Are you present when you are present on an Agile Scrum Team?

The setup:

You are sitting in a meeting and you are reading this blog posting. It’s soooooo interesting (of course, and I appreciate you reading this!).

But.

Maybe now is not the right time to be reading this.

Do you think that your presence — face-to-face IRL [In Real Life] or on Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or WebEx (is that still a thing??) — in a meeting, meetup, or even a get-together means you are actually present and actively participating in a conversation?

Nope.

[ doom scrolling ON ]

You are checked out of the conversation

Disclaimer: I admit I sometimes do this, even when I am completely aware that I am doing this [sigh].

This behavior is something I am hyper-aware of and it’s something that, to me, shows disrespect at the person, people, or group I am currently with.

Does it have the same trigger for you?

Maybe not.

Does it trigger the other person (or group of people) you are with now?

Maybe not.

But.

What if it does?

What if nobody says something?

What if it just becomes “normal”?

All of the sudden, being “checked out” of a conversation becomes what you are known for…

[gulp]

So.

What does NOT being present when you are supposed to be present really cost you, your team, and organization?

What Next?

Focus. #deliver

Case in point.

Are you reading this post when you are supposedly “present” somewhere else?

Close. This. Now.

Be present.

This blog post about “being present” will be here later. Come back. I’ll prove it [smile].

Really.

Think about how often YOU do this.

What have you missed if you are reading this in the middle of a meeting?

Yes.

It matters.

Have a conversation with your team about some new “team norms” around the concept of being present when you are supposed to be present when Implementing Scrum (or anywhere else IRL).

I can help with the conversation.

Contact me (with feedback) or connect with me on LinkedIn to discuss this more together.

Also, check out AgileMentoring.com while you are here; it’s a great community of agile practitioners from around the world who are figuring things out together!

One final thing…

Subscribe to my weekly Saturday morning emails about Implementing Scrum in the real world. And get an “every two week” check in from me too.

What could be better?