The quiet before the wheel spins

We were all just sitting there, waiting. The sprint backlog was up on the screen, and everyone had their calendars open, checking for that one meeting or deadline that would make a certain task impossible. You could feel the pause, the slight tension of who would volunteer for what first.

When no one wants to pick first

It’s not that the tasks are bad. It’s just that sometimes, you’re not sure where to start, or you’re worried about stepping on someone else’s area. Someone would mention a vacation day next week, and then the whole conversation would stall again. We needed a way to break the deadlock without it feeling like an assignment.The idea was to take the pressure off. Instead of a manager pointing or someone feeling obligated, we’d let chance have a small, fair say. It wasn’t about avoiding work, but about removing the friction of that initial choice.

Letting the wheel decide the order

We put the major workstreams for the sprint on the wheel. Not the tiny tasks, but the bigger chunks that needed an owner. Backend API updates, UI refinement for the new module, updating the test suite. Things we all knew had to get done.Spinning it felt oddly formal, but also a relief. It created a sequence, not a judgment. The person whose item landed first would take the lead on that piece, and we’d build the rest of the plan around that. It gave us a starting point we all agreed was fair.

The subtle shift in the room

After the first spin, the dynamic changed. The pause was gone. We started talking about dependencies and collaboration naturally, because the ‘who’ question was already settled.

Just a nudge, not a rule

It’s important to say the wheel wasn’t a dictator. If the spin pointed to someone who was genuinely swamped, we’d talk it out and adjust. But having that initial, random anchor made those conversations easier and more objective.