Hi Leaders,
Nothing screams 'successful team' like a well-oiled rhythm. But how do you create it?
Having led numerous teams that excelled in delivering products throughout my career, I want to share the structure that will help you get a solid start. 👇
(Note: This is an excerpt from my Leadership Advantage Fundamentals course. More about that below.)
First and foremost, as a leader, it is important to think through what needs to happen at different time intervals:
- Every day
- Every two weeks
- Every month
- Every quarter
- Every year
1. Every Day
For my teams, the heartbeat was a daily scrum meeting. This short 15-minute meeting was the place for each team member to succinctly share:
• what they did since the last meeting,
• what they plan to do next,
• and if they are blocked by anyone else.
Progress is made day by day, not in big leaps.
Takeaway: Focusing on what your team is doing each day, is important.
2. Every 2 Weeks
For my product teams, we found an every 2 week release cycle to be a good, sustainable cadence.
This allowed us time to develop, test, and release an iteration of code. This also kept the planning overhead of determining what set of tasks should move from the backlog and into the next iteration manageable.
This cycle was repeatable and typically would only be adjusted during holidays or for our quarterly meetings.
The entire development team knew what happened like clockwork on this 2-week cycle.
Finding a rhythm that works for your team does not need to be a "traditional" length like per week or monthly.
Takeaway: The team could optimize how their work needed to fit in with the rest of the team.
3. Every Month
On a monthly cycle, the focus should be on outward communication.
Send a monthly summary of items that show progress. Examples include:
• the team's short-term wins,
• what’s coming next,
• experiments we ran,
• what we’ve learned helped make sure that progress was visible,
• as well as keeping the team looking forward.
Takeaway: Building a monthly cadence to summarize the team's progress captures what has happened, and helps to give the larger context that can get lost in day-to-day activities.
4. Every Quarter
Quarterly planning is the optimal interval for setting and maintaining a nimble team that is adaptable to change.
When working in hybrid or remote teams, these quarterly meetings are best if they can have real-life interactions as well.
For teams I have led, every quarter we invest in an in-person meeting.
These quarterly meetings were partly for team building and also for getting around a whiteboard and working through key problems.
The end goal of each quarterly meeting was to have a solid plan of what the next quarter (and beyond) would consist of.
Takeaway: Quarterly planning and team-building keeps the team focused and centered on the problems that matter most.
5. Every Year
Setting group goals is a yearly activity.
This is the time when key strategic initiatives are discussed and objectives are set.
The key here is that when you have your team executing well on each of the smaller periods, it flows nicely into longer-term planning.
You also will have built confidence that the rhythm of the team will help you to deliver.
Takeaway: It is the planning you do at each smaller interval that rolls up to yearly cycles.
Want to put this into practice?
The content above was a part of module about "Routine and Rituals to Anchor Progress" from my Leadership Advantage Fundamentals course.
Here is an excerpt from the intro to that module.
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As always, thanks for allowing me in your inbox.
Is your team in rhythm or out of rhythm?
Would working to get a stronger heartbeat help you move forward?
I'm always curious about how my advice works for you. My email and DMs are open.
Also, if you have any specific topics you would like me to cover in upcoming issues, just let me know!
See you next time!
Cheers,
Andrea
SPONSOR
Want to work together?
I provide leadership coaching, product team training/workshops, and project based consulting - helping leaders launch products, build teams, and lead with confidence.
If you're interested, let's chat!
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