Agile Network India | Daily Scrum Anti-Patterns by Priya Kaushal

1. Daily Scrum Anti-Patterns
“If your Daily scrum feels like every other meeting you
attend, then you are not attending a daily scrum it was
intended to be.”

2. Quiz Question 1
At the Daily Scrum, attendees are required to:
A. Tell everyone what you did yesterday, what you will do today and any blockers
B. Stand-up
C. Give the Scrum Master the answer to the three questions
D. Focus on progress toward the Sprint Goal
E. All of the above

3. Quiz Question 2
The structure of the Daily Scrum is:
A. Described in the Scrum Guide
B. Set by the Developers
C. Advised by the Product Owner
D. Facilitated by the Scrum Master

4. Quiz Question 3
What is the daily standup? (Choose two answers)
A. A Scrum event
B. An agile event
C. An Extreme Programming event
D. A SAFe event
E. A kanban event
F. A made-up phrase

5. Quiz Question 4
The daily standup is:
A. A daily event for the Scrum Team
B. A daily event, during the working week, for the Scrum Team
C. A daily event held every day of the Sprint
D. An optional daily meeting for the Scrum Team
E. A daily event for the Scrum Team where attendees have to stand
F. Not a Scrum event

6. Quiz Question 5
After the Daily Scrum:
A. The rest of the Sprint's work may be re-planned
B. The rest of the Sprint's work may be adapted
C. Detailed discussion are often held by the Developers or Scrum Team
D. All of the above
E. None of the above

7. Quick Refresher - What are five scrum Values?
Focus
Respect
Openness Commitment
Courage

8. What is Daily Scrum? (4 mins)
<<Mural Activity to help audience understand how daily scrum is generally carried
out and what common mistakes are made>>

9. Daily Scrum Anti-patterns

10. Anti-Pattern #1: Status Reporting to Scrum Master or PO

11. Status Reporting to Scrum Master or PO ( 2 mins)

12. Anti-Pattern #2: Updates are given with ticket numbers only
Yesterday I worked on
US-53928. Today I will try
to finish it up and pick up
US-65384. No blockers.

13. Replacing Daily Scrum with updates in group chat or email
( 2 mins)

14. Anti-Pattern #3: Replacing Daily Scrum with updates in group
chat or email

15. Anti-Pattern #4: Cluelessness - Not prepared for Daily Scrum

16. Anti-Pattern #5: Monologues - Violating the timebox

17. Anti-Pattern #6:Cancelling Daily Scrum when Scrum Master is Absent

18. Anti-Pattern #7: Just answer the three questions please

19. An Excerpt from 2017 scrum guide
The structure of the meeting is set by the Development Team and can be
conducted in different ways if it focuses on progress toward the Sprint
Goal. Some Development Teams will use questions, some
will be more discussion based. Here is an example of what might
be used:
● What did I do yesterday that helped the Development Team meet the Sprint Goal?
● What will I do today to help the Development Team meet the Sprint Goal?
● Do I see any impediment that prevents me or the Development Team from meeting
the Sprint Goal?

20. Anti-Pattern 8: Calling it a ‘ Daily Stand Up’ instead of ‘Daily Scrum’

21. Anti-Pattern 9: Scrum Master or PO assigning tasks to developers

22. What is Daily Scrum?
As per Scrum Guide 2020,
● The purpose of the Daily Scrum is to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and adapt the Sprint
Backlog as necessary, adjusting the upcoming planned work.
● The Daily Scrum is a 15-minute event for the Developers of the Scrum Team.
● The Developers can select whatever structure and techniques they want, as long as their Daily
Scrum focuses on progress toward the Sprint Goal and produces an actionable plan for the next day
of work. This creates focus and improves self-management.
● Daily Scrums improve communications, identify impediments, promote quick decision-making, and
consequently eliminate the need for other meetings.

23. Tips to make your
Daily Scrum Effective

24. Tip #1: Stand outside the circle
● SM should not call out the names in order to give their updates.
● Let anyone in the team start and once a member is done, he/she should nominate next
member to start.
● This will make them stay alert and attentive, and listen to each other.

25. Tip #2: Timebox for each member’s update
● The team can decide the timebox for each member (Example: 60 to 90 seconds
per member).
● Park any detailed discussions for 16th min.

26. Tip #3: Go Beyond the three Questions
● Start by reading the sprint goal aloud.
○ Answer the question “How likely are we to achieve the Sprint Goal”
○ If the confidence is low, then talk about what is holding us.
○ This discussion can bring hidden impediments to the surface.
● Use information radiators. Example -
○ work item age to review ‘in progress’ items and discuss what would it take to finish the
items.
○ Review ‘Not started’ items. It may trigger discussions about adjusting sprint’s scope.
● Review existing impediments and what could be next steps to resolve them.
● Try both member-wise updates and work item-wise updates.

27. Tip #4: 1:1 Coaching
Coach the individuals on -
● Why daily scrum is important.
● How they can get benefits from Daily
Scrum.
● How they can contribute to team’s
success by being actively present in
the event.
● What it means to respect the
timebox.

28. Tip #5: Scrum Master - Intentionally skip few daily scrums
- As a scrum master, never cancel the daily scrum when you are going to be
absent.
- Infact, do not always facilitate the event. Sometimes, let the developers be on
their own.
- It could be a great opportunity for the team to learn self management.
- You may be surprised to see how they run the show in your absence !

29. Results
Scrum
values come
to life
Well
thought-out /
realistic
planning
Increase in
team
effectiveness
More
impediments
& risks
uncovered !
Rise in
Team energy
and synergy
Generates
more value

30. Daily Scrum Guidelines - Example
● Join on time.
● Respect timebox - Finish your updates within 90 seconds so that everyone gets a
chance to speak.
● Park any detailed discussions for 16th min (after everyone is done with their updates).
● Daily scrum is NOT a status meeting. Daily scrum is a team alignment event.
● Share your updates with all team members. You are not here to just report your
progress to Scrum master or Product owner. We are “one team”.
● Address to the entire Team, not just SM or PO. SM and PO are part of the team.
● Say ‘Hi Team’ , or ‘Hi everyone’ , etc. instead of ‘Hi <SM>’.
● Listen to each other updates carefully. Understand how are we progressing towards
our goals.
● Call out impediments clearly.
● Offer help.
● Be informal.

31. Food for Thought
- Think about how your daily scrums are happening . Identify one anti-pattern in
your daily scrum. And, figure out how can you fix that.

32. Any Questions?