How ELMO can be useful for you and your team?

Despite the fact that Elmo did not win in the last British election, we should not forget about him and use him for another purpose. Or rather instead of saying “him”, I should say “it” because in this case I mean E.L.M.O. as an acronym for “Enough, Let’s Move On”.

ELMO is a technique that you can use with your team to cut the unnecessary discussions. You know, these discussions about the build not passing that you debated for 15 minutes during your last Standup, or the one about a new company policy that you had to mention during your Sprint Review on Friday.

So how ELMO can help? As mentioned above, ELMO stands for “Enough, Let’s Move On” and can be used by anyone in the meeting by raising their hand and staying quiet. Yes, that simple. But you need to know that ELMO is highly contagious, so if anyone in the team sees that another person used ELMO they should also use ELMO (also raise their hand and keep quiet). After few seconds you should see most people being silent and having their hands up in the air and only a small group talking. Guess what happens next? The people who talk shut up (and usually everyone laughs at this moment) and you can move on to the actual topic of your meeting.

I used this technique multiple times, in trainings and in meetings with my team (it is extremely useful during Standups but should be encouraged in all the meetings). It’s exceptionally effective, brings laughter and avoids unnecessary discussions about off-topics.

Have a good day and keep experimenting!