The Sprint Limerick

This exercise was co-created as part of a collaboration day between myself and Paul Goddard

Timing:

30-45 minutes

Materials:

None

Instructions:

Ask the team to create a limerick to sum up the Sprint or perhaps even team values

• A limerick has 5 lines with a specific rhythm
• Line 1 rhymes with lines 2 and line 5
• Line 3 rhymes with line 4

For example:

A Scrum team can be very wise
Because they self organise
They’ll emerge the design
Along sensible lines
While making sure nobody fries

Or:

A FOCUSSED and fresh engineer
Had COURAGE to be a Scrum heir
“OPENNESS is” said he
“with COMMITMENT, the key”
“And RESPECT for colleagues is fair

Or:

A key to Scrum is the backlog
Without one the project’s a slog
Although you might jest
Dig DEEP and INVEST
To help you see through all the fog

Or:

A development team I once met
Had ran up great technical debt
Their code legacy history
Had become quite a mystery
But they applied Scrum and now do not fret

Or:

A development team who can’t estimate
I am sure will always be late
Those who correctly timebox
Make software that rocks
And all investments return a good rate

Or:

Quick, hurry up, go faster
This timebox it will not last-a
Oh you’re such a moaner
Said the Product Owner
It’s my job said our harried ScrumMaster

Learning Points: 

• Just a bit of fun really

Variations:

1. Try a less structured poetry format
2. Or a song
3. See if the team can build up a number of verses over the course of the project
4. Agree some key concepts as a team first, then split up into smaller groups (pairs or triplets) and compare versions as a group.
5. Set a small time box, read out what you have got so far, get some feedback and try a second iteration as you hear things from other pairs you might be able to incorporate into yours.