We have implemented something similar, with a similar time commitment.
We have a problem I didn't expect - we actually find people don't actually use the time. Developers are reluctant to break off from sprint tasks that are nearly finished for that short period of time ('I'll just finish this one little thing first'). I'd say that less that 10% of the team take advantage of it, despite us trying to promote it.
I'd be interested to hear your experience of how well it is adopted in your team, do you 'enforce' it?
I've some experience and two suggestions for the same problem:
1) People generally like to feel like they are getting something done (finished) so I had some luck asking folks to schedule with themselves time for learning at normal/natural times during the day. For most this typically corresponded to first thing in the morning (over coffee!) or perhaps right after standup or right after lunch. Others liked a more event triggered time, like once a story is completed or when you (or your pair) realize you are stuck or slowing on your work tasks.
To add this sense of getting done, we also had an optional "what I'm learning" wall. I felt important to not require this as I didn't require the learning to be professionally related and some felt reluctant to post what they were learning about. But we also had a sharing time that was also optional and structured like a LeanCoffee so no one felt they were on the hook for a presentation and also no one felt like they were going to be trapped listing to a topic they didn't find particularly interesting.
2) Check your incentives, both implicit and explicit. Some companies that are trying to look hip will "allow" some kind of learning time but don't really support it. Sometimes it's obvious/explicit like when learning time gets routinely cancelled or if people are taking their learning time they often have to work extra time to meet expectations. But sometimes it's more subtle. Like people that routinely give up their learning time are seen as "go getters" or "team players" and tend to get various rewards more often.
Hopefully many places that allow it, truly support it but I'm speaking from experience at places I've see do this. Hopefully #2 doesn't apply to you :)
I don't think you can 'enforce' this, otherwise you create a grade school scenario where people show up only because they have to, not to learn.
In our industry, knowledge directly correlates to pay. Emphasize to your peers that the company is paying them to make themselves more valuable.
We have a Saw Time charter on Confluence that states: Is this time guaranteed? : Outside of actively resolving a Sev1 or Sev2 ticket, individuals will not to be pressured to work on his/her day-to-day tasks during Saw Time. And managers agree to this statement? Yes. {insert manager names} all agree and in fact encourage you to take advantage of this time.
We are trying to imbed this as apart of our engineering culture.
Tech leads / seniors need to set the example by doing, not just saying
The standup after Saw Time, individuals are encouraged to briefly share what they did. For example, "Yesterday I practiced the bowling kata and wrote a blog post about Saw Time" (true story).
ASK someone, hey what did you do for Saw Time? IF the answer is 'I couldn't because of sprint commitments', pull out the "5 Whys" until you get to the root... ELSE honestly listen to the items they talk about
For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse
We're a place where coders share, stay up-to-date and grow their careers.
We have implemented something similar, with a similar time commitment.
We have a problem I didn't expect - we actually find people don't actually use the time. Developers are reluctant to break off from sprint tasks that are nearly finished for that short period of time ('I'll just finish this one little thing first'). I'd say that less that 10% of the team take advantage of it, despite us trying to promote it.
I'd be interested to hear your experience of how well it is adopted in your team, do you 'enforce' it?
I've some experience and two suggestions for the same problem:
1) People generally like to feel like they are getting something done (finished) so I had some luck asking folks to schedule with themselves time for learning at normal/natural times during the day. For most this typically corresponded to first thing in the morning (over coffee!) or perhaps right after standup or right after lunch. Others liked a more event triggered time, like once a story is completed or when you (or your pair) realize you are stuck or slowing on your work tasks.
To add this sense of getting done, we also had an optional "what I'm learning" wall. I felt important to not require this as I didn't require the learning to be professionally related and some felt reluctant to post what they were learning about. But we also had a sharing time that was also optional and structured like a LeanCoffee so no one felt they were on the hook for a presentation and also no one felt like they were going to be trapped listing to a topic they didn't find particularly interesting.
2) Check your incentives, both implicit and explicit. Some companies that are trying to look hip will "allow" some kind of learning time but don't really support it. Sometimes it's obvious/explicit like when learning time gets routinely cancelled or if people are taking their learning time they often have to work extra time to meet expectations. But sometimes it's more subtle. Like people that routinely give up their learning time are seen as "go getters" or "team players" and tend to get various rewards more often.
Hopefully many places that allow it, truly support it but I'm speaking from experience at places I've see do this. Hopefully #2 doesn't apply to you :)
I don't think you can 'enforce' this, otherwise you create a grade school scenario where people show up only because they have to, not to learn.
In our industry, knowledge directly correlates to pay. Emphasize to your peers that the company is paying them to make themselves more valuable.
We have a Saw Time charter on Confluence that states:
Is this time guaranteed? : Outside of actively resolving a Sev1 or Sev2 ticket, individuals will not to be pressured to work on his/her day-to-day tasks during Saw Time.
And managers agree to this statement? Yes. {insert manager names} all agree and in fact encourage you to take advantage of this time.
We are trying to imbed this as apart of our engineering culture.