Introduction
In this article, I will explain how I used the activity “12 Steps to Happiness” to identify the points of improvement in the team.
Team Context
This team consisted of 20 people, divided into 3 squads with very specific assignments. They were responsible for a meditation application, where subscribers have access to music and sound to meditate, in addition to guided meditations. While a Squad was responsible for actions aimed at bringing in new customers, the second Squad worked to keep them in the application and the third Squad took care of all the technical aspects of the application itself. There were many challenges related to the integration of these people, as they have very different profiles. In addition, they had a low maturity in Agility. Because it is a very specific market, they still faced difficulties in understanding the customer. On the technical side, they had to redo the application more than once due to switching suppliers – while also having to keep customers satisfied. As responsible for Agility in this team, in addition to training related to Agile Methods and business techniques, I introduced Management 3.0 practices to deal with various issues, such as conflicts, lack of a safe environment, transparency, and trust.
Explanation: 12 Steps to Happiness?
This activity lists 12 practices and actions that would help us understand or achieve happiness more easily, as well as help us remember what is important
Why do we decide to use this practice?
At the time of practice, I still didn’t have much knowledge of the people on the team, but I wanted to understand how the atmosphere was between them. Despite being a team that worked with meditation, they did not perceive much harmony, but a stressful and low-trust environment. It didn’t surprise me that the top-rated item they needed to do was “meditate”! They even had to stop to use the app they managed!
By explaining the whole context of dynamics, where we should stop to prioritize what makes us feel good, at the same time I alerted the leaders that the team needed help.
In the following sprints, management created moments of meditation and well-being within the team itself, with moments to talk openly, celebrate achievements, and, of course, meditate using the application they were developing. The practice of the 12 steps of happiness was vital for this, revealing what they were not realizing: They were a well-being team that did not have well-being.
How did we use this practice?
I explained to the team each of the items in the image above and set up a target for voting. Voting was anonymous. After a few rounds, we were able to prioritize the themes. The prioritized list then indicated what the team, in general, needed to work on or improve.
As the week went by, we carried out several practices according to the priority list. We schedule outdoor walks, meditation, praise, and feedback sessions, we practice smiling at the beginning of the day.
In this way, during a 1-month experiment, the team was able to realize the importance of having these moments even when we have a lot of work to do.
My learnings as a facilitator
It was a challenge to understand how people were doing or what they wanted to improve without knowing them well. Carrying out the practice in this way, anonymously, helped me to develop several actions to increase happiness for the team. I intend to repeat it more often.
Next Experiments with This Practice
I always try to tell participants the purpose of the practice and how they can use it. It surprised me that the team working on developing a meditation application was so stressed, which caught my attention that this practice should be used more frequently. For a future experiment, I suggest putting this practice together with the cycle closure dynamics (end of sprint for example). We always have to alert people that there is a world beyond work and that we have to balance our professional and personal lives and we don’t always do that. I imagine a printed board with the 12 steps of happiness where people daily point out what they are feeling that they need that day.
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Artigo elaborado como parte do processo para a certificação Management 3.0 Practitioner
Article was written as part of the Management 3.0 Practitioner certification process