Daily Scrum Stories :-) — Part 2
The Daily Scrum is a 15-minute event for the Developers of the Scrum Team. To reduce complexity, it is held at the same time and place every working day of the Sprint. If the Product Owner or Scrum Master are actively working on items in the Sprint Backlog, they participate as Developers.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. Scrum Guide 2020.
When I began my journey as a Scrum Master, I encountered a challenge in teaching the developers to transform the Daily Scrum into a self-managed Event. It was uncommon to witness teams conducting it as a self-managed Event; instead, it often resembled a status meeting. To address this, I suggested several initiatives as a Scrum Master aimed at gradually shifting this Event towards a self-managed and collaborative approach.
With highly mature teams, a gentle reminder about the purpose of the Daily Scrum and the significance of sharing the moderator’s responsibility sufficed. However, for less mature teams, we experimented with a daily moderator rotation system. We established an alphabetical FIFO list, and updated manually every Monday in our Team Channel. This practice continued until the team gradually matured, and the developers began taking proactive roles in moderating the Daily Scrum on their own accord.
In instances where delays occurred or the team wasn’t fully assembled, we set up team agreements. For instance, if the planned timebox for the Daily Scrum was from 9:00 to 9:15 and the team wasn’t complete, we collectively agreed to commence the meeting at 9:03. To ensure everyone remembered this agreement, I included it in our Slack Workflow as a daily reminder. Over time, it became a familiar and embraced team norm.
During the initial stage of team formation, we conducted team building workshops that encompassed several elements. As part of this workshop, we dedicated time to achieving consensus regarding the process framework and devising a plan for our Events. A significant portion of our efforts was also invested in defining the format of the Daily Scrum. To facilitate this, I presented the team with a list of questions and encouraged them to contribute additional queries of their own. Together, we collaboratively agreed upon and experimented with this structured format.
One recurring issue I noticed was the team’s tendency to attend the Daily Scrum without adequate preparation. With a little preparation beforehand, our team could greatly improve the effectiveness of our Daily Scrum. To underscore the significance of preparation, I conducted an experiment with certain teams by introducing a preparation list. This list would be displayed as a workflow, visible at least an hour before the scheduled Daily Scrum.
Here is an example of its contents:
1. Walk through the board.
2. Review my current task.
3. Check if there are any blockers.
4. Decide whether the whole team needs to know about it or if a smaller circle can find a solution.
5. Update the status on the board.
6. Determine if the task needs a Product Owner review and communicate with the PM/PO in the Team Chat.
7. Close completed tasks if appropriate.
8. Identify the next highest priority task or potential pairing opportunities.
9. Make sure holiday plans are entered in the team calendar and shared in the chat.
10. Address any unanswered questions from the PM/PO or other team members in the Team Chat.
11. Check for any open merge requests.
After 1–2 Sprints, the team understood the significance of prepartion and we collectively agreed to suspend the workflow. It’s important to note that this list is tailored to the specific needs of each team and the process we followed.
I’m interested in hearing about the initiatives you’ve implemented as a Scrum Master.
ps: the example questions used for the Daily Scrum are from several contributors like Chris Stone.
I’m deeply thankful to Gabor Bittera, Fredrik Carleson and Sjoerd Nijland for their invaluable feedback that not only prompted profound reflection but also notably enriched the quality of this article. Additionally, my heartfelt appreciation goes out to Serious Scrum for offering a platform to publish and circulate my work. I extend my sincere gratitude to my Development Teams at HSE for their proactive approach and unwavering openness to learning and experimentation. ❤️
