Toad Day

#workhack

Helps with

  • a guilty conscience that some things aren’t moving forward.
  • lack of motivation to start unpopular tasks.
  • encouraging team members to find and give support in the team.

To be considered

  • Common starting point: collection and brief presentation of toads. In this process, it becomes clear what the team understands by a toad.
  • Everyone joins Toad Day, even if they don’t have a toad – maybe he/she can support another team member or a task will come up spontaneously.
  • It is helpful to create a small humorous ritual at the beginning and at the end. Some teams even develop a toad logo or buy a toy toad that makes a corresponding sound.
  • It is essential to come together again as a team at the end of toad time and introduce each other to what has been achieved. It should remain a team event, otherwise it is very likely that the toad day will be forgotten.
  • The rhythm can of course be changed, because the number of toads decreases over time.

Tools

  • No tools required. A few post-its are recommended for sticking the toads on a wall and making them visible to everyone.

We have all experienced this: Urgent tasks are completed quickly and more complicated tasks which require more attention are pushed back again and again. It’s very human that we choose to complete more urgent tasks and avoid the others. What remains are tasks (toads) that keep piling up and inflate our guilty conscience.

As a solution, we recommend our very popular toad day: when the toads are routinely processed. It works like this: the team meets at the start, briefly introduces each other to the toads which need to be worked on and then the team members get to work. We recommend doing toad time between two and four hours every two weeks. At the end of the toad time, everyone comes back together and tells each other what they have achieved. It is helpful to write down the toads and hang them on a wall, then you can tear the piece of paper at the end or add a “check symbol” – that sounds corny, but it is very motivating!

This can also have fun side effects: some teams start swapping toads or work on them together. In this way, unpleasant tasks are completed and you are relieved that THAT is finally off the table.

Helps with

  • a guilty conscience that some things aren’t moving forward.
  • lack of motivation to start unpopular tasks.
  • encouraging team members to find and give support in the team.

To be considered

  • Common starting point: collection and brief presentation of toads. In this process, it becomes clear what the team understands by a toad.
  • Everyone joins Toad Day, even if they don’t have a toad – maybe he/she can support another team member or a task will come up spontaneously.
  • It is helpful to create a small humorous ritual at the beginning and at the end. Some teams even develop a toad logo or buy a toy toad that makes a corresponding sound.
  • It is essential to come together again as a team at the end of toad time and introduce each other to what has been achieved. It should remain a team event, otherwise it is very likely that the toad day will be forgotten.
  • The rhythm can of course be changed, because the number of toads decreases over time.

Tools

  • No tools required. A few post-its are recommended for sticking the toads on a wall and making them visible to everyone.