Category : Scrum
By Vineet Patni | 12 February 2023
Have you seen a Scrum Master driving a Daily Scrum? Does your manager ask you to give a brief on what will you be working on during the day and the meeting goes on and on? Let me give you a perspective on 15 minutes of a Daily Scrum.
It is a collaborative meeting for and by the Developers.
The Daily Scrum: What and How?
The Daily Scrum ensures that everyone on the team is on the same page, working towards the same goal and sharing a common understanding. The Daily Scrum is like a quick and focused check-in each day; the team can then efficiently deliver quality output.
Daily Scrum: an event?
Yes, Daily Scrum is an official event mentioned in the Scrum Guide. It also includes four other official events apart from Daily Scrum, such as:
~ Sprint Planning,
~ Sprint Review,
~ Sprint Retrospective, and
~ Sprint, the “container.”
Daily Scrum: Need and Purpose
A Daily Scrum is a quick event (15 minutes or less) that helps to learn about the new inventions made in 24 hours and how to reduce complexity by inviting a clear discussion. It is performed by the Developers regularly for a maximum of 15 minutes. It is beneficial in planning for the next 24 hours to discuss shared accountability and how far the team is from the Sprint Goal.
The objective of Daily Scrum is to inspect the overall progress “collectively.” The critical question is, ‘Are we progressing well toward our Sprint Goal?’ In this meeting, the Developers map out their work for the day and identify any obstacles to achieving their Sprint Goal. The Daily Scrum is necessary to facilitate monitoring the progress among the Developers.
But do not assume it is a status meeting. It is not a meeting to discuss individual accountability; instead, it is an official scrum event to know the shared responsibility of the Developers. Many such myths relate to a Daily Scrum, which should be burst to help everyone utilize the full potential of the Scrum.
Daily Scrum: Advantages
~ It is a powerful tool for establishing self-organization among Developers.
~ Improves communication within the team.
~ It helps in the identification of impediments.
~ Creates an environment of quick decision-making.
~ Promotes adaptation and eliminates long hourly meetings.
Read out this example to know Daily Scrum better; imagine you are a chef at a five-star, preparing for a family dinner with a group of chefs helping you in the kitchen. Every chef has an assigned duty to complete to prepare a full-fledged meal. The Daily Scrum here is a quick check-in meeting with your team of chefs and frequent realignment before you start cooking.
Daily Scrum: Magic and Myths
Is it a status meeting?
A status meeting is a team meeting that helps us monitor how well each member performs in their designated roles. On the other hand, Daily Scrum is the meeting that allows team members to discuss complexities and share a clear perspective on the Sprint Backlog and Sprint Goal. It will enable everyone to share their actual point of view about the whole scenario and allow individuals to adjust to the new necessities found during the past 24 hours.
Daily scrum needs to be performed only while standing up.
With the word stand-up, it means everyone needs to stop their respective tasks and attentively give 15-min to the team for a productive discussion. Team members should attend this daily meeting and should participate attentively.
It is a very long meeting that the Scrum Master chairs.
The long meeting defeats the purpose of Daily Scrum, it has to be as short as possible. The Daily Scrum has to be a maximum of 15 minutes because for the rest of the day, we have to work on creating value. Moreover, if the Scrum Master chairs the meeting, he takes away the empowerment of the Developers.
Ideally, the Scrum Master does not participate in Daily Scrum, and they should only be a facilitator or silent guest. This is to respect the accountability of the Developers in Scrum and create a safe space for them to realignment and focus.
The key learnings are Daily Scrum is for collaboration, realignment, and focus. It is by the Developers and for the Developers.
About The Author:
Vineet Patni is the Founder and Principal Agile Coach at ScaleUp. An avid learner and a passionate facilitator, Vineet has been assisting enterprises and individuals in becoming truly Agile. Please feel free to connect with him at Vineet@ScaleUpConsultants.com .
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this post are the author’s own. The author welcomes and respects any difference of opinion.
Image by wavebreakmedia_micro on Freepik
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