Every October 31st we celebrate Halloween. Over the years instead of just one night, people decorate their houses and celebrate for at least a month – we love a party. In celebration of what has become the seventh-largest retail holiday in the United States, let’s take a spooky look at the outcome of poor work intake and celebrate the fact that we can banish the spooks and shades of poor work intake.
1. Zombie Teams
– Like zombies, team members are exhausted from endless tasks, barely making it through the day. With too much work and no breaks, they’re moving in slow motion and missing key details. Perhaps a “resurrection” day when a spigot of work is closed off so they have time to rest, refresh, and come back to life!
2. Werewolf Burnout
– Team members transform under pressure! Just like werewolves at midnight, they become stressed and unapproachable. The constant push turns friendly colleagues into “work beasts.” Only product owners and managers have the silver bullet of manageable workloads nearby to prevent “work-wolves” from emerging.
3. Haunted Backlog
– Tasks pile up, lurking like ghosts. Everyone’s afraid to tackle the backlog, knowing there’s just too much there to handle. Stories that long since should have been retired still haunt refinement sessions. Isn’t it time to call the Ghostbusters and clear out the “ghostly” backlog with a team sprint or a dedicated prioritization session?
4. Vampire Boss
– Constantly “sucking” more time and energy from team members, the vampire boss assigns work without considering capacity, draining team resources. Arm team members with holy water and garlic by setting clear boundaries around work hours and priorities.
5. Frankenstein Projects
– These monster projects (product or PIs…choose your poison) are pieced together from various, disjointed parts. They require so much work that they’re clunky and hard to finish, always getting bigger than planned. Reanimate the project by dividing it into smaller, clear pieces that feel more human and generate faster feedback.
6. Mummified Morale
– Team morale is all wrapped up — no one feels appreciated or energized. They feel stuck in endless tasks and stories (how many Jira cards are on the board?), like a mummy in its wrappings. Unwrap morale with recognition, celebrations, and breaks from the “curse” of non-stop ticket churn.
7. Phantom of Lost Communication
– Important messages vanish, and misunderstandings haunt the team. The faster they work, the more critical information “disappears” into the ether. Rehone your daily planning meetings (Daily Scrum or the like) or set up regular, clear communication touch points to exorcize the phantom of poor communication.
8. Grim Reaper of Deadlines
– Deadlines loom like a scythe, cutting down energy and creativity. After every standup meeting you realize the Grim Reaper is around the corner, adding pressure without reprieve. Lighten the reaper’s load prioritizing key milestones over constant deadlines and focusing on delivering value with every iteration.
These spooky impacts of poor work intake can destroy teams. You don’t have to be related to Buffy the Vampire Slayer to rescue team dynamics. With proactive leadership, you can help them “come back from the dead!” Happy Halloween! 🎃👻
Work Intake Problems?
Join one of two Upcoming Mastering Work Intake Workshops to help you learn to address IT’s nastiest, dirtiest little secret…poor work intake. The next two workshops are taking a compressed approach to help kickstart 2025! Seats are available on:
November 9th 9 AM EST – Noon EST
December 6th 9 AM EST Noon EST
More information and registration at https://maven.com/jeremy-willets/masteringworkintake
Simply put if you don’t control work intake IT CONTROLS YOU! If workshops aren’t your cup of tea, buy a copy of our book, Mastering Work Intake, and begin to control the flow of work for your team and organization.
Order a copy of the book from JRoss Publishing – https://bit.ly/474ul6G or via Amazon – https://bit.ly/474ul6G
