Do the Daily Scrum in 15 minutes or less, you say!? No way!
YES, way! As a long-time Scrum Master, I have learned that it is possible to keep within the 15-minute time-box of the Daily Scrum. Here are my tips for running your Daily Scrum as a Tight Ship:
Build Team Norms
There is usually an agreed-upon set of team norms for any team working successfully together. Typically, this comes in the form of “Ground Rules,” or I prefer calling it a “Working Agreement.” It’s a list of the behaviors the team has collaboratively created, and the whole team buys in. The agreement can be either implicit (in people’s heads) or explicit – formally written and posted to remind people of their responsibilities. Here are a few items I would include:
Show up on Time
Showing up on time might be the first item in a Scrum Team’s Working Agreement. This simple thing tells your team members that their time is valuable, and you don’t want to waste it. I have had clients and colleagues who regularly showed up five to 10 minutes for every meeting – what a waste. Being punctual is also just common courtesy. Don’t be the guy who holds the event up because you couldn’t join the meeting on time.
Always Start on Time
So, even if people might be late – start your Scrum on time! You only have a 15-minute time-box to complete your plan for the day, so don’t squander those precious minutes! And if you know you’re going to be late for some reason – let people know so they aren’t worried about you.
Be Respectful
Respect for your teammates should go without saying, but it’s shocking how many times I have seen people who couldn’t stop themselves from being jerks. Trust that everyone on your team has positive intent, and don’t jump to conclusions. While they say “respect is earned,” I say give it to people until they prove they don’t deserve it.
Don’t Talk Over One Another
Avoid sidebar conversations, talking over people, or interrupting out of turn. Some people can’t help themselves; they always want to win or have the last word. Everyone should have a voice on a Scrum Team, and if this isn’t happening, the team should take corrective action to ensure that all team members get to speak.
Facilitating
Who says that the Scrum Master has to facilitate the Scrum meeting? Not The Scrum Guide. The Scrum Master is only responsible for ensuring the meeting happens and coaches the team to stick to their 15-minute time-box. The Scrum Master isn’t even required to attend the Scrum. Anyone on the Scrum Team may facilitate the Daily Scrum. You might rotate through the team by day, week, or Sprint. Or, you could say that the first or last person to join the call facilitates. Do whatever works best for your team.
Who goes next?
Have you ever joined a Scrum meeting, and everyone sits there and stares at one another without saying a word? It’s awkward! There are a few ways to avoid this uncomfortable silence. Here are a few ideas:
Ask for a Volunteer to Start
Whoever facilitates can ask for a volunteer to start. Someone will usually be willing to go first. If not, the facilitator may need to select someone to get the ball rolling (though this is not preferred – remember, Scrum Teams are supposed to be self-organized and self-managed).
Tag your team members
After the first person has shared their plan for the day, I like to have them tag the next person to go. Tagging works best if everyone is present when the Scrum meeting starts – otherwise, the person may not know who has spoken and who has not.
Alphabetically
Another option for the order of sharing is to go alphabetically by either first or last name. I don’t prefer this option myself because it makes people have to overthink, but if your team members are shy and don’t want to choose the next person, this is a logical approach that can work.
Have a Team Member Checklist
If you have a larger team, it can be easy to lose track of who has spoken and who has not, so I like to have a team roster or checklist that I can use to check off who has taken their turn. I also suggest the team members use the same list to ensure they don’t ask: “who’s hasn’t gone yet?” When I hear this question, it tells me one of two things: 1) the person isn’t paying attention, or 2) the person was late to the meeting.
During the Daily Scrum
The Daily Scrum format used to be prescribed by The Scrum Guide. Fortunately, this is no longer the case. There are several possible ways to conduct your Scrum. Here are a few tips for how to run it:
Jettison the “Three Questions”
Removing the “three questions” from The Scrum Guide was a fantastic improvement. By the time this change happened, my team had already moved away from this practice. However, even though this practice is no longer in The Scrum Guide, it doesn’t mean you can’t still use this approach if it works for your team.
Walk the Board
Bringing up your Sprint Backlog and “walking the board” is one of the best ways I have discovered to use in the Daily Scrum. By looking at your board, you can visually gauge progress and impediments. You can go through the board sequentially from top to bottom or filter by person and walk-through person’s plan. Experiment to see what works for your team.
Call out the Specific Story
One caveat when walking the board is to have team members call out which specific item on the board they’re talking about. There can be a lot of visual information to process, and it can be hard to follow if the person starts rambling about what they’re working on next without explicitly pointing out which item it is. Calling out the story number is a good practice and demonstrates more professionalism (in my opinion).
Table Tech Talk
People are problem-solvers, and if something comes up in the Daily Scrum, they may want to talk it through right then and there. Try to avoid this whenever possible. Table the technical talk for after the Scrum has ended. Make sure to have a clear demarcation line, so the team knows that the Scrum is over. If people want to talk about technical topics or discuss anything else, they can stick around and let everyone else get on with their day.
Watch the Clock
The Scrum should be 15 minutes or less – period. If the Scrum Team regularly violates this time-box, the Scrum Master should step in and coach the team on the purpose of the meeting and help them stay within the time limit.
Key in on Blockers
Although no longer prescribed, I think it’s essential that the Developers point out any blockers or impediments. Team members shouldn’t wait until the Daily Scrum to raise blocking issues, but if there are some, don’t ignore them. The team should try to resolve the problem themselves, and if they cannot, they can escalate to the Scrum Master for further assistance.
Final Thoughts
Runaway Scrum meetings are no fun for anyone. I don’t care if you’re sitting down or standing up – you must not exceed your time-box. Use the tips in this blog or your Sprint Retrospectives to brainstorm ideas to make this event more effective.
How about you? Do you have any tips for improving Daily Scrum meetings? If so, I would love to know, so please share in the comments below!