{"id":6903,"date":"2023-01-10T12:09:24","date_gmt":"2023-01-10T04:09:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/slash.bravefactor.com\/?post_type=resources&#038;p=6903"},"modified":"2024-01-31T12:54:03","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T04:54:03","slug":"5-points-for-a-more-effective-daily-scrum","status":"publish","type":"resources","link":"https:\/\/slash.co\/articles\/5-points-for-a-more-effective-daily-scrum","title":{"rendered":"5 Points for a more effective daily scrum"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s be honest here, more often than not our effective daily <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Scrum_(software_development)\" rel=\"noopener\">scrum<\/a> (DS) runs over the ideal 15-minute mark which we all aim to cap it at. The reasons can be countless so instead of focusing on excuses, let\u2019s focus on how we can use the time more effectively.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To begin, I\u2019d like to clearly define what a DS should be to ensure we\u2019re on the same page. A DS should be the following:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No longer than 15 minutes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Update progress on current sprint toward sprint goals<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Raise any impediments<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reserve discussions and problem-solving conversations for afterwards<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BONUS: Make an effort to make it more engaging for the team<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now with that said, I\u2019ll jump into my five tips for effective daily scrums<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 500;\">Short and sweet is best effective daily scrum<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019ll begin with the most obvious, your DS should be no longer than 15 minutes. Ensure that the team members understand the importance and value of keeping things short, sweet and more so, to the point. Topics or items that fall outside the clearly defined DS definition like full discussions, pair programming or problem-solving conversations must be arranged after the DS has wrapped up. Plus, if those conversations need to be arranged, that should only include the related persons as to not waste other people\u2019s time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Something that should be a given, yet bears stating is to be on time; being late and holding up the team is unprofessional and cannot be accepted as it will derail your target for an effective DS. It\u2019s good for all team members to understand and acknowledge that often the DS needs a certain flow of information and if someone interrupts that flow, in this case by being late, it inevitably can hold up the entire DS. So be present and on time ready to participate!<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 500;\">Updates for the current sprint only<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The team should only talk about the work of the current sprint and how far we are to reaching its goals. Anything that is not related to the current sprint should be minimized or not even brought up to begin with. For example, for the future sprint topics, we can talk about this in the backlog refinement ceremony rather than during the DS.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You may be thinking\u2026 Why so strict? Well, to put it plainly, you need your team to focus on the task at hand and only that. The sprint needs to deliver on its intended goals and as the scrum master, you need to drive the team towards achieving those goals. The team\u2019s forward thinking is appreciated, but their focus is best placed on that which needs doing now.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 500;\">Concise updates: finished &amp; upcoming items<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A slight continuation here from my previous point, but with a twist. Of course, updates should be for the current sprint only. However, it\u2019s vital that members understand their updates should be concise. A concise update should include not what a team member did, but what they actually accomplished yesterday and what they are aiming to accomplish today. We don\u2019t need to hear a rundown of each person\u2019s morning routine from the moment they got up to the meeting now. It would certainly add an element of character and humor perhaps to the meeting, but again it would impede our goal of an effective DS.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remember that most new teams will have their DS led by the scrum master until a team leader is selected to do this. Members may think that they are updating the scrum master as to their progress and this is why the DS is important; like reporting to your supervisor. However, it\u2019s important for them to understand that in actuality what they are doing in the DS is updating the team as to their individual progress; in turn, they are updated on what their fellow team members have been accomplishing. This can lead to the scrum master leaving the DS early or sometimes not attending as the team becomes more autonomous in this ceremony which is inherently geared towards them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Also Read : <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/slash.co\/articles\/5-keys-to-building-a-common-team-vision\/\">5 Keys to Building The Best Common Team Vision<\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 500;\">Always raise the impediments with the team<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now for a word on impediments. In the case of a DS and impediments, silence is not golden. Impediments should always be raised, regardless. They should be clearly explained and if the member requires help, it must be concisely stated as to what is needed to clear the impediment. The sooner it is cleared the better for obvious reasons. If pair programming is required to clear an impediment, then the scrum master or tech lead can be asked after the DS to arrange this.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The team is like a family unit in a way, members are there to support one another and work together to achieve the ultimate goals of each sprint and subsequent following one. You must ensure that members understand this and are never shy or timid about openly airing their impediments and\/or asking for help in clearing them if needed.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 500;\">Make the DS more interesting<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To finish off, if I haven\u2019t been honest enough, let me double down and state the importance of making the DS interesting. Interesting how? In some way shape or form, it would behoove you to spice things up a bit; no one truly enjoys attending meetings, especially the daily recurring ones, regardless of how beneficial they may be. I have found through years of experience a few useful techniques that can make things a little less sleep inducing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Try beginning the DS with a short 3-minute chat rather than jumping into the meeting like race horses out the gate; visit the paddock first and take in the sights and sounds. Quick jokes or simple ice breakers can be very useful tools to set the mood and loosen everyone up. Remember that when dealing with remote teams, the members don\u2019t work in the same space together all day as in a normal office; they see each other perhaps only once a day in the DS so it\u2019s good to do something that creates a nice meeting\/working atmosphere from the start.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another thing you can do to mix things up is rather than going around to each member like a round table discussion, open up the sprint backlog and just run down the list from top to bottom allowing each member to jump in when their item appears. In a sense like a hot potato conversation or tagging members in and out of the ring which can be a fun alternative to the usual.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These are five points that I have found to be beneficial in delivering a more effective DS for development teams. Naturally every scrum master has their own tricks of the trade, and you too can develop your own unique tools to create the most effective DS that you need. As there are no rules on how to have an effective DS, the sky\u2019s the limit!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":10335,"parent":0,"template":"","resource-topic":[54],"resource-type":[43],"class_list":["post-6903","resources","type-resources","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","resource-topic-agile-development","resource-type-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/slash.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resources\/6903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/slash.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resources"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/slash.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/resources"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/slash.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/slash.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"resource-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/slash.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource-topic?post=6903"},{"taxonomy":"resource-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/slash.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource-type?post=6903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}