3. Individuals and Interactions Flashcards
What is context switching?
The transition period for your brain to go from one task to the next.
Is multitasking a good idea?
No. Each time you switch between tasks, you have to do a little bit of thinking to get back on track. Humans have a difficult time switching between work items.
What should be the attitude towards multitasking in an Agile environment?
Try to limit the team’s multitasking. Instead of working on several different things at once, the entire team will focus on a limited set of high-value tasks.
What do the statistics show in regards to the time spent context switching while multitasking?
That if you multitask on three items or more, you’re spending more time adjusting from one item to another than you’re spending solving the problem.
What are the short iterations of work called in an Agile context?
Sprints.
What is one of the very first things you should think about related to dealing with multiple tasks when embracing an agile mindset?
Trying to limit your team’s multitasking. Instead of working on several things at once, the entire team must focus on a limited set of high-value tasks.
What does focusing on a limited set of high-value tasks accomplish for Agile?
It helps with one of Agile’s guiding principles: continuous delivery in short iterations.
What is can be said about multitasking in the context of “scrum”?
That reducing multitasking is one of the original ideas behind the scrum framework.
What are handoffs?
Finishing work on a task and then giving it to another person or department for processing.
Are handoffs an efficient way to work and why?
No. Much like multitasking, there’s a lot of overhead. A lot of time gets wasted waiting for someone else to finish their work.
What is the challenge of handoffs in regards to the size of the workload and why is it a challenge?
It encourages large batches of work (queue size) to go through the system. If you have large batches of work going through the system, then people are going to process these batches at different speeds. This means that at some point, everyone is either speeding or crawling.
What’s a way to make it easier to limit your handoffs.
Keeping the batch sizes smaller.
Is the belief that you might be more productive alone in a quiet office true?
Yes. However, an organisation is not just one individual. Even though you as an individual might be much more productive working on your task, as a team overall, you’d actually be less productive.
What is the most productive way to work as an agile team in regards to the batch size of tasks?
By moving around small batches of work and eliminating handoffs. Even if the individual productivity decreases, the team’s overall productivity increases.
What is a sprint?
A timeboxed iteration of work intended to deliver a shippable portion of a product in a shorter time scale.
