Mini exercises series game 1
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This document describes a mini exercise called "Game-1" used at an Agile workshop to teach several agile concepts. Participants were split into teams and tasked with getting pencils to stand upright within a time limit. The teams that were given specific instructions took longer to complete the task than the teams that were able to self-organize and plan on their own, demonstrating concepts like self-organization, batch size, and why some planning is necessary but too much can hinder progress. The facilitator was then able to use the results to further teach agile principles over the next two days of the workshop.
Mini exercises series game 1
- 1. Mini exercises for an Agile workshop MINI SERIES GAME-1
- 2. Breaking ice with a few pencils May 19th , Charlotte, NC
- 3. Learning outcomes 1. Understand batch size and wait times. 2. Recognize self organization. 3. Recognize why ‘following a plan’ is not ideal. 4. Recognize why some planning is still necessary! 5. Recognize ‘built-in instability’ is good for teams. 6. Decentralize decision making. 7. Individual optimization vs optimizing the whole.
- 4. SUPPLIES: 10 Unsharpened pencils per table. TEAM: 5 or 6 participants per table. A ‘time keeper’ per table is selected. GAME: Participants should ‘let a pencil stand upright’ for two seconds. Each participant should complete all 10 pencils ‘stand upright’ for 2 seconds. By the end of the game each participant at every table should have had a turn to stand up all 10 pencils. Game ends when the last team completes.
- 5. GAME FORMAT: One iteration of the game is sufficient for participants to recognize all expected outcomes Workshop facilitator provides the following instructions to each team individually: (When all teams have received their instructions, they will begin to play the game at the same time) 1. Team 1: Each participant should complete standing up all 10 pencils and then pass it to the next team member. (Penny game format). 2. Team 2: Each participant should complete standing up 5 pencils, pass it to the next team member, and pick up the next 5 to complete their activity 3. Teams 3,4,& 5: Allowed 1 minute time to plan and discuss, and then they had to start their activity.
- 6. RESULTS: Team 1: They received very specific instructions, finished in 7:40 minutes. Team 2: They received very specific instructions with reduced batch size finished in 4:40 minutes. Team 5: They did the best timing. They kept their batch size to 1, finished in 1:30 minutes. HOOORAY! - We met all expected outcomes. No instructions were provided for teams 3,4,5 and they did the best. Team 5 figured out on their own, a batch size of 1 was ideal. In team 1, each individual completed well below or were close to team 5’s time!!!! FACILITATOR ADVANTAGE: Use the data to enable learning of Agile / Kanban concepts for the next two days. .