When we think about agile team dynamics, especially when talking about Scrum, we tend to pigeonhole ourselves heavily in process. However, there's one thing that has just as much, if not more importance than any of the above, particularly when it comes to team dynamics...Creative spaces

1. Creative spaces for creative thinking
Building an environment to help teams thrive
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A

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B

4. Which style of office do you prefer
to work in?
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5. When working in teams, we tend to
pigeonhole ourselves in lots and lots of
process
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6. It’s very easy to forget what keep’s a teams
motivation in tune
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7. Teams need ways to spark ideas and get
their creative juices flowing
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8. and once that’s missing…well
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9. So, while it’s important to investigate
technical considerations, understand UX
and define ways of working…
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10. There’s something else that can often
be neglected…
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Creative Spaces
Creative space is more than just where we
brainstorm: it’s about areas where product
teams can work side-by-side and
communities of practice can gather and
share knowledge.

12. Why should we focus more on building
creative spaces for teams?
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Nurtures ideas and
inspiration
Creates conversations and
builds empathy
Acts as a creative
block breaker
A creative workspace…

14. ’but we don’t have enough space to be
creative or collaborate’
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15. A starting point on how to building your
own creative spaces
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Working Walls
Include a space or area for displaying your work,
actions or decisions. This keeps teams working
towards collective goals, and encourages others
around to give feedback, learn and knowledge
share through visuals.

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Creative Corners
No spare room? Carve out a creative corner.
Don’t let the lack of space stop you from building
small breakouts areas and a change of scenery
for the team, even if it's a shelf with a few books
or a corner for playing games as a means of
creative learning

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Desk Diversity
It’s important to converse, so don’t talk about
co-locating and collaborating - just do it! Grab
your laptop and sit next to the person who you
need to move that ticket that's been sitting in the
'work in progress' (WIP) column into 'Done'! If you
happen to work on a desktop machine, move
your chair, pair up and collaborate!

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Free Furniture
Whether you have a spacious office or work in a
startup studio, modular furniture is always a great
option to get people building spaces for quick
huddles or meetings. So get everyone standing
around a table, or better yet remove the table
(this stops laptops clustering creative space) and
use seats. Break the rules!

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Each workspace (and it’s occupants) is different
So keep an eye out for something that would work in your office

21. Thank you
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Christina Ohanian - Agile Coach & Scrum Master
christina@theappbusiness.com
@ctohanian
www.agileandsketch.com
www.theappbusiness.com