(2022-01-30) MacIver Peer One-on-ones

David R. MacIver: Peer one-on-ones. One of the services I often provide is group coaching sessions. I get a small group of people, usually four, together and we talk about some shared problems they experience together.

there was an interesting one recently where the sort of help I needed to provide was a bit more basic

The two people who remained were working on the same project

I sat back and said nothing for fifteen minutes, while the two of them exchanged useful information about the project, much of which they clearly should have told each other weeks ago

clear evidence that they should be talking to each other much more regularly than they were. They saw each other regularly in planning meetings, but never really one-on-one.

It really does have to be at least partly one-on-one too, especially for remote work. (Pairing)

Your objection is probably the same as theirs: You don’t have enough time. It’s already being taken up by meetings and “actual work” (meetings are also actual work of course. If they’re not, why are you in them?).

But this is the social equivalent of the old adage that weeks of programming can save you hours of research

here’s my favourite more generally applicable technique: A lot of people are using group video calls to do a morning standup. Afterwards, why not split up into pairs in break out rooms?

You don’t have to talk long - 10 minutes every day is plenty