And working under these conditions led to mistakes, or bugs as we say in the software world.Often the manager would barge into the team’s open space, tell them to stop all activities immediately, and order them to correct a bug that had been noticed by an internal user or a bank customer.The whole team would then drop everything to correct the bug.It was often necessary to work overtime and even on weekends.Having to deal with bugs meant that no one managed to work on the goals set for the week, which led to new delays and more inaccurate estimates, new frustrations, and even more pressure for everyone.The members of that team shared their success at conferences and in blog posts.They were the ones who started the viral process of spreading this technique that has over time been passed on to thousands of other teams around the world and that today has now reached you.Although the experience of that team in Milan seems extreme, working on a team often leads to difficulties delivering on time, big estimation errors, moments of unbearable stress, and a lack of trust from management or clients.Sometimes an activity is so complex that the microteam simply cannot complete it.Often interruptions from colleagues and clients overwhelm the team.All this can happen, and much more.Frustrating and stressful situations such as these often contaminate a team’s mood, lowering productivity and bringing the whole team to a standstill.As a coach, my experience with the team in Milan prompted me to start collecting, evolving, and structuring successful practices that could be repeated by other teams.I have developed and tested a number of these practices over almost 20 years.I have applied them with teams of different sizes, skills, and levels of experience.I hope you find them as useful as I have.Their shop is surprisingly small.When you walk in, you see a lounge with comfy couches to your left.In front of you there is a bar.Behind the counter, there is a team member who is ready to deal with your emergency.Behind him or her is a black curtain.You cannot see what is beyond, but that is where they are saving your computer’s life.Interruptions are one of the most common and expensive problems for teams.Giving in to one single interruption can hold up the work of the whole team.The most fascinating lesson of this practice is that interruptions can be turned into an opportunity to share knowledge and work more effectively.The day I entered my heroes’ shop, I recognized several similarities to the practice I have applied many times in the past and that I am now going to describe.All want immediate answers.Team members repeatedly give in to interruptions, which affects the productivity of the whole team.To show how this practice can be applied, let us imagine the team we are coaching is made up of eight people.Create a physical barrier, or counter, to restrict access to the area where the microteams are at work.This team should not be visible to the people requesting support.I have never used a real curtain, but the effect you want to create is the same.Supporting a customer’s request is usually seen as an activity for one person.In order to provide a better understanding of the request for support and to avoid errors, I would recommend that the work at the counter be done in pairs.In those time slots, Katrin and Marco will work to collect the information needed to process the requests.Set a schedule specifying when the team behind the curtain will support the team at the counter.They will process the queue of requests for support that the team at the counter was not able to deal with.The schedules of the two teams should enable the team behind the curtain to consult the team at the counter if they need to clarify some aspects of the requests for support they received.Set the frequency of the Pomodoro Rotations.As usual, the people responsible for the activities stay put and coworkers from the microteams in the team behind the curtain rotate with coworkers from the microteams in the team at the counter.The frequency of the Pomodoro Rotations between these two teams is usually every four or eight Pomodoros, or on a daily basis.The more interchangeable the team members are and the more experience they have with the practice of Pomodoro Rotations, the more frequently the rotations can occur.The team at the counter knows how to deal with the person’s request and can immediately support them.The team at the counter knows how to deal with the person’s request but needs some time to provide the answer.In this case, the team at the counter writes down the request, estimates the time and effort needed to deal with it, and schedules a time the person needing support will receive their response.The team at the counter is unable to make an estimate or does not know how to deal with the request.In this case, the team at the counter writes down the request for support and adds it to a queue of requests that the team behind the curtain will deal with during a scheduled time slot.This practice can be misunderstood.I have often seen new people be hired by companies and assigned solely to managing the counter.This decision makes sense in that it puts team members back behind the curtain, working continuously on that team’s goals.However, the downside is that, more often than not, the team loses the useful experience gained by the team working at the counter in identifying opportunities to improve the process or the product.For this reason, I would recommend that the team at the counter be made up of at least one team member from behind the curtain.You keep your clients and colleagues happy while ensuring the rest of the team works to reach the defined goals without distractions and interruptions.Solving problems and responding to real requests is one of the best ways to get to know the system or the product you are working on.Exposure to colleagues’ or clients’ requests over time reveals opportunities to improve the team’s process.The only disadvantage of this practice is that the team behind the curtain might take longer to reach its goals.This is because we moved people from that team behind the curtain to the team at the counter.In my experience, the team behind the curtain often takes less time to reach its goals.The capacity lost when team members leave the team behind the curtain can be more than compensated for by the time saved managing interruptions.In other words, the time and effort needed to reach the goal with six people with no interruptions can be less than the time needed by eight people with interruptions.The solutions you end up with might not be elegant from a design perspective, but they should be effective.Hackathons can last hours or days and are usually held on weekends.They always involve a challenge, such as inventing a groundbreaking video game, pushing the limits of technology to improve health and safety at work, or finding innovative ways to improve mobility in a city.The best solution normally wins a prize.I am not sure if people use the Pomodoro Technique at Hackathons, but I named this practice after their passionate participants.It could be an activity requiring a great deal of research or an activity characterized by a high degree of complexity or uncertainty.If not completed on time, this activity can become a bottleneck that stops the rest of the team from moving forward.To show how this practice can be applied, let us imagine you are the organizer of a Pomodoro Hackathon.Invite all or some of the members of the team to participate in the Pomodoro Hackathon.One big room is usually the best environment for this kind of event.Usually the Jury is the microteam who is having trouble completing the critical activity.The members of that microteam could also participate in the Pomodoro Hackathon.Sometimes the Jury is made up of the whole team.Set a time box of a certain number of Pomodoros.Four Pomodoros is my usual choice and in my experience is normally enough to get useful solutions.One Pomodoro should be considered the minimum.When you communicate the length of the time box set, you must make it clear that the final deadline for delivering the solution is binding.If you set four Pomodoros, then after four Pomodoros the Hackathon ends.Ask the participants in the Hackathon to organize themselves into microteams and choose the person responsible for the activity.The decision about the size of the microteams depends on the type and complexity of the challenge.I am a big fan of microteams made up of two people.Pairs are small and effective.