This is the best time of year.Bar none.The air is turning crisp. Kids are back in school. And most importantly it’s the start of College Football. I have two major biases towards the college football season. First, I am a guy. Second, I have been through two-a-days and know that once the season starts, it’s a great relief to the players to be actual be playing a game. ESPN does a “College Game Day” each week to highlight the big games. Sometimes one of the teams isn’t quite ready for the game and they make some big mistakes, other times both teams perform well and there is a great spectacle to be had. Whether the team is ready or not doesn’t matter to “Game Day.” They aren’t going to push the game back a day or two or even a week, just because the team didn’t “prepare” well enough. As in football, so it is in our scrum teams. We have a monthly “Game Day.” On this day we have to demonstrate to the stakeholders what we’ve done with our time and their money. Here are the game day events:

1st) Pre-Game Meal

This should be done well in advance of the actual game , because if you eat too much too close to the game, you will not be a happy camper. For a scrum team the pre-game meal is not a meal of body, but of the mind. This involves the team collaborating the flow and content of the demonstration and working out any loose ends. Some teams will do one of three things: have a feast, a famine or a binge.

Feast: This team is focused, they are creative and come up with and practice their demo, so on “Game Day” it’s easy as pie.

Famine: Assignments are made to team members. Expectations are such that each assignment will be fulfilled but alas, nothing happens and there is lack of focus and flow in the demo. (Worst case scenario, the stakeholders pull funding for your team or your boss offers you a list of job openings at the local McDonalds).

Binge: So much time and effort is put into this demo that you feel sick come game day. Although everything is in place meticulously, you have double vision and miss the mark.

2nd) What time is it? Game Time!

For me, whether I prepare well or don’t prepare, I get the game day jitters. For developers, speaking in front of people is something new, it’s a stretch of the body, mind and soul. But as with everything else in life, it comes and it goes. But the more prepared you are, the less easy mistakes are made and the smoother landing you will get.

3rd) Post Game Pep Talk

After every game the coach wants to say a few words, if it was a loss, it will be rants and raves. If it is a win it will be rants and raves (but with a partial smile). It’s a time for the team to look back and see how they did, “Sure we won, but you sure missed that tackle?” or “too bad we lost, but did you see when I ran over #56?” You may even here a few teammates yelling at each other and shoving each other into the lockers. As a scrum team we too have a retrospective to discuss the good, the bad and what can we change for our next “game day.” These may be things such as changes to processes that aren’t working, kudos for innovative solutions or concerns for lack of communication. There is no script and as long as you don’t throw your teammate through the window you’re good.

These three game day events help to reinforce our team’s commitment to the scrum process and help our team to maximize our potential to create world-class software.

Go Aggies!