The Pomodoro Technique

Slide 1: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time The Pomodoro Technique Improve quality of individual and team work Matteo Vaccari Federico Gobbo m.vaccari@sourcesense.com; federico.gobbo@uninsubria.it Sourcesense, Milano; Università dell'Insubria, Varese (cc) Some rights reserved. XP Day Mechelen, 15 November 2007 1/39

Slide 2: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time The Classic Pomodoro... What is a Pomodoro? 2/39

Slide 3: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time ...is a kitchen timer... What is a Pomodoro? 3/39

Slide 4: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time ...of whatever shape! What is a Pomodoro? 4/39

Slide 5: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time The Pomodoro Technique Goals & Features Why? 5/39

Slide 6: Francesco Cirillo  inventor of the Technique

Slide 7: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time The Pomodoro paper Why? Find it at http://www.tecnicadelpomodoro.it/ 7/39

Slide 8: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time What kind of work? Why? professional children homework cleaning house ... any work 8/39

Slide 10: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time The Pomodoro is the unit of work How Pomodori Work Pomodoro = 25 minutes + 5 minutes break ...or any reasonable convention you prefer (teams decide) 10/39

Slide 11: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time The Zero Pomodoro Rule The Pomodoro Technique Rules If the Pomodoro is interrupted... ...that Pomodoro counts for nothing. 11/39

Slide 12: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time Half pomodori? The Pomodoro Technique Rules 12/39

Slide 13: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time NEVER: The Pomodoro is the Atomic unit of work! The Pomodoro Technique Rules The Fundamental Rule: A Pomodoro Is Indivisible. 13/39

Slide 14: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time After 25 minutes, you stop The Pomodoro Technique Rules Scene 1: just for a few more minutes 14/39

Slide 15: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time After 4 Pomodori... Getting into the break ...take a longer break (never more than 1 pomodoro long) The 4 Pomodori Rule: thank yourself after 4 following successful Pomodori. 15/39

Slide 16: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time How to handle interruptions? Getting into the break Scene 2: inform, negotiate, call back 16/39

Slide 17: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time Thank myself? During the break Yes! Relax. You have worked well! Suggestions: stand up, rest and take a deep breath have a little walk have a coee or a tea 17/39

Slide 18: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time What if the boss resents frequent pauses?!? During the break Scene 3: breath exercises without standing up 18/39

Slide 19: The Four Stages of the Technique

Slide 20: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time Individual planning How to estimate eectively? 20/39

Slide 21: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time Estimating cards in pomodori How to estimate eectively? 21/39

Slide 22: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time Estimating cards in pomodori How to estimate eectively? 22/39

Slide 23: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time Very big tasks? How to estimate eectively? More Than Five pomodori? Split it up! (as you are used with User Stories) 23/39

Slide 24: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time Very small tasks? How to estimate eectively? What if it Lasts Less Than One Pomodoro? Add It Up! (it's easy!) 24/39

Slide 25: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time The Last Pomodoro is for Recording your day Recording Don't forget to do it, whatever method you choose! 25/39

Slide 26: Solo Recording: Federico's method

Slide 27: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time Recording with paper Pomodoro Recording for the team (Sinapsi Srl) http://wiki.sinapsi.com/ 27/39

Slide 28: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time Recording with a wiki Pomodoro Recording for the team (Databtech) by Alessandro Mercanti 28/39

Slide 29: Recording with a custom app (Sourcesense)

Slide 30: EasyTracking II (www.myagileprojects.com) by Francesco Cirillo

Slide 31: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time Ideal Engineering Days != Calendar Days Team work Why? Gosh! In a full day I can only do 3 pomodori Argh! today I spent 3 pomodori in a meeting 2 pomodori in presales 1 pomodori on support Only 2 pomodori on my project!!  31/39

Slide 32: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time One timer per pair Team work Avoid the one timer to rule them all style 32/39

Slide 33: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time Dealing with multiple customers simultaneously Team work Customer A is very important: 50% eort Customer B is important: 30% eort Customer C is less important: 20% eort This week we have 150 pomodori Customer A will get 75 pomodori Customer B will get 45 Customer C will get 25 by Gabriele Lana 33/39

Slide 34: Our Mantra

Slide 35: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time Synopsis of Pomodoro Rules Get aware of your Free Time 35/39

Slide 36: Pros and Cons of software Pomodori

Slide 37: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time Beyond Pomodori Get aware of your Free Time Free Time is Free Time, i.e. free from time boxing 37/39

Slide 38: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time Thank you. Any questions? Get aware of your Free Time Download these slides: http://www.slideshare.net/goberiko/xpday2007 (cc) Matteo Vaccari & Federico Gobbo 2007. Published in Italy. Attribution  Non commercial  Share alike 2.5 38/39

Slide 39: Focus on work The Art of Having a Break The four stages Team work Free Time In fact, we have questions Get aware of your Free Time How could we improve this presentation? What was good? What was bad? Could we make it more interactive? And please don't forget to tell us your experience with the Pomodoro: http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/pomodoro/ 39/39