2. WHAT IS THIS FOR?
Tasks
Synchronize the various team members
Identify required help and common areas of work
Impediments
Raise new impediments
Assign new impediments
Ensure past impediments are being taken care of
To solve technical issues
To hash out complex designs with the team
“There is no escaping reason; no denying purpose. Because as we both know, without purpose, we would not exist.”
Agent Smith, The Matrix Reloaded
3. THE TECHNICALITIES
15 minute timebox
Same time everyday
Have the team find a time which best suits them
No tardiness (one minute late is still late)
Attendees
The team
Anyone else?
Everyone stands
Facilitates the timebox
Easy to conduct in a regular room
Everyone facing each other in a huddle – virtual round table of peers
Keeps everyone focused
Three Questions
What I did since the last meeting
What I plan on doing today
What is impeding me from doing my work in an optimal fashion
5. COME PREPARED
Know what you are going to say
Each team member should know what they are
going to say as well
6. THE PARKING LOOT
Capture items for discussion
The 15 minute timebox is not the place for long
discussion
Review the parking lot after the daily
7. THE IMPEDIMENTS LIST
“Anything that prevents a team member from
performing work as efficiently as possible” - from
Victor Szalvay’s article “Glossary of Scrum Terms”
Rule of thumb: at least one impediment a day
How do we generate impediments?
Understand what an impediment is and make sure the
team understands as well
Ask quot;why are there no impediments today?quot;
Hanging notes from the ceiling to entice the team
If all else fails…beg
“The absence of conflict is not harmony, it’s apathy” - from article by Kathleen M. Eisenhardt, Jean L. Kahwajy, and L.J. Bourgeois III
called “How Management Teams Can Have a Good Fight”
8. DEALING WITH IMPEDIMENTS
quot;Whatquot; needs to be done
quot;Whoquot; is going to do it
quot;Whenquot; they will communicate progress back
10. WHEN THE FIT HITS THE SHAN
Storytelling
Reporting to the SM
Accounting for time rather then goals
Invisible (electronic) task board
Chickens talking
Tardiness
11. WHEN THE FIT HITS THE SHAN
Not raising impediments
Not handling impediments
Not helping each other
Low Energy
Who goes first?
Cell phones on. Laptops open. People “checked
out.”
13. COLLABORATION
Visit other teams
Ask other people to join your daily standup
Use the retrospective to brainstorm
14. FOCUS THE TEAM
The three questions
The burn down chart
The whiteboard
Other BVCs
15. IS THAT IT?!
I Got to keep something for the “Advanced
ScrumMaster Tips and Tricks” session
Editor's Notes
NOTE: the last two items are not the real purpose and are only here to encourage discussion!!!
Keep it short. 15 minutes maxEverybody can spend 15 minutes a day on synchronizing with the others.Especially if it happens to be to be a time the team selected on their own. Tardiness (in general and specifically in the daily standup) must not become acceptable and you will need to find ways to entice the team not to be late. Don’t make the mistake of using monetary punishment since we know how that works out from the kindergarten experiment.Everybody should be presentOne of the main reasons for meeting live is to utilize as wide communication bandwidth as possible - people are known to communicate more effectively, when meeting live. If particular team member is unable to participate, another person should report on behalf of him/her. If it is impossible for some reason, catch up later.Other people may attend the daily however:They may not speak within the 15 minute timebox.It is probably ill advised to have external people before the team is mature enough and won’t feel ashamed of letting other people see their conduct during the daily standup.Standup means stand up, no sitting, reallyStanding up on the daily Scrum draws attention to the brevity of the meeting. The purpose of the meeting is synchronization and no lengthy problem solving. Standing helps to remember that problem solving except the smallest one has to be taken offline - nobody likes to stand for an hour while two guys are arguing about the protocol implementation details.Concentrate on the second and third question, not on the first oneWhat's done is more of a context for the second and third questions. The real point is to figure out what's blocking the efficient work and who could help it.
NOTE: the old guy in the picture is a boy scout, their motto is “always be prepared”. If this is not common knowledge in your area I suggest removing the picture.
Items to raise:Capture parking lot items using physical notes, it makes the item more tangible and forces the team to deal with them.Make sure you capture the items people raise, items raised casually tend to “disappear”.
NOTE: use the quote at the bottom to entice some short discussion on what an impediment is, why there may be apathy in the team and why impediments need to be captured even if they are small.
I like calling the team “the impediment busters” to get some laughs at this stage.Comic relief is important
NOTE: the title may be too much for some people, change it if you believe this is the case with your team.Alternative titles:When daily stand-ups go wrongCommon fallaciesWhat can I expect?
StorytellingKeep the purpose of the daily in mind and make proper use of the parking lot.The ScrumMaster must be ready to prompt the team members to answer the right questions and to stay on track.Timeboxing is one of our basic principals ad we don’t want to break it on a daily basis. That being said, don’t stifle people if it is not needed, it will take some time for everyone to find the right balance.Reporting to the SMThe purpose of the meeting is for the team members to talk to each other. The ScrumMaster keeps his role to a minimum and keeps the focus of the discussion in to the group. If the team falls back to reporting, conversations become bilateral between ScrumMaster and team member, and other team members risk tuning out. The ScrumMaster’s taking notes is a symptom of this behavior. A variety of strategies, such as rotating the facilitator, passing a “microphone” or having the last person to come start the meeting can be used to mitigate this effect.You may also want to experiment with “disappearing” from daily stand-ups to see how the team is forming.Accounting for time rather then goalsTeam Members should focus on goals and not just on how they plan to pass their time.Try to drive the team towards saying things like “today I will solve the circular dependency issue we are having with ordering” rather then “today I am going to do some coding for the story I am working on”Invisible (electronic) task boardInvisible (electronic) task boards make it much harder for people to identify and focus on their goal for the day or identify when a team member has not fulfilled his commitment. Ask your team how to solve this problem, be creative and make use of “big visible charts” as you and your team see fit.Chickens talkingThis is not forbidden by law, but it is an opportunity for them to give to attempt to give unsolicited advice and instructions. The ScrumMaster should pay close attention to the dynamics and prevent inappropriate interference. TardinessArriving late disrupts the Daily Scrum, threatens the time box and increases the cost of the meeting. Information transfer doesn’t happen or has to be repeated. These can be a sign of resistance or rebellion or other deeper problems which need to be addressed. The shared commitment is called into question. If the delinquent team members also refuse to pay their fines, this is a further sign that work on the team identity, commitment, or the value of the Daily Scrum is necessary. The Retrospective is the place to discuss the value of the Daily Scrum and the teams commitment to doing it.
Not raising impedimentsIn some contexts (e.g. if trust is lacking or in cultures where maintaining face is important), it may be difficult to raise issues in a meeting. People sometimes forget to mention things in the Daily Scrum. In either case a visible impediments list on the task board where team members are expected to post impediments directly, may be helpful to raise and track impediments. Not handling impedimentsThis might be a weakness in the ScrumMaster (e.g. conflicting priorities, overwork, or personal preference) or it might be a visibility problem. In either case, it can be de-motivating -- why report problems if no one will do anything about them? Making impediments visible on the task board can help with this problem.In no way are we advocating that the ScrumMaster be the only one who solves impediments, if the team is mature enough they can and should take part in this.Not helping each other“I’m a developer! You can’t expect me to help a tester.” Getting the team to work together as team is a major goal of the ScrumMaster during the first few months of doing Scrum. Low EnergyPeople come, they go through the motions and they leave. And no one really cares. If this is more than just a Monday morning phenomena, then it is a problem to be identified in the Retrospective. Personally, I would be inclined to call a retrospective immediately if this problem persisted for more than a few days. Who goes first?Who is ready/knows what they want to say? Clockwise Counter clockwise Random (build a “wheel of fortune” with everyone’s names on it)HeightJust about anything works... Cell phones on. Laptops open. People “checked out.”ScrumMaster — help the team come up with norms that help the teams get over this. It is a good topic for a retrospective if it persists.
Collaboration is a key component in an organization which is adopting scrum in multiple teams.Make use of knowledge and experience gained in other teams. Observation as well as soliciting feedback are both great methods.Don’t forget that your team can and should help here as well, if not during the sprint, then at least during the retrospective. Try to nudge them towards the issue during the retrospective, especially during the first few sprints.
Make sure that the team is focused during the daily and isn’t turning it into something else (design meetings, ).Make use of any tool at your disposal. The three questions are only the start. Provide the team with as much mirroring as needed to ensure that they are aware of their current condition and do not allow them to procrastinate.
