[00:00:00] Pia: This week we get into action and share the secrets of teams that plan and execute together with total transparency. There are sophisticated versions of this, but as you know us, we keep things very simple and we'll get you started as an agile team in just a few days. I'm Pia.

[00:00:18] Dan: And I'm Dan, and this is Squadify Connects. As we said at the start of this miniseries, we're surprised in our work to see how many teams don't actually have a way of executing together. Sure. They talk about plans and then someone is often tasked with doing it, but it's an approach that's not really up to the job.

[00:00:36] Pia: So instead, we're going to plan and execute together. A great way to start this is to get your team to brainstorm all the tasks that will need to be done to get to your first milestone. Put them on a reel or a virtual board as post-its one task per sticky note, and then write backlog above those. That's the current set of things that you could do.

[00:01:02] Dan: And that is a huge stress reliever to see all those dumped out on one page. But now create a column to the right of that, uh, column called In Progress. We recommend you start with, a sprint or a time box of about a month. So now move the tasks that you will do this month into in progress. And only move the ones you really will complete.

[00:01:24] Finally, add a column to the right again called Done, where you can move the cards when complete. So you have three columns now, one full of your potential task called the backlog, one in the middle, called in Progress that you are wanting to do in this sprint. And then finally one done where you'll move things through through when they're complete.

[00:01:44] Pia: Now we've learned a few things along the way as we have refined this process. So here's three tips that could be very useful for you. Number one, every task has to have a clear, what we call. Definition of done. It should have a clear outcome and it should not be an action or worse, something that people just work on over time.

[00:02:07] If it's a big task, cut it down into chunks and do the first part, only leave the rest in backlog. A second tip is make sure you know who is accountable for each task in the sprint and who will be working in them. Put that into your card. The third one is, can the team achieve everything that's in progress?

[00:02:31] There is a science to this, but for now, just make an estimate and add or take away things as needed. Sometimes we can get very overexcited and optimistic and put too much in, so don't over promise. Just make sure you are planning to complete the task that will move you towards your goal.

[00:02:52] So that's it. You have planned your first sprint. The three column format is called a Kanban, and this is the home of your team execution from now on,

[00:03:04] Dan: Yes, so you will learn to love your Kanban and your experiment for this week is to try the process above one, brainstorm all the tasks to achieve the goal, and call it a backlog. Two, add in progress column, move some cards into that for your month. Sprint three, add a done column and check that you have the right amount in the plan and that everyone is clear of their role. This is an experiment, so if you hit any issues, just keep resolving them and learning along the way.

[00:03:29] Pia: So next week we'll talk about actually making the sprint work. Along the way, you'll see that there's a, a bit of a methodology to this thing. Until then, enjoy your sprint planning.