Winging it out of Room 101

(Published originally in September 2017)

Last month’s Agile Sheffield meetup was ‘Agile Room 101' where we discussed and voted on all things agile - what we loved or wanted to lock away forever. It’s fair to say we focused on locking things away - including those pesky ‘don’t really stay up post-its’ though the trick to make them sticky-uppie was definitely kept out of our Room 101.  (Update: I'm no longer involved in agile Sheffield).

With the joint host, I’d prepared how to run the evening and people had sent in lots of Agile Room 101 suggestions. All good?

Not really.

It was a new idea. It may go wrong. No-one will join in. People will think the prizes are rubbish. We wanted the audience to drive the discussions with a small panel of volunteers to help provide some structure and back -up. What if no-one volunteered? What if no-one laughed or found the evening entertaining and useful? We didn’t really know how it would play out.

Well, here goes…

1. We had an all women panel who volunteered with a few minutes notice.
2. We ran out of time to cover all the ideas sent in and there was lots of discussion.
3. A good range of voices were heard with different experiences shared and diverse opinions aired.
4. The prize table seemed to be well received - though who wouldn’t want a cat shaped post-it holder?
5. There was chatter, laughter, groans and sometimes silence.

Over drinks at the end, the evening was judged a success and we’ll run a similar one in future. Everyone had chosen to help the evening go well. The meetup wasn’t perfect (ever been to one of those?) and people have already provided ideas on what to do differently next time.

I’m glad the evening wasn’t perfect because it also reminded me of a few things to put into my own Room 101:

1. The belief that I must always guide and almost control (too strong?) situations I’m meant to be running.
2. The perception that being seen ‘winging-it’ is bad.
3. Forgetting that, when you help cultivate a trusting and open environment, people will get more involved and actively engaged than you may expect.
4. Thinking that those I trust will sometimes watch me fail (well, only up to certain point).

And if all else does fail, and you’re locked in your own Room 101, keep winging it as..