Many of WellSky’s development teams include members who aren’t physically together on a day-to-day basis — some work from WellSky offices while others are full-time remote workers. This can lead to challenges in creating team cohesion and building team spirit.
Our agile coaches and scrum masters have found a variety of ways to help teammates get to know each other and learn about each other’s likes, hobbies, life experiences, and places they have lived. Either once a week or once a development sprint – depending on the team – these coaches lead the team in fun activities.
The timing for these activities varies from team to team. The agile coach gets a feeling for the personalities of the team members and the general vibe of the team. The team decides what kind of team activities would be fun and schedules them accordingly.
A common activity is the Fun Friday topic. Generally, this involves spinning the Wheel of Names on Thursday. The Wheel of Names contains the names of all the team members. The chosen one selects a question on topics ranging from "dream vacation" to "favorite movie" to "weirdest food you've eaten." At Friday's team meeting, the team discusses the chosen topic. This is a great way to get to know each other and to have fun discussions.
Another popular activity is the Feeling Wheel, where each team member picks 1 or 2 feelings to share, perhaps about the week so far or the week ahead. This wheel activity was created by Dr. Gloria Willcox and comprises over 200 feelings. These feelings correspond to six primary feelings: mad, sad, scared, joyful, powerful, and peaceful. This can be helpful to open a dialogue on things that are going well as well as troubleshoot things that need further action.
Monthly or holiday-related activities that cross scrum teams can also help build a feeling of togetherness. Happy hours, online trivia games, and activities like Gartic Telephone or online Pictionary let everyone kick back and enjoy each other’s company.
Finally, agile coaches tell me that just keeping in touch on a day-to-day basis using team chats and channels is vital. It is important to have channels to discuss work, aid collaboration, and to share personal news. Having a virtual “water cooler” allows the team to get to know each other better and provides a way for them to cheer each other on – not just with work projects but for non-work activities and events that are important to them.
