My first article on dietary manipulation was intended to be the last. However as I learn, so I must adjust…

Some time ago I had the pleasure of guiding a team through a backlog prioritization session – taking items from a large unsized, unordered backlog down to a subset that we believed could be achieved in a short window of time (either in the next 6 weeks or to the end of the summer).

I had the benefit of free lunch in the staff canteen. At the time I wasn’t sure if the food selection was normal for the site or if it was just an end of the month special – either way, the food was very good. Although there were salads and yogurt, it was frighteningly easy to load up on a mountain of well-prepared comfort munchies.

The session I was running was scheduled for about 2-3PM.

Can you see this coming?…

Remember how I previously loaded a team up on carbs so my audience would hit their low-ebb during a difficult patch?

…

When I’m leading a workshop with an unfamiliar group I’m not very good with pauses & quiet periods so I tend to fill in the gaps (I already know it’s a weakness for coaching). Despite the mix of comfy armchairs and the post-lunch downturn, the team did a great job. They were very tolerant of my ad-libbing and ran the exercise in really good faith but even so it was really hard work for me.

The good news is we achieved our goal in just under an hour. A small, actionable, prioritized set of “must do” items for the team to dedicate some time to clearing before the end of the summer.

Next time, I’ll try loading up with fresh coffee and see what we can get done in 30 minutes and before everyone needs a bathroom break 🙂

…

Epilogue: – I’ve just started working with this team full-time. The food is that good and the team are that accommodating all the time.

Must try to remember… No mid-afternoon team workshops. Oh and …must… …stick… …to….  salad & smoothies.

Well – sometimes.