The blueworks “Terms Glossary”
In today’s fast-moving world, it is important for experts to keep up to date with the latest developments and to be able to place topics in their overall context (keyword: “lifelong learning”). However, maintaining an overview in today’s fast-moving “VUCA” world is not that easy and getting all the information yourself can be tedious and time-consuming. In order to better master this challenge and also strengthen team cohesion, we have introduced a creative tradition: The blueworks “Terms Glossary”. The blueworks “Terms Glossary” combines knowledge with entertainment and ensures that team members subtly expand their knowledge and have a few “laughs” at the same time. In this blog post, you can find out how we established this tradition as a team.
The tradition of the term glossary began as an initiative to optimize search queries on Google (SEO). However, we quickly realized that we could make much more of it and strengthen the exchange of knowledge within the group and create a collaborative working atmosphere. The term glossary tradition follows a simple but effective approach:
For each sprint, we define a topic area for the “term of the sprint”. Each team member is then required to define and describe a term from this subject area during this sprint. The topic can be very technical, but also personal or funny. In this way, the tradition is loosened up, which means that we are not always looking for the latest technical term, but sometimes a “soft” one from everyday life.
Then, every two weeks in our sprint review, the show begins: at the start of the meeting, we go through the agenda interactively and, after the “Welcome” and the “News”, we present the terms that we defined during the sprint. After the “Welcome” and the “News” may have been presented somewhat one-sidedly by a few people, now comes the moment when the terms are introduced personally by each individual, giving us a great icebreaker for the sprint meeting. In this way, we create an engaging and interactive atmosphere and have usually had a laugh or two, breaking the ice, before moving on to the more “formal” aspects of the meeting.
By discussing and adding to the terms in the team, we not only improve our understanding of them, but also strengthen our cohesion and cooperation as a cohesive unit. It was not uncommon for us to get to know completely new sides of one or other team member.
The “Terms Glossary” tradition combines humor with learning, team building and a pleasant meeting atmosphere in a wonderful way. By not only discussing the concepts presented, but also challenging ourselves in a playful way (gamification), we bring momentum to our meetings. For example, we could create a game in which we link terms to specific topics or bring unexpected terms into play to stimulate the group dynamic. These playful challenges lead to cheerful surprises that bring our team closer together and make them memorable.
Our blueworks “Terms Glossary” shows how creativity can be used to make seemingly complex topics entertaining and accessible. So why not introduce a similar tradition in your team or organization? Remember: learning doesn’t always have to be serious, it can also be fun!
