Team Alone Time Is Valuable
Once a week I host a meeting for all of my peers to roll out process change, have process owners come and present / discuss, and to talk through process suggestions.
I use cartoon clip art (MS Word, insert clip art feature) and lots of puns, and strictly follow the 4 lines / 5 word rule of PowerPoint presentations.
If the conversation is going to be perceived as stress filled… I bring snacks… and in a non-lactose, sugar free, non-wheat crowd that can be a challenge in and of itself!
Humor rules the conversation… first last and always… the pace is much slower and much more open than many of the presentations that they would give themselves.
I say ‘many’ instead of ‘all’ because over the past 2 years or so that I have had this position the entire energy of the group has changed. Some of it is because of familiarity… but some of it is because there is a safe, restful, fun, space for interaction.
People don’t come running to me in a flutter and speaking a word a second in 2 directions at once… they run in a flutter, pause, flop on a guest chair… and present their situation.
It really does spread.. and it really does help.. hmmm… maybe I’ll blog more about this method of team building & the candy jar philosophy next week… it is one of the training wheels to getting an effective PMO up and running 
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(Photo is the work of Peter Garnhum and is used under Creative Commons License)
