There are many ways that people misunderstand or misuse the Daily Scrum. Mastering the art of this agile event is more challenging than you might imagine. Let me clear up what the Daily Scrum is and what it isn’t:
What is the Daily Scrum?
The Daily Scrum is a short session to meet and figure out the plan for the day toward accomplishing the Sprint Goal. While there was previously a prescribed format with three questions (What did you do yesterday? What are you doing today? Is anything in your way?), this is no longer the case. Do whatever makes sense for your team. You can even try experimenting with different methods to discover better ways to run it until you learn what works best.
Who is the Daily Scrum for?
This daily meeting is for the Developers. Yes, that’s right. It’s for the Developers – the people on the Scrum Team doing the work to develop the increment. Their job is to figure out how to deliver, and they use this session to plan and replan each day.
Who can be at the Daily Scrum?
The Scrum Master or Product Owner can optionally attend, but they should be silent participants. Contrary to popular opinion, the Scrum Master isn’t required to facilitate (although she often does). In fact, the Scrum Master doesn’t have to be there at all – I was surprised when I first learned this, but it makes sense, given the audience and the event’s purpose.
How long is the Daily Scrum?
The Daily Scrum is time-boxed to no more than 15 minutes. Depending on the size of your team and how much they like to banter, it may be tricky to keep it within the allotted time. If the Scrum Master is attending, she should coach the team on ensuring they stick to 15 minutes.
Do people stand up for the Daily Scrum?
Another term often used interchangeably with the Daily Scrum is the Daily Standup. There is evidence that when a team stands, the meeting goes faster. However, there’s no rule that everyone must stand up during the meeting – that’s just another Scrum myth.
What the Daily Scrum isn’t
People often misuse the Daily Scrum in many ways. Here are just a few:
A Status Reporting Session
The Developers don’t provide a status report in this meeting. By nature of the transparency of empiricism, everything going on should be visible at any time. The purpose of the Daily Scrum is to plan the day’s steps toward accomplishing the Sprint Goal – not to get credit for work that is complete.
Discussion Time
I love to chit-chat at the beginning of most meetings but not at the Daily Scrum. Because there are only 15 minutes to use, every one counts. Use the time efficiently and be succinct. You can always have follow-up discussions after the meeting is over.
A Ranting Session
That’s right – if things aren’t going well, this isn’t the time to start complaining. Every day is a new opportunity to inspect and adapt. If you need to shift gears to adjust to changed or new information, you can – that’s the beauty of being agile.
Technical Discussion
The Daily Scrum is also not the place to converse about technical stuff. As a consultant, I see this behavior often, which drives me crazy! Save the tech talk for after the Daily Scrum, and only include the people needed for the conversation – if everyone is there (and they don’t need to be), you’re just wasting their time.
Product Owner Q&A
Yes, I have seen the Daily Scrum used to grill the Product Owner (if she attends). While the Product Owner may tune in to keep her finger on the pulse of the work, that doesn’t mean it’s time to bombard her with questions. Save that for your Product Backlog Refinement and Sprint Planning sessions.
Final Thoughts
Does this help clear up some misuses, myths, and misconceptions about the Daily Scrum? I hope it does! Like most things in Scrum, the Daily Scrum is simple to understand but difficult to master. Keep it clean and tight to get through your Scrum in 15 minutes!
Is there anything else about the Daily Scrum that confounds you? If so, I would love to hear about it, so please let me know in the comments below!