#22 The Sprint Holiday

Symptom: The team are getting weary after spending a long time on a project.

Probable Cause: Working on sprints for a long time can begin to take their toll on a team who might feel demoralized and in need of a break.

Suggested Resolution: Try a sprint holiday. This could be a full sprint or part of a sprint dedicated to something not necessarily related to the project, and could be allowing the team to fix those annoying things that keep getting shelved, working on their own pet project or training and up skilling for example.

Sometimes a change is as good as a holiday and taking the pressure off the team for a short while will help them to re-energise and find their mojo again.

For a long term project a week or so is not going to make that much of an impact on the schedule, (if it does, then the project as other problems and may be at risk of missing its dates anyway with the current scope.) A rejuvenated team can return the investment with an increase in productivity and quality and any short term schedule slip should be recovered with a happier team.

It can be easy to think of people as interchangeable parts such as cogs in a machine, but we have to remind ourselves that the team is made up of human beings who have human needs. If these needs are not addressed, then the project will be at risk from a decrease in productivity and quality. What you are looking for here is a happy and productive team and a little investment with a human touch can go a long way to reduce the risks on your project.

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