come from Agile and Scrum methodologies that are still widely practiced by software development teams.

Check out this conference desk featured in a Sydney office Real Estate agency. The concept is to allow real estate agents to show proximity of homes to local parks, schools etc. Have you ever offered your client whether they’d like to sit or stand at a meeting?

There are several studies that have looked into the positive effects of stand-up meetings on work dynamics. One remarkable findings in a 2014 study by Washington University researchers, Knight and Baer, is that group activities performed away from chairs encourage productivity and creativity.

Sit-down meetings were also compared to stand-up meetings in a University of Missouri research. This paper revealed that sit-down meetings took 34% longer for groups to finish tasks than its counterpart without any significant difference to the quality of group decision making.

Furthermore, daily-stand up meetings were perceived positively and were seen to help a lot in resolving issues and information sharing in a recent study on agile project teams from several countries including UK, Poland, Malaysia and Norway.

Healthcare professionals at a children’s hospital have also benefited from 10-minute morning huddles. A UC Davis study found out that communication among various hospital units, patient admissions, employee satisfaction and patient safety have improved after the implementation of daily huddles.

There is compelling evidence to back up standing group meetings to productivity, but being constantly on your feet has greater implications to individual health and well-being, emphasising the benefit of having a fast moving electronic conference table. Apple CEO, Tim Cook strongly believes that we ought to break that couch potato habit and move more in order to live longer.

Many published scientific researches revolve around this topic. Dr. James Levine at the Mayo Clinic investigated physical inactivity and sitting for long hours and the results also proved that such living conditions lead to health problems.

We are seeing more and more companies moving toward more flexible work environments and doing their share to encourage more activity based working by providing electronic sit stand desks. Try standing up as you type a report, and then observe the sensation and your overall output. If you are still feeling cynical, just look to Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Wolf and Winston Churchill for a bit of motivation.

Probably the most influential of the allied leadership, Sir Winston Churchill, would use nothing but a Standing Desk whilst hatching battle plans which essentially would end the war. Churchill was a stubborn man and would insist on standing whilst working – a conventional sitting workstation simply would not do. Source: The Economist

Morning huddles can also be incorporated into any regular team catchup. You don’t have to do exactly as software developers do in Scrums. The trick is to tweak meeting styles and refine the process to suit your unique business needs. Pay attention to criticisms and feedback. When a staff complains about writing minutes and bad knee symptoms, perhaps it’s to time to switch to an adjustable conference desk and other tools to streamline the task. The important thing is sticking to daily standup components that include consistency, setting time limits, being on-point and tackling the three key questions head-on.

Just like any new project, successful morning huddles involve a sound strategy and planning. Don’t be calling meetings overnight and expect people to understand. It takes work and practice in order to glide through the process and find the rhythm, here are a few final tips highlighted by Rob Kelly in his ‘Getting Things Done’ series of blogs:

The basics:

Time of day: It should be done as early as possible, ideally first thing in the morning.

Length of meeting: 5 to 15 meetings depending on the size of your team.

Number of Attendees: Anything larger than 7 – 10 people should be split into more than one meeting, keep it tight.

Who attends: Everyone

Who runs it: Choose a team leader for different topics.

Where does it take place: While increased in technology allow us to do this of Skype or the phone, the idea of the Morning Huddle is to get everyone together, and here at Zen Space Desks we can’t recommend doing the Morning Huddle more than at your electronic height adjustable conference table

Bonus tips:

Give it a week. It may be tough for some people to adapt.

Start at odd times: Try scheduling it at a time other than on the hour, i.e. 7 minutes past 9am. Why? People will remember it more and probably show up a few minutes early.

It helps you with the rest of your day: A quick huddle, weekly or daily will help your team how to spend the rest of their day.

The largest sit stand desk we’ve made, quite possibly the largest in Australia. A 3600x1200mm desktop, finished in Natural Zebrano and powered by the Zen Space Desks Quattro Lifting System. A dynamic way to keep your team alert during boardroom meetings.

The post The Morning Huddle appeared first on Zen Space Desks.

from Zen Space Desks https://zenspacedesks.com.au/the-morning-huddle/

[befoundonlinemarketing]

Principles and Books for Looking into the Digital Future from Lee Aase

When asked to share digital trends and predictions to kick-off the inaugural Minnesota PRSA Digital Skills Workshop, Lee Aase, Director, Mayo Clinic Social Media Network, took an alternative approach.

I’ll share the trends that I’ve observed, and the books that I have read or heard at least two times, but generally more. And link you to the Audible store, while the future I cannot foretell these principles will serve you well.

Digital media is changing fast, so Aase, a leader in utilizing social media, shared insights for getting your mind moving in new directions. Along the way, he shared some of his favorite audio books, and  joked if you subscribe to the one book per month plan on Audible, you will be set for the next year. (Note – one book is free.)

Principle 1: Extrapolation is the Best Starting Point for Prediction

We start our research by looking back at digital media. Aase reminisced about the big three TV networks and newspapers. Their monopoly over the news and advertising was staggering until Ted Turner came along and created CNN. Eventually, the internet meant new production and distribution was democratized.

These two revolutions have turned both news and advertising on their heads. Just look at the value of Facebook, which far outweighs the traditional media giants.

The books to consider to open your mind to digital opportunities include:

Free the Future of Radical Price by Chris Anderson (It’s free on Audible!)

Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams

Cognitive Surplus: How Technology Makes Consumers into Collaborators by Clay Shirky

Principle 2: Improbable Events Will Have Outsized Influence in Your Life

Aasee told the story of how Mayo Clinic came out of an improbable event. A  tornado that destroyed much of Rochester, MN moved a group of nuns to ask the doctors Mayo to help with a hospital they wanted to build.

Now, the Mayo Clinic was rated the best hospital by U.S News and World Report.

Disruptive innovation comes in several forms. Consider the introductions of the iPod, Flip camera or IPhone. How did they change your world?

At TopRank Marketing, we know disruption can prove to have great value. Trying new disruptive techniques or tools challenges the team and often provides the client with new and better outcomes.

Books to consider:

Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen

Principle 3: Mindset Matters More Than Skill

As a digital marketer, it is important to remember these basic skill sets for presenting yourself well:

Speaking skills

Digital production skills

Writing skills

Writing represents you when you are not present, says Aase, so use an active voice and avoid cliches.

Key to remember — have the mindset that you can do new things.

Book to consider:

Mindset: The new Psychology of Success by Carol s Dweck, Ph.D.

Principle 4: The Growth Mindset Creates Optionality

As a trailblazer in social media, Aase uses the mindset, “Proceed until apprehended!” He was one of the first to use platforms like Facebook and Twitter in a medical setting.

As an example, when Mayo Clinic doctors separated conjoined twins Aase applied the the principles from David Allen’s book, Getting Things Done, the art of stress-free productivity:

Collect. Process. Review. Do.

The Creative Catalyst of inbox Zero

The Two-Minute Rule

“Is this actionable?”

Do-Delegate-Defer-Delete

What’s the next action?

This stressful event led to  new options with additional press and his first Tweetcamp.  

More books to consider:

The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time by Jeff Sutherland

Principle 5: Think Analogically

Social media is now part of the DNA of Mayo Clinic. Aase’s team provides guidelines, best practices, training and consulting to their healthcare professionals. As the head of the Mayo Clinic Social Media Network (#MCSMN) he uses social media to lead a revolution in healthcare.

Principle 6: Develop a “Barbell” risk profile

At the heart of any success is almost always a willingness to take risks.

Books to consider:

Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life by Scott Adams

Principle 7: Pursue Personal Growth

Take care of yourself, personally, suggests Aase. He advised subscribing to The Tim Farriss Show podcast, and reading (listening to) these books:

The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet  by Nina Teicholz

The 4-Hour Body by Timothy Ferriss

What marketing digital disruption will you predict? Or lead?

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®, 2017. | Principles and Books for Looking into the Digital Future from Lee Aase | http://ift.tt/faSbAI

The post Principles and Books for Looking into the Digital Future from Lee Aase appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

Principles and Books for Looking into the Digital Future from Lee Aase posted first on http://ift.tt/faSbAI

[christopheruearle]

Principles and Books for Looking into the Digital Future from Lee Aase

When asked to share digital trends and predictions to kick-off the inaugural Minnesota PRSA Digital Skills Workshop, Lee Aase, Director, Mayo Clinic Social Media Network, took an alternative approach.

I’ll share the trends that I’ve observed, and the books that I have read or heard at least two times, but generally more. And link you to the Audible store, while the future I cannot foretell these principles will serve you well.

Digital media is changing fast, so Aase, a leader in utilizing social media, shared insights for getting your mind moving in new directions. Along the way, he shared some of his favorite audio books, and  joked if you subscribe to the one book per month plan on Audible, you will be set for the next year. (Note – one book is free.)

Principle 1: Extrapolation is the Best Starting Point for Prediction

We start our research by looking back at digital media. Aase reminisced about the big three TV networks and newspapers. Their monopoly over the news and advertising was staggering until Ted Turner came along and created CNN. Eventually, the internet meant new production and distribution was democratized.

These two revolutions have turned both news and advertising on their heads. Just look at the value of Facebook, which far outweighs the traditional media giants.

The books to consider to open your mind to digital opportunities include:

Free the Future of Radical Price by Chris Anderson (It’s free on Audible!)

Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams

Cognitive Surplus: How Technology Makes Consumers into Collaborators by Clay Shirky

Principle 2: Improbable Events Will Have Outsized Influence in Your Life

Aasee told the story of how Mayo Clinic came out of an improbable event. A  tornado that destroyed much of Rochester, MN moved a group of nuns to ask the doctors Mayo to help with a hospital they wanted to build.

Now, the Mayo Clinic was rated the best hospital by U.S News and World Report.

Disruptive innovation comes in several forms. Consider the introductions of the iPod, Flip camera or IPhone. How did they change your world?

At TopRank Marketing, we know disruption can prove to have great value. Trying new disruptive techniques or tools challenges the team and often provides the client with new and better outcomes.

Books to consider:

Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen

Principle 3: Mindset Matters More Than Skill

As a digital marketer, it is important to remember these basic skill sets for presenting yourself well:

Speaking skills

Digital production skills

Writing skills

Writing represents you when you are not present, says Aase, so use an active voice and avoid cliches.

Key to remember — have the mindset that you can do new things.

Book to consider:

Mindset: The new Psychology of Success by Carol s Dweck, Ph.D.

Principle 4: The Growth Mindset Creates Optionality

As a trailblazer in social media, Aase uses the mindset, “Proceed until apprehended!” He was one of the first to use platforms like Facebook and Twitter in a medical setting.

As an example, when Mayo Clinic doctors separated conjoined twins Aase applied the the principles from David Allen’s book, Getting Things Done, the art of stress-free productivity:

Collect. Process. Review. Do.

The Creative Catalyst of inbox Zero

The Two-Minute Rule

“Is this actionable?”

Do-Delegate-Defer-Delete

What’s the next action?

This stressful event led to  new options with additional press and his first Tweetcamp.  

More books to consider:

The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time by Jeff Sutherland

Principle 5: Think Analogically

Social media is now part of the DNA of Mayo Clinic. Aase’s team provides guidelines, best practices, training and consulting to their healthcare professionals. As the head of the Mayo Clinic Social Media Network (#MCSMN) he uses social media to lead a revolution in healthcare.

Principle 6: Develop a “Barbell” risk profile

At the heart of any success is almost always a willingness to take risks.

Books to consider:

Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life by Scott Adams

Principle 7: Pursue Personal Growth

Take care of yourself, personally, suggests Aase. He advised subscribing to The Tim Farriss Show podcast, and reading (listening to) these books:

The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet  by Nina Teicholz

The 4-Hour Body by Timothy Ferriss

What marketing digital disruption will you predict? Or lead?

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®, 2017. | Principles and Books for Looking into the Digital Future from Lee Aase | http://www.toprankblog.com

The post Principles and Books for Looking into the Digital Future from Lee Aase appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

[littlestsnicket]

sprint review time (yes, i’ve been very bad about doing this on time, shh): 3/3 tasks completed last week. sort of. i kinda cheated on the ‘pick a wxs prompt’ task. i narrowed it down to five, but then i thought since the format of the event changed maybe i should do five drabbles instead, so planning task to finalize what i want to do this week.

i am apparently deep in my write weird sex phase. 700 words of still not quite medical kink fic but it’s a lot closer this time. but i’m close to the point in my iwtv rewatch that i can start doing some meaningful work on the claudeleine fic, so yay!

[littlestsnicket]

sprint review time: 3/4 tasks complete last week. was planning to clean up and post ficlet but realized it had been sitting around long enough that i wanted it to do something different, so we’ll see how much effort it is to get it to work.

slightly undercommitting, but i have two social commitments and two sewing projects i would like to at least make a serious start on. it feels kind of silly having a task to watch a tv show that i like rewatching, but i was thinking about it more, and that was like… one of the key reasons i started doing this for the ciri fic. tv watching, for me, either feels like a compulsion or something i really struggle to make myself sit down and do, especially if it’s for fic purposes where i need to actually pay attention.

[littlestsnicket]

sprint review wednesday! 2/2 tasks completed last week! and i read way more than half of harrow the ninth, i have less than 100 pages left including all the extra stuff at the end, i think that’s about 40 pages of actual story left.

idk about the tasks for this week. i am not feeling it in a specific ‘my brain has been consumed by tlt but in a private non-fannish way’. but i do want to push myself to stay in the writing habit. so going to write something. anything.

(also what i ended up doing last week was rereading the disparate scenes i had written for the witchyr app fic idea i stole from @kuwdora and adding a bit of silly geraskier conversation. which is… i’m not writing that. doing it justice would be like a book series and i’m not saying i would never do that, i would in fact like to be someone who did that, but that is not at all on the list of things i intend to buckle down and actually write any time soon. but ugh i do really want to write a story where it’s cyberpunk themes with all the 80s/90s trappings pulled out so it looks like a version of what we might think 2030 would look like now, where we’ve solved some things and other things have gotten worse. idk i yearn for a very specific sort of sci-fi that i think would be easier to write myself than try and articulate sufficiently. kuwdora’s idea was already too big and i’ve gone and made it so much worse :D )

[littlestsnicket]

sprint review time: 3/4 tasks complete this week, and i did all the editing tasks that were hanging around. (incomplete task i just decided not to do cause it didn’t make sense anymore… i need to rewatch all of season 2 and should just do it in order.)

this is probably overly ambitious considering i have plans for the weekend (need to help plan a baby shower and go to a train show!), but i’ll do my best. could be good to push myself a bit and none of this seems super unreasonable.

[littlestsnicket]

sprint review: 3/3 tasks complete! and i absolutely would not have finished them without the self imposed deadline.

i would really like to finish the bulk of the loumand kink fic this week and just have some editing and posting left for next week. i think this is achievable, wish me luck!

[littlestsnicket]

sprint review: 2/2 tasks complete! and sprint board is migrated to the new bullet journal for the year! going to also try to address a bunch of beta reading notes and create tasks for the ones that are more complicated.

one task in keeping with my post more ficlets new year’s resolution. i have a weird hang up about that, so i need a task for encouragement. also, i did end up quite liking interview with the vampire, and am excited to move on to the vampire lestat, but no tasks for that unless i need some extra motivation.

[littlestsnicket]

sprint review time: 2/2 tasks complete! probably under committed but a lot of these tasks require dedicated writing instead of stolen bits of time at work.

continuing to probably under commit this week because preparing to travel, traveling, and being at my parents house. ‘claudeline drabble ?’ task is to write enough of the thing to see if it can be a drabble. my well developed drabble sense says it’s borderline too big of an idea. we’ll see.

also need to extra push to finish the book. it’s not that i’m not enjoying it (i am, i wasn’t really at the beginning, but i am now), i’m just enjoying fic more. but i want to have read the books!! need to know what is actually in them!!

[littlestsnicket]

sprint update: 2/3 tasks complete last week. ‘write the kink part’ was a horrible task. lol. 600 words (which is a decent amount for me over the course of a busy week, especially when it’s something i cannot write at work) and maybe half way done. but i don’t know how i would break it up smaller so i’ll just do my best to finish this week and if not, oh well. (terribly scrum practice but sometimes things just don’t fit in sprints.)

the backlog is all tidied up, condensed all the temporarily abandoned wips into little stacks of sticky notes and added all the currently known tasks for louis/armand kink fic, which is uh… more complicated and has more different emotional threads to make sure play out right than i was initially planning. i mean. i was initially planning for this fic to be something completely different so… idk.

[littlestsnicket]

we’re resuming sprint updates! will i regret this with all of the upcoming holiday nonsense? maybe. but i really really really want to make time to write the stupid kink fic.

i left the backlog in a state. someday i will get back to all the ongoing things i left undone. i did do quite a bit of writing while i took a break from this. even posted some things, but most of the words went to the jaskier/radovid thing i was primarily writing for kuwdora and even though i had a lot of fun exploring and discussing that, it was also something i gave myself permission to not worry about if it would come together in a way that i want to share with a wider audience. current answer is no, but never say never!

[littlestsnicket]

updated sprint board. i’m, uh, gonna finish the fic next sprint? the only task left in the backlog is for editing.

retro/planning notes under the cut

last sprint was not great from a strictly scrum metric point of view (completed two of three tasks, and pulled in a fourth one that i did not complete), but i felt like i was so productive relative to the amount of other social things i committed to doing and that my taxes are done and i watched a bunch of evangelion since i have tickets to see the movie ending this evening. getting writing done is definitely more important than scrum metrics, but i do think a lot of the productivity is coming from taking these commitments semi-seriously so it is something i should keep an eye on to make sure i don’t give up on that.

but also, flexibility is very important. i wasted a bunch of time being stuck on the thing i carried over from last sprint (which is still not done), but pulling something else in and making real progress on it did help me get unstuck and now i am pretty sure i know what’s supposed to happen with all of the things that are left.

i probably have more thoughts but my brain is a puddle of goop. (menstruating is very stupid) (i am feeling a bit better now that i’ve eaten lunch)

also making vague plans for what i will work on next :)

[littlestsnicket]

i was going to pick up writing with scrum stuff this week, but i’ve been sick (sinus infection) so it seemed like too much. extended the write every day even if it’s just a sentence challenge for another week. i’ve only missed one day so far, so that’s cool.

[littlestsnicket]

hm, wednesday sprint review/retro/planning time. 0/2 tasks achieved. was thinking about it this morning and having deeply conflicted feelings of both needing a break and wanting to push myself to write more.

but then! i decided what i really needed a break from was having or pushing myself to pretend to have an end goal. so, new plan. i’m taking a break from this and making a commitment to write something every day for the next three weeks. i have the little ticky boxes in my bullet journal already, it will be good!

the rules are that i have to write at least one new sentence. messing with word choice in existing sentences is the only thing that could possibly be construed as writing that doesn’t count.

and this is probably the best way to deal with the shifting priorities of truly unexpected armand brainworms, the radskier idea for @kuwdora that i am really really really excited to explore but am not confident is going to shape up into a fic i actually want to edit and make have story elements like pacing (which is ok! i’m allowed to write things i don’t have the patience to edit, and i’m also allowed to either share them anyway or not), and woevember.

and starting strong with like 700 words of absolutely contextless dialogue snippets for the radskier thing. there’s 900 words in the doc. i started last night. yeah, i don’t know what happened either.

anyway the scrum stuff has been extremely useful for me and i will definitely be back to it but it’s time to do something else for a bit.