How the Pandemic Fostered One of the Most Valuable Meetings for My Teams

As a Scrum Master, I've seen my fair share of team dynamics and meetings. However, one of the most transformative experiences came out of a situation none of us could have predicted: the COVID-19 pandemic. Forced into a remote working environment, our team felt a profound need for face-to-face interaction. That led us to create something we lovingly call the "Coffee Chat," and it turned out to be one of the most valuable meetings we've ever had. Here's how it unfolded and the positive impact it had on our team.

From Isolation to Interaction: The Birth of the Coffee Chat

When the pandemic forced everyone into isolation, it was easy to spot a need within the team for more personal, face-to-face interactions. Our daily scrums were quick, efficient, and entirely remote, but they lacked the informal conversations that often happen in a physical workspace.

So, the team decided to implement a "Coffee Chat" right after our daily scrum. This was a time for the team to come together on a shared call, coffee in hand, to talk about anything and everything. This wasn't a status update or a work meeting; it was simply a chance to connect and engage informally.

Evolving Into Collaboration: Swarming on Problems

As time went on, our Coffee Chats began to naturally evolve. Team members started talking about challenges they were facing in their work while sipping their morning brew. Without any formal planning, these conversations turned into quick pair programming or swarming sessions where multiple team members tackled a problem together.

This spontaneous collaboration had several benefits:

• Increased Collaboration: Team members began to help each other more frequently, which fostered an environment of continuous learning and mutual support.
• Problem Solving: Complex issues that might have taken days to solve individually were addressed faster and more efficiently.
• Cross-Functionality: By working together, team members became more familiar with different parts of the system, increasing their versatility and value to the team.

The Coffee Chat: A Regular and Invaluable Event

The positive outcomes from our informal meetings prompted us to make Coffee Chats a regular part of our schedule. It quickly became one of the most valuable meetings we had, outside of our structured Scrum meetings. Here's what we observed:

• Growth: The team began to like, trust, and support each other more.
• Collaboration over Cooperation: We shifted from simply working together to actively helping each other succeed. The focus became the team's success rather than individual achievements.
• Delivery: The collaborative spirit helped us deliver high-quality work more consistently.

A Safe Space for Developers

One of the most powerful aspects of the Coffee Chat was the safe space it created for developers. Without the pressures of stakeholders or managers, the team could be completely honest and open. This environment encouraged vulnerability and genuine problem-solving.

Whenever I've joined a new team, I've introduced a 30-60 minute Coffee Chat immediately after our daily scrum, and the results have been consistently remarkable. Developers appreciate a setting where they can openly discuss their work and freely collaborate. It's their meeting to own and utilize for collaboration throughout the day, even outside of the scheduled time.

The Outcomes: Productivity, Quality, and Fun

The results speak for themselves. The teams that adopted the Coffee Chat saw:

• Increased Productivity: By quickly resolving roadblocks and sharing knowledge, the team’s output improved.
• Better Quality: Collaborative problem-solving led to fewer errors and more robust solutions.
• Enhanced Fun: The informal nature of the meeting injected a sense of enjoyment into our daily routines, making work a bit more lighthearted and fun.

Conclusion

The Coffee Chat started as a simple way to combat the isolation of remote work but has evolved into a crucial tool for team dynamics and productivity. If you're looking to enhance your team’s collaboration and overall efficiency, consider introducing a similar informal meeting in your next retrospective. Experimentation and Empiricism are cornerstones within the Scrum framework, making this a prime chance to put them into action. It might take some facilitation to get comfortable with the format at first, but the benefits could extend far beyond what you might expect.

At the time of this post, Coffee Chat has been implemented on 5 diferent development teams, and by no surprise all 5 teams have expressed how helpful the Coffee Chats have been for them. When I went back and reviewed our previous retrospectives, the Coffee Chat has been brought up as a process to keep doing on 100% of of those teams.

Who knows, your next big breakthrough might just happen over a cup of coffee! ☕