POWER Start of the meetings

A significant portion of our workdays is consumed by meetings, often leading to comments about their excessive nature and a lack of productivity. Utilizing a Power start for meetings can be a valuable tool that positions the meeting for success and make them more effective.

Purpose: What is the purpose of the meeting? What is the why for which we are meeting?

Outcome: What is it we want to achieve? What successful meeting look like? What we intent to achieve at the end of the meeting.

What’s in it for me? : Communicate clearly what is in it for the participants in this meeting. Why the participants should be attending this meeting?

Engagement: How we are going to engage with the participants throughout the meeting?

Roles and responsibilities: What are the roles and responsibilities of the participants of the meeting?

Examples:

Here are the examples for how to use POWER for the scrum meetings:

Daily Standup:

Starting the stand-up meeting with the POWER framework sets a clear agenda, encourages participation, and ensures that everyone understands their role in the meeting and its importance to the team’s success.

1. Purpose:
   • “Good morning, team. The purpose of today’s daily Scrum is to synchronize our efforts, share updates on progress, and identify any obstacles that may be impeding our sprint goal.”
2. Outcome:
   • “By the end of this meeting, we aim to have a clear understanding of what each team member accomplished yesterday, what they plan to accomplish today, and any challenges they are facing that need attention.”
3. What’s in it for Me (WIIFM):
   • “For each team member, this daily Scrum is an opportunity to align our tasks with the sprint goal, identify dependencies, and collaborate on solutions. It’s a chance to stay informed, address issues promptly, and ensure we’re on track to meet our commitments.”
4. Engagement:
   • “I encourage everyone to actively participate by providing concise updates on your progress, mentioning any blockers or assistance needed, and actively listening to your teammates to offer support and solutions.”
5. Role:
   • “As the Scrum Master, my role is to facilitate this meeting, ensure it stays within the timebox, and help remove any impediments mentioned. Each team member’s role is to contribute their updates, raise concerns, and collaborate towards our sprint success.”

Sprint Retrospective:

Starting the retrospective meeting with the POWER framework sets a clear agenda, encourages active participation, and ensures that everyone understands the purpose of the meeting and their role in contributing to the team’s continuous improvement efforts.

1. Purpose:
   • “Good morning, team. The purpose of sprint retrospective is to inspect and adapt the way we work together”
2. Outcome:
   • “Outcome is one thing or ideally a few things we need to improve on for the next sprint.”
3. What’s in it for Me (WIIFM):
   • “We all want to find an easier and better way to work together to be efficient”
4. Engagement:
   • “I encourage everyone to actively participate by providing concise updates on your progress, mentioning any blockers or assistance needed, and actively listening to your teammates to offer support and solutions.”
5. Role:
   • “As the Scrum Master, my role is to facilitate this meeting, ensure it stays within the timebox, and help remove any impediments mentioned. Each team member’s role is to contribute their updates, raise concerns, and collaborate towards our sprint success.”

Sprint Planning:

Starting the planning meeting with the POWER framework sets a clear agenda, engages the team, and establishes a collaborative environment for effective planning and decision-making.

1. Purpose:
   • “Good morning, team! Welcome to our sprint planning meeting. The purpose of today’s meeting is to determine what we will accomplish in this sprint and how we will achieve it.”
2. Outcome:
   • “By the end of this meeting, we should have a prioritized backlog of user stories for the sprint, each with clear acceptance criteria, estimated effort, and a shared understanding of the sprint goal.”
3. What’s in it for Me (WIIFM):
   • “Your active involvement in this planning process ensures that we’re all aligned on what needs to be done and sets us up for a successful sprint. It’s an opportunity for each of us to shape the work we’ll be doing and ensure it’s meaningful and achievable.”
4. Engagement:
   • Encourage active participation and engagement from all team members. Create an open environment where everyone feels comfortable sharing their thoughts and concerns. You could start by asking if anyone has any initial thoughts or questions about the upcoming sprint or the work to be done. Throughout the meeting, facilitate discussions and address any issues or uncertainties that arise.
5. Role:
   • “As we begin planning, remember that each of us has a role in shaping the sprint. The Product Owner will guide us through backlog prioritization, while the development team will estimate the effort required for each user story and plan how the sprint goal can be achieved. I’ll be here to facilitate and support the process.”

Sprint Review:

Starting the review meeting with the POWER framework sets a clear agenda, engages participants, and fosters collaboration for meaningful discussions and decision-making.

Purpose: “Good afternoon, team! Today’s sprint review meeting is crucial for us to showcase the work we’ve completed during the sprint and gather feedback from stakeholders to ensure we’re delivering value.”

Outcome: “By the end of this meeting, we aim to have demonstrated the completed user stories and features, received feedback from stakeholders, and identified any adjustments needed for future sprints.”

WIIFM (What’s In It For Me): “Your active involvement in this review process ensures that we are delivering products that meet your needs and expectations. By providing feedback, you’re helping us improve and deliver even better results in the future.”

Engagement: Encourage participation and engagement from all attendees. You could start by inviting stakeholders to share their thoughts and observations on the demonstrated features. Throughout the meeting, facilitate discussions and encourage everyone to contribute their perspectives and insights.

Role: “As we begin the review, remember that each of us has a role to play. The development team will showcase the completed work, the Product Owner will provide context and answer questions, and stakeholders will provide valuable feedback to guide our future efforts.”