Does Daily Scrum Has To Have So Rigid Structure?
I see daily stand-up meetings (“daily scrums”) as a one of the most beneficial practices in SCRUM’s repertory. Theory says that during the daily scrum each team member should answer three well-known questions:
- What did you do yesterday?
- What will you do today?
- Are there any impediments in your way?
Daily scrum is a great example of small things which make great difference. Three simple answers from each team member ensure that entire team is on the same page. It’s clear who is working on what, what will be achieved by the end of day, what problems we have etc.
What I find strange is that theory doesn’t leave much room for any discussion during the daily scrums. Discussions should take place during the follow-up meetings, immediately after the daily scrum. In general I agree with this rule. Bigger issues which don’t require entire team can be talked through later.
But I think it’s much more beneficial for a team if all members are allowed to jump in anytime during the daily scrum to add anything they find helpful. I have seen many scenarios where such impulsive hints work very well. Although scrummaster has a tough task with keeping the discussion under control. On the other hand the worst thing which can happen is when team members are in ‘on hold’ state until it’s their time to speak. That kills spontaneous knowledge sharing and potentially turns daily scrum into a progress report with limited profit for a team.
It’s vital however to keep the meeting under 15 minutes and stay high level. There is not enough time for the team to go into each and every detail. That should happen during the follow-up meetings. Scrummaster responsibility is to ensure that discussions are on reasonable level.
So if you ask me if enforcing so rigid structure of daily scrum make sense. I will answer … definitely not! On one hand you have effective and useful daily scrums which encourage teamwork and on the other quite rigid structure and doing everything by the book. I’m far from saying that traditional approach doesn’t work, but it can be improved, so for me it’s a simple choice.
What’s your view on this? Do you think it makes more sense to follow traditional rigid structure of daily scrums?
I’m not a scrum master nor pm, but simple developer but I know that it is impossible to say ‘stop talking’ we need to fit in 15 min slot. For me scrum is a meeting where you give the three answers (briliant summary of scrum – thanks) and you can say also to another guy: I’ve been there, faced the same problem, I will help you with that. In scrum I really like that day by day I have the update about my colleges work it’s important for me – weird huh?
I must say that after using the scrum and now not using it – it’s very difficult to me to work. I feel left alone
js
2 Aug 10 at 8:31 am
“and you can say also to another guy: I’ve been there, faced the same problem, I will help you with that.”
This is exactly what I think should be normal; also it is a great example of teamwork which I believe shouldn’t be constrained by the process.
Thanks a lot for your comment!
Marek Blotny
2 Aug 10 at 12:28 pm
Blind adherence to a methodology, whatever it is, is the first step to failure. With my team, we don’t even stand up. If your developers don’t have the discipline to time box themselves and stay focused without standing up, then there are other issues that need to be addressed. We’ve changed the format of the stand up to not just be about technical issues but also about business issues. It serves us well.
Jeff V
3 Aug 10 at 7:36 pm
@Jeff
“Blind adherence to a methodology, whatever it is, is the first step to failure.”
well stated!
Regarding the discipline to time box the meeting … we don’t have problems with that. Even with flexible structure our daily scrums are shorter than 15 minutes.
Marek Blotny
3 Aug 10 at 7:43 pm
I’ve found that over the course of time teams lean towards “people focused” and “story focused” standups.
I do recommend starting off with 3 questions & 15mins however before customizing it to fit your perceived needs.
If you are interested, I’ve written a few posts on the subject: http://www.scrumology.net/tag/daily-standup/
-David
David Bland
4 Aug 10 at 6:20 pm
@David
“I do recommend starting off with 3 questions & 15mins however before customizing it to fit your perceived needs.”
This is exactly how we started. And I agree that this is great staring point. With time daily scrums where evolving and now structure is more flexible.
Thanks for interesting hints (in your post)!
Marek Blotny
4 Aug 10 at 6:28 pm
scrum is just micromanagement under a new name
daily standup meetings are gimmicky nonsense
run as fast you can in the other direction!
phloidster
3 Aug 11 at 2:32 am