Happiness Door
In the modern world, we are often in a complex domain (according to the Cynefin framework). We cannot use best practices to achieve the best result. Instead, we need to use empiricism. Try something, inspecting, and adapting.
And this applies not only to product development but also to working with people — holding meetings and training.
For you to adapt your meetings, you must inspect them. And for this, you need to get feedback from the participants.
Not everyone is ready to fill out the biggest questionnaires or interviews to provide you data. Remember, people have other jobs as well. Therefore, receiving feedback should be as simple, comfortable, and fast as possible for the respondents.
You need a tool that will allow this and at the same time provide you with information in the required amount. Management 3.0 suggests taking advantage of Happiness Door practice.
This practice suggests using a visible and available space (at the exit door, as the name implies) where people can leave their feedback. They should be able to do this quickly, easily, and anonymously. For example, when passing the door, put a sticker in the selected area that shows the category of feedback.
I use this practice always — on retrospective events, training courses, meetings to discuss different issues, etc. In the office or online, it doesn’t matter. Use any opportunity for the feedback!
It looks simple — you need to prepare a board, which split into areas. You can use 2, 3, or 5 sections. Just experiment! (But I think a board with ten or more blocks would be too cumbersome and difficult to fill in)
Everyone should have the same understanding of what each area on the board means. So even if it seems obvious to you, tell it to the others.
In my experience use numbers may demotivate people to leave feedback (primarily negative ones). They may feel like they are rating you and may not want to give you a bad grade.
Instead, use drawings or graphics. It is more fun and takes us away from the grade form. Draw emoji, weather, animals. Anything you can imagine! (But don’t forget to make it clear to others)
At the end of the meeting pay attention to the board, you have prepared and ask people to use it for feedback. Ask them to put a sticker in the appropriate area and, if possible, write why they pasted it here (do not insist on comments, but say that it would give you additional information).
Don’t talk about evaluating your work. Instead, focus participants on personal feelings. Let people show what mood they are in when they leave, instead of grading something on a formal scale.
Sometimes you can get a card that does not relate to the meeting feedback, but reflects the state in the group, like “Everyone in the team is sad.” Don’t say people misuse this technique and should only write about the meeting. Take the information about this and use it in your further work with them.
It is worth reminding that giving and receiving feedback is the right thing to do. Say that you are good about even negative feedback. In no case show dissatisfaction with any cards!
You can thank the participants for the feedback they have left or for a large number of stickers.
In my experience, if you are holding a meeting online, then it is worth a separate time on the Door of Happiness. It will allow the participants to think about the feedback. Because if we are not in the physical location, you only need to press the button to exit. And many people may not leave feedback, even if they have it.
But don’t insist that everyone has to fill out a card. In this case, you will receive a bunch of positive cards that do not correlate with the current situation.
Remember not only to collect feedback but also to use it for further adaptation. When people realize that what they write remains only on the door, they will not want to leave more feedback. Be sure to analyze the participants’ feedback and make changes according to the next meetings. Or tell them why you didn’t make the change. It won’t take long, but it will show that you are listening to others.
Using this practice, I realized that different teams or groups of people have different expectations and preferences for meetings, separate things to help them getting a successful meeting. It proves that all teams or groups of people have their own identities, and we cannot use a copy-paste for them — we need to keep this in mind when building processes and relationships.
Moreover, if something works well for one of the groups, it doesn’t work the same if it is part of a larger group. It shows that the general has different properties than its components (“Emergence” that Jurgen Appelo is writing in his book). Do not forget that a team of teams has another identity from the teams that are part of it.
We live in a changeable world — contexts change, connections within groups rebuild, new groups form, old ones destroy, collectives evolve.
Therefore, you (like me) can never find the perfect meeting format.
The ideal is not the finish line but the path along which you can go endlessly. It is essential to apply tools that help us move further along the way of best helping our colleagues.
