5 Pitfalls To Avoid In The Daily Scrum Or The Daily Stand-Up Meetings - Make Your Daily Sprints Effective And Responsive

In scrum, the daily stand up or the scrum meeting is important since it governs the sprint activity for the particular day. The stand up is an integral part of scrum methodology, and should be conducted in a correct manner to get the most out of the sprint. The main responsibility of the scrum master is to ensure that scrum is implemented properly at each stage of the project implementation, and plays a vital role in conducting the stand up meeting. He or she overlooks the meetings, and makes the team accountable for the work carried out in prior sprints as well as the sprint to be conducted for that particular day. As long as the scrum master remains vigilant and conducts the stand up in the method it is ideally supposed to be conducted, positive results are availed from the sprint and user stories continue to be accepted as “Done” in the sprint review. However, there are times when this does not happen. The tasks taken up for development during the sprint may remain unfinished due to technical reasons, or a majority of the stories may be rejected since they fail to satisfy the acceptance criteria. When or if this happens, it becomes vital to find where the problem lies and how it can be rectified.
 

Some of the common traps, or the pitfalls, which result into incomplete sprints or rejected user stories are mentioned herein.
 

1. Utilizing the stand-up as a general meeting
The format of the stand-up is very specific. Scrum suggests only three aspects should be ideally discussed during the stand up:

1. What, and how much work was completed the day before in the prior sprint
2. What is planned for the particular day or “today”
3. Are any problems or issues faced by the development team? If so, what are they?

The stand up is generally held before the work commences for the particular day, and should be time boxed to a maximum of 15 minutes. The team members and the scrum master should utilize this time wisely, and discus the three questions mentioned above. The team should refrain from, and the scrum master should ensure that no other issues or questions should be discussed during the stand up. 
 

2. Using the stand-up to resolve issues and problems
Sometimes during the stand up meeting, certain points or issues stated by a particular team member can give rise to discussions, which may be pertinent and relevant to the meeting, but which may require further study and analysis to resolve them. Typically, when a team member presents a certain point during the meeting, it may incite other members to discuss the particular point, and the entire time allotted for the stand up could be utilized in analyzing the point. As a result, other members don’t get a chance to provide their feedback since the meeting is time boxed, and additional time is not, and should not, be allotted to extend the meeting.
 

The purpose of the stand-up is not to discuss non-relevant points or issues. Even if the issue stated is relevant, a separate meeting should be organized to discuss and analyze the point. The stand up should not be used to resolve issues and problems, even if they are relevant and important.
 

3. Cancelling the stand-up
If the team is too busy with work, or if most of the tasks have been completed well before time, there is a tendency to avoid the stand up altogether. There is a feeling that the stand up should not be called for since there is nothing important to be discussed – the sprint is proceeding well in advance, there is plenty of time available to complete the remaining work, or it’s not worth attending the meeting because it’s not needed. On the other hand, if there is a lot of pending work and the sprints are not proceeding as per schedule, and lagging behind, the team may be tempted to cancel the meeting and utilize the time for development activity. The day begins directly with the team going to work, rather than being preceded by the stand up.
 

This should not happen under any circumstances. Even when everything is proceeding as per plan, the meeting should still be conducted. If there is not much to discuss, the scrum master can close the meeting early and save time. Whatever the reasons may be, it is imperative to hold the meeting.  
 

4. Keeping the daily scrum on a need to know basis
Many times, the scrum master may feel that it is important not to disturb the team members while they are busy with the development activity during the sprint. The person withholds information passed on by the stakeholders and clients, and decides the information should be conveyed at a later stage when the team is not so busy with work, or when relatively free.
 

This should be avoided at all times. The entire team should be kept in the “loop” and apprised of the new developments or feedback received from the stakeholders as and when they are made available. Scrum supports transparency, and each team member has a right to know about anything concerning the project at all times.
 

5. Preventing the team from communicating directly with the stakeholders
When the team faces an important issue, or if some feedback is required from the stakeholders, the scrum master may decide to pass on the issue to the product owner, who in turn passes the issue to the stakeholders. When a feedback is availed by the product owner, it is made available to the team members. The entire process may sound simple and straightforward, but it does not comply with scrum rules.
 

Ideally, the team members should get a chance to participate in the discussion carried out by the product owner with the stakeholders. Scrum supports transparency for a good reason – when other team members join the discussion, new ideas and different ways of solving the problems are created, and this could lead to better productivity. A lot of value time and resources are saved because the team members can directly ask questions regarding the problem, and receive prompt feedback from the stakeholders. The issue is made clear and a more effective solution can be availed as a result.
 

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Conducting The Daily Scrum Meeting Or The “Daily Stand Up”

The daily scrum or standup meeting
One of the primary responsibilities of the scrum master is to hold the daily scrum meeting, or the “daily stand up”, as it is commonly referred to by scrum professionals. The person is required to get the product owner and the team members together for the meeting. The objective is to avail information pertaining to three important aspects of the daily scrum:

• Which tasks have been completed in the sprint carried out the day before, or yesterday?
• What tasks are to be taken up for development for the particular day, or today?
• Did any team member face any hurdles or impediments during the sprint? If so, what were they?

Duration of the daily standup
The daily scrum meeting is time boxed to last for a maximum of 15 minutes, and should not extend this period.

Purpose of the daily scrum
The main purpose of the standup is not to resolve issues or provide solutions to problems. The aim is to apprise the team members regarding the current status of the project, and ensure they collaborate and contribute jointly as a team during the development activity. If any team member faces a problem, and it is mentioned during the daily standup, it is the scrum master’s responsibility to ensure that the issue is resolved at the earliest. The solutions to such problems are provided by the scrum master and the product owner.
 

Holding stand-ups for non-collocated or distributed teams
One of the major concerns, and also a probable problem at times, for the scrum master is to hold the daily standup when teams are not located in the same office or geographical area. Many companies now use and implement scrum methodology, and in certain cases, the entire development team may not be located in the same place. With off-shoring activities becoming popular by the day, soon it would be common scenario to hold meetings with team members residing in different states and even different countries. Scrum advocates that the daily scrum should include all the team members. In fact, the term “scrum” is akin to the scrum huddle often practiced in rugby, or “rugger”. With large distances separating the team members, it may not be possible to hold a daily scrum in which all team members can be physically present.
 

A possible way out is to use electronic media and facilities to decrease the geographical distances.   Team members can use Skype and videoconferencing tools to participate online in the meeting. The scrum master has to instruct every remotely located team member to log on at a particular time when the daily scrum is to be held, and explain that the members should make sure the hardware and software tools are properly functional at the time of the meeting.
 

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Importance Of Time Boxing In Scrum – Why Time Plays A Very Important Part While Implementing Scrum

Scrum methodology and the time factor
It is very important to control the time factor while implementing scrum projects. Scrum methodology advocates time bound activities, and one of the main reasons why scrum is capable of adapting itself to the changing development related conditions is because each activity is closely linked with a certain time frame. Whether it be the sprint planning meeting, or a sprint retrospective, none of the activities are supposed to extend beyond the time limit set up for the particular activity. It is the only way scrum can work and function properly.  If an activity cannot be completed in time, it is either recalled, or reconsidered for another “go” or iteration, but under no circumstances the time limit can, and should, be extended. Setting up time limits for activities is also termed as “time boxing” in scrum. 
 

Importance of time boxing in scrum
Time boxing ensures that the development team members do not consume too much or extra time than that allotted to complete a user story or a development task, and at the same time the team members should not run out of development requirements before the sprint time is over. Scrum is all about balancing things and aspects, in the proper manner. The basic reason why time plays such an important part in all scrum related activities is team members should not spend or invest undue time and efforts after tasks, other than that suggested or recommended. Each requirement or the product backlog item has a certain value or importance attached to it. An item that has a significant market value attached to it is more important, and the team can afford to spend more time for its development. On the other hand, items which are less important or have a lesser value attached to them should be developed by investing least resources and time. Basically, it is a question of attaching the proper degree of importance to the items in direct relation to their worth.
 

Which activities should be time boxed while implementing scrum methodology?
Every activity in scrum should be ideally time boxed. It is the duty of the scrum master to ensure that activities remain time boxed, and the scrum team does not over extend it. The main features, which are an inherent part of scrum methodology, should be mandatory time boxed.
 

Sprint planning meeting
The sprint planning is conducted in two parts, with each part not extending more than four hours each. Therefore, the entire sprint planning meeting should not extend more than eight hours excluding the lunchtime in the afternoon.
 

Daily scrum meetings or the stand ups
Daily stand ups are brief, and should not extend more than 15 minutes each day.
 

Daily sprint
Ideally, the daily sprints should last for 8 hours. However, they may be set up to last for more time depending upon the complexity of the user stories and the time allotted to the project. The total sprint time should be decided unanimously by the team members and approved by the scrum master as well as the product owner. Whatever time is decided, it should be fixed and kept consistent on a daily basis.
 

Sprint review meetings
The review should not extend more than 4 hours for a month long sprint.
 

Sprint retrospective meetings
The retrospectives should also not extend for more than 4 hours.
 

Advantages of being time boxed
The main advantages of maintaining tight time schedules are:

• The development process becomes more efficient
• The overheads are drastically reduced
• The velocity of the team increases significantly

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What Should The Perfect And Ideal Daily Stand-Up Scrum Meeting Consist Of As Per The Official Scrum Guide?

The daily stand-up scrum meetings play a vital role in ascertaining that the development activity is carried out in a sustained manner. They also help to find potential pitfalls experienced during ongoing sprints. It is important to know how the daily meetings are carried out, and what they should ideally consist of. On the basis of official scrum guide specified by Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber, the originators of scrum methodology, the article tries to explain in details about the daily scrum meetings.
 

Who should attend the meeting?
Everyone associated with the scrum project should attend the meeting. It is important for the scrum master and the team members to remain present, while the product owner and stakeholders too can remain present if they desire to do so.
 

What should be discussed during the meeting?
It is very important to remain focused and only discus about those topics which are directly related and associated with the sprint activity. The attendees should try not to wander off the main topic and discus about other trivia which are not pertaining to the scrum activity. In fact, the guide is specific about discussing topics which are directly connected to the sprint to be carried out during the particular day, even other topics dealing with the project, or project related issues should be avoided during the stand-up meetings. There are special provisions like the sprint retrospective meeting to discuss about such issues.

The main topics to be included during the meeting should consist of:

• What tasks were accomplished during the sprint carried out the day before?
• Which tasks are to be developed today?
• Did the particular team member face any problems or impediments during the sprint implementation? If so, what were they?

In what order should the discussions be carried out? 

There is a lot of flexibility while deciding about the order in which the discussions can be carried out during the meeting. Team members can take turns in discussing about what they have achieved, and what they plan to do on the particular day. Alternatively, the scrum master may decide who should speak first and which team member should follow the discussion. A popular method is to take up discussions regarding important tasks first, followed by the order of priority. The order of discussion can vary from project to project, and from need to need.
 

Where and when should the meetings be held?
The stand up meetings should be ideally held at the place of work, and in front of the task board. While they can be conducted almost everywhere, including conference rooms, holding the meetings in the actual place of work can help the team members to remain more focused and target oriented. The meetings should be held before the daily sprint is initiated.
 

How to sustain the energy levels during the meetings?
The stand up meetings are also commonly referred to as “huddles” by many people, simply because each team member stands very close to the next one during the meeting. The scene is much similar to the scrum used in rugby. The proximity often encourages the team members to become proactively involved in the discussion. The energy levels start rising up as each team member briefly, and professionally, discusses and outlines his or her activity for that particular day. The meeting is to be held in such a manner that the “atmosphere” becomes charged up with anticipation, and each member focuses upon the goals he or she plans to achieve during the sprint carried out that day.
 

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Significance Of Daily Scrum Meetings And How Scrum Experts Refer To Them – What You Should Know

Scrum is based upon collaboration. Each team member participates in some way or the other, and contributes towards the common goal defined for the particular project. When scrum is implemented, each day the team members spend some time discussing about the development to be carried out on that particular day in the daily scrum meeting. The meeting is brief, and held before the sprint commences for the day. This meeting is important since it supports one of the basic features of scrum methodology – Share your findings and discuss about the pitfalls which are likely to occur during the sprint.
 

The basic questions asked during the daily scrum stand-up meeting are:

• What has been accomplished or “completed” in the sprint carried out the previous day?
• What is planned to be achieved during the sprint activity today?
• Is any team member facing some problem or impediment during the sprinting process?

 

The daily scrum meeting is generally conducted in front of the task board. A task board is the list of development activity which is carried out by individual team members on a daily basis. It is important to keep the meetings brief, and to the point. Only those topics should be discussed in the meeting which are relevant to the sprint activity. Ideally, the meeting should not last for more than fifteen minutes or so. However, scrum implementation is flexible. If the team is large in size, or if the project is big and includes many tasks to be developed, the meeting can be further extended as per need. Nevertheless, even after considering all the technical points and issues, the meeting should not last for prolonged durations.
 

Other names used in lieu of “Daily Scrum Meeting” to describe the meeting
Scrum experts and professionals sometimes use different names to describe the daily meeting. The words used means the same thing, but using different terminologies may tend to confuse the readers as to what the person is trying to say, or implying. Some of the commonly used words are:
 

Daily stand-up 

The term is extensively used by individuals who follow extreme programming methodology. It means that the participants attending the meeting should remain standing, and the meeting should be kept brief and short.
 

Daily scrum
This term is generally used by professionals who follow the Scrum framework. It alludes to the huddle-like appearance typical to a rugby scrum because the members stand close to each other, or “huddle” when the meeting is conducted.
 

Huddle, roll-call, or any other name
These terms are used by people who understand and know about scrum methodology, but due to some reason use other terms to describe the daily meeting.
 

The daily scrum meeting is very important during scrum implementation. Irrespective of which terminology you use to describe the meeting, it does not lose its significance. The meetings help to identify potential pitfalls, and support the “self-correction” feature which is very important to scrum.
 

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