he admits – they relish the solitary joy of coding . To encourage intermingling he created a large kitchen area and banned eating at one ’ s desk . Not only does the team have to eat together , but they are asked to sit with someone they don ’ t know . “ We have created a real buzz in that kitchen as people step out of their comfort zone and share their experiences of both work and life .”
No doubt the kitchen is an incubator of ideas brought before a monthly gettogether called Shark Tank where IT team members can have 15 minutes to present an idea , using no more than four slides . The idea is to share a story of success and challenges overcome , and get feedback from colleagues . Belying the title , it ’ s a supportive rather than a critical space , where anyone has the opportunity to gain confidence and show how a simple solution often produces a beneficial result . “ It is about giving people permission to take ownership of a problem , then go and fix it ,” says Ford .
SAPN has many long-serving staff . For those who had been doing things the same way for many years it must have been a shock when they were asked to embrace Agile working – to challenge
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