Scrum

There are some mornings when coffee isn't as eye-opening as we'd like. That's why we do something that really gets us more jazzed than a strong cup of joe. Every morning, we start the day by gathering around the kitchen table. We pass around an Angry Bird plush toy (it used to be a Steve Jobs doll) as an indicator of whose turn it is to talk. This is our "morning scrum."

The scrum is mad helpful in giving the entire team the 411 on what everyone is working on. It keeps us focused and on the same page about everyone's efforts in achieving world domination. The scrum doesn't last more than 10 minutes, but it's one heckuv a way to jumpstart the morning and ramp up for an awesome workday.

Secret Origins

Yeah, it's a sports term. Nothing says that nerds can't like sports as well, right? Originally, a scrum — short for scrummage — was a rugby term, says eHow. In rugby, a scrum was used to restart the game after a foul or the ball went out of play. On this side of the pond, a scrum is also a football term, meaning a gathering of players. Hockey also swiped the term.

In the early 1990s or thereabouts, software designers used scrums to help push through complicated projects.

Scrumming

We started scrumming about 4 or 5 years ago. That's because we're not the types who are heavily into giant charts and heavy project management. Scrumming is indispensable in getting us in-and-out fast so we can get back to work. That's why we scrum standing up.

Scrums aren't terribly long, lasting around 10 minutes or so. Best of all, it keeps us out of snooze-inducing meetings around a long conference table. There's no rule that says you can only have a scrum in the morning. We like scrumming throughout the day to check-in on our projects.