Individual Deep Work

We want a shared understanding of how we all work as individuals so we have confidence we’re using everyone’s time efficiently and effectively.

Mindsets

What are the agreed perspectives we hold for working individually?

Everyone has their own way to find focus and flow. Give people space to create.

Habits

What habits nurture how we make decisions?

INDIVIDUALLY

Find sources of inspiration when you’re focused sometimes means changing location

Communicate when you need to change locations if the physical space you need to focus is not in the office through Slack or as marked on your calendar.

Crank Town is an imaginary place. When you need to crank through some deep work without interruption, put Crank Town on your calendar. Or tell people when you’re going there. Then put headphones on, go to a coffee shop, work outside — whatever will help you crank through the big ol’ task at hand.

Openly communicating your progress to the team on a regular basis, so there are no black holes

What this looks like

We’re always balancing individual work with group work, and it’s useful to let the team know when you’re going to Crank Town and when you’ll back. It’s also useful for the team to know what you’re cranking on, so that everyone can figure out how it relates to the work they’re responsible for.

Respect everyone’s time and signals that they (or you) are in Crank Town

If someone looks like their in the creative zone, aka Crank Town, Slack them “Do you mind if I interrupt you or are you cranking?” Or slip them a Post-It note that you need to talk to them about xyz. This gives them the chance to come back to your question if they’re in the middle of deep thought. It may seem innocuous to ask them in person, but if they’re in Crank Town, any interruption can cause them to lose the thread of an idea, or it’ll take them out of deep thoughts. Sometimes it takes minutes to get back there.

Alternatively, make sure to come out of your creative hole and be open to discussion! The last thing we want is the appearance of busyness to keep someone from asking an important question.

Move away from protection and perfection.

If you feel like your spinning your wheels, or you haven’t stood up in awhile, ask for help or feedback. There is a balance between working individually and learning to ask questions—both are critical to success.

2 PEOPLE

Create autonomy and ownership as people dive into individual deep work

Now another powerful imaginary place — Sprint City. It’s a place where you go with New Kinders to work on a shared project or task together. Book a room, bring your laptops and sprint to the discovery. Sprint comes from the world of agile development, where teams work on a shared task for a period of time.