AGILE COACHING CORNER
Facilitating an Effective Daily Scrum
By: Nathalie Brochstein
March 18, 2015
From the Scrum Guide, here’s the definition of a daily scrum
The Daily Stand-Up Meeting
- The stand-up meeting is conducted daily.
- The meeting time-box is 15 minutes.
- All team members attend and participate.
- The Team is responsible for conducting the Daily Scrum (not the Scrum Master)
- Same time of day and meeting location for all meetings.
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Each team member presents three topics
- What did I do yesterday that helped the Team meet the Sprint Goal?
- What will I do today to help the Team meet the Sprint Goal
- Do I see any impediment that prevents me or the Team from meeting the Sprint Goal?
- A trainer/facilitator (in Scrum, this is the ScrumMaster) teaches the team about the stand-up and enforces the process.
Common Mistakes
- Team reports to the Scrum Master and not to Each Other.
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Daily Scrum is not a habit.
Meeting needs to be always in the same location, starts exactly at the same time and ends after 15 minutes no matter what. -
Reporting on tasks instead of replanning.
Replan every day to ensure you meet the sprint goal.
Tips to Make it Better
- Make sure everyone is there.
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Make it fun.
Example talking stick, team member selects who talks next instead of scrum master. - Make the Sprint goal clear at the beginning of the stand up.
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Make it a team meeting.
As a Scrum Master step out of the circle or stay away once in a while and observe. -
Make a distinction between Signal versus Solve
Take note of issues that arise that needs to be solved to schedule a follow session. These can be right after the stand up or later in the day.
Further Readings
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10 Ways to Make Stand-Up Meetings Better
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8 Tips for Daily Standup Meetings
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Daily Stand Up - Introduced in eXtreme Programming (XP)
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Scrum Guide - Daily Stand Up
