After the first Daily Scrum – the first try-out – went well, now it’s time we can shape the whole process a little bit. Here are 10 tips to improve you Daily Scrum.
1. ScrumMaster, please do not stand next to the Scrumboard (Taskboard). The team members shall work WITH the Scrumboard. It is their tool.
2. List of Impediments. Whenever your team is not sure about something, needs information, waits for something — this is an impediment. Please follow the 24 hour rule: Every Impediment needs to be resolved by the ScrumMaster within 24 hours. If you can’t handle it within 24 hours, you will report it in the PODS. So the company can help you with this impediment.
3. Always start on time. Make absolutely clear to everybody (in the whole organisation), when your Daily Scrum takes place. Display the information outside the room, so everybody knows! Create a LARGE calendar in the hallway, SHOWING ALL MEETINGS, so EVERBODY can see them immediately.
4. Hang up a team calendar and hang up a sheet that explains the 4 questions of the Daily Scrum. So you do not need to ask the team during Daily Scrum.
5. Facilitate as much as necessary, usually it will be less then you think you should. Do NOT manage. Do NOT tell them what to do.
6. Do not allow people, POs, Managers, etc. to interrupt the Daily Scrum. Only Team Members are allowed to speak.
7. Explain to the Team what IMPEDIMENTS you have resolved!
8. Buy some cookies, chocolate or something else for the Daily Scrum.
9. A team member who is not able to attend has to be replaced by a team member who is present. This replacing team member needs to inform the team about the progress of the absent team member.
10. Be strict with your time boxing. Only 15 min.
Hello Boris,
Your post is very interesting and I’ve translated it i french : 10 conseils pour améliorer votre mêlée quotidienne
Regards, Fabrice
Thanks a lot. Keep coming back. I will put more tips about meetings online in the next weeks.
Your post is very interesting, indeed. Thanks! Would you please talk more about PODS, which I believe is Product Owner Daily Scrum, please? I can´t find any information about it in your blog or Google.
Thanks a lot. PODS means Product Owner Daily Scrum.
We use this meeting to synchronise the activities of all Scrum-Teams that work on a product, or within a department. In my current implementation we use it to steer 8 Team in Frankfurt and 1 in Chicago and 1 in Singapore. More details in one of my post next month.
Even the idea with the cookies/chocolate is small but really valuable I think. There’s nothing over good team spirit :)
Hi, the chocolate tip is directly related to the pattern discussed in Linda Risings Book: Fearless Change [1]. The pattern is called “Do food!” boris
[1] http://www.infoq.com/interviews/Linda-Rising-Fearless-Change
Great list! You can always fine-tune your daily scrum meetings even further.
Your list is targeted to a Scrum Master who is the facilitator of these meetings. I think that you should strive to get the team to take responsibility of the stand-ups. They are both the main players in the meetings and the ones benefit from the meetings. In an ideal situation, the Scrum Master is just an “Emergency exit” when the team cannot eliminate an impediment themselves.