HOW TO RUN AN EFFECTIVE

SCRUM MEETINGDAVID TZEMACH

WWW.DTVISIONTECH.COMFEB 29 2016

OVERVIEWTHE DAILY SCRUM MEETING IS EXECUTED PER DAY THOUGHT THE SPRINT,AT THIS MEETING THE SCRUM TEAM GATHERS TO REVIEW AND SYNCHRONIZE ABOUT THE PROJECT STATUS.IN THEORY, EACH TEAM MEMBER SHOULD PROVIDE HIS STATUS BASED ON THREE Q :1. WHAT DID YOU DO YESTERDAY?2. WHAT DO YOU INTEND TO DO TODAY?3. IS THERE ANY ISSUES THAT BLOCKS YOUR WORK?

WHAT CAN GO WRONG..?IN THEORY, YOU HAVE 10 PEOPLE STANDING TOGETHER IN A ONE PLACE AND WAIT UNTIL EACH ONE OF THEM WILL TELL HIS STORY, THE PROBLEM IS THAT IF YOU FAILED TO DO IT RUN THIS MEETING WITH SOME BASIC GUIDELINES AND RULES, THE MEETING CAN EASILY GO TO THE WRONG DIRECTION (PEOPLE THAT SPEAK TOO MUCH , THE MEETING IS RUNNING TOO LONG, PEOPLE ARE DISTRACTED..).

THE GUIDELINES TO RUN AN EFFECTIVE SCRUM MEETING

THE PARTICIPANTS SHOULD COME PREPARED (1)• STOP PARTICIPANTS THAT DON’T COME PREPARED AND WASTE THE

MEETING TIME.• YOU SHOULD DESCRIBE HOW TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS

EFFECTIVELY TO INCREASE THE SYNCHRONIZATION AMONG THE TEAM MEMBERS.

• THE TEAM MEMBERS SHOULD KNOW WHAT IS YOUR EXPECTATIONS FROM THEM WHILE ANSWERING THESE QUESTIONS.

• THE TEAM MEMBERS SHOULD COME PREPARED TO ANSWER THE BASIC THREE QUESTIONS ON A DAILY BASIS.

VALIDATE THAT EACH INDIVIDUAL DESCRIBE THE FULL PICTURE (2)• VALIDATE THAT EACH INDIVIDUAL CAN ANSWER THE 3 QUESTIONS (DO

NOT CONTINUE UNTIL YOU GET THE ANSWERS OR THE REASONS FOR WHY CAN’T HE PROVIDE THEM).

• VALIDATE THAT THE INDIVIDUAL POINT TO THE STORY THAT HE DESCRIBE TO THE OTHER TEAM MEMBERS (INCREASE THE OTHER TEAM MEMBERS FOCUS).

• VALIDATE THAT EACH TEAM MEMBER WILL PARTICIPATE IN THIS MEETING (MANDATORY FOR THIS MEETING!)

• VALIDATE THAT EACH INDIVIDUAL WILL ANSWER THE TRUTH ABOUT EACH ONE OF THE QUESTIONS.

THIS IS NOT A TECHNICAL MEETING (3)• REMEMBER, THESE MEETINGS ARE DONE TO SYNCHRONIZE

THE TEAM MEMBERS, IT’S NOT ABOUT PROBLEM RESOLVING. • WHEN A TECHNICAL PROBLEM IS RAISED, THE SCRUM MASTER

WILL RESOLVE IT AFTER THE MEETING.• YOU CANNOT RUN AN EFFECTIVE MEETING WHILE WASTING

TIME ON TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS.

THE MEETING SHOULD RUN WITH A SPECIFIC TIMEFRAME (4)• EACH INDIVIDUAL SHOULD KNOW HOW MUCH HE CAN SPEAK (2-3

MINUTES AT MAX).• MEETINGS THAT RUN FOR MORE THAN THE DEFINED TIME FRAME, ARE

LESS EFFECTIVE.• YOU SHOULD DEFINE THE START/END TIME OF THE MEETING.• YOU SHOULD ENFORCE THE TIMELINES.• THE MEETING IS RELEVANT PER DAY, THERE IS NO REAL REASON TO

MAKE IT FOR MORE THAN 15 MINUTES.

THE TEAM MEMBERS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THE MEETING TARGET (5)• YOU NEED TO VALIDATE THAT EACH INDIVIDUAL WILL UNDERSTAND THE

MEETING TARGET.• ANY SUBJECTS THAT ARE NOT RELATED TO THE MEETING SHOULD BE

POSTPONED.• THE BEST WAY TO KEEP THE MEETING ON TRACK, IS TO FOLLOW THESE 3

QUESTIONS :• IS THERE ANY ISSUE THAT BLOCKS YOUR WORK?• WHAT DO YOU INTEND TO DO TODAY?• WHAT DID YOU DO YESTERDAY?

SCRUM MEETING IS A “STAND UP” MEETING (6)• PEOPLE WILL WANT TO STAY ON FOCUS BECAUSE NO ONE LIKES TO KEEP STANDING FOR HOURS.• THE MEETING SHOULD EXECUTE WHILE ALL INDIVIDUALS ARE IN STANDING POSITION.

REMOVE ANY “EYE CATCHER” OBJECTS (7)

• THE MEETING MUST BE FREE FROM ANY “EYE CATCHER” OBJECTS (PHONES, LAPTOPS..).• EACH PARTICIPANT SHOULD FOCUS ON THE “SPRINT-BACKLOG” MONITOR AND LISTEN TO THE OTHER TEAM MEMBERS.

THE SCRUM MASTER (8)• THE SCRUM MASTER SHOULD LEAD THE MEETING.• WHEN REPORTING, THE TEAM MEMBERS SHOULD FOCUS ON THE OTHER

TEAM MEMBERS AND NOT ON THE SCRUM MASTER • THE SCRUM MASTER SHOULD NOT UPDATE THE SPRINT BACKLOG

DURING THIS MEETING (THE FOCUS IS ON THE TEAM).• THE DAILY MEETING SHOULDN’T BE A STATUS REPORT TO THE SCRUM

MASTER, IF THAT’S THE CASE:• THE SCRUM MASTER SHOULD STEP OUT FROM THE TEAM CIRCLE. • THE SCRUM MASTER SHOULD AVOID A DIRECT “EYE-CONTACT” WITH

OTHER TEAM MEMBERS.

THE TIME AND LOCATION OF THE MEETING (9)• VALIDATE THAT YOU DO IT NEAR TO THE TEAM WORKING

PLACE (DO NOT SCHEDULE IT TO BE IN A MEETING ROOM THAT LOCATED ON OTHER FLOOR…).

• MAKE SURE THAT THE MEETING WILL START IN THE MORNING (IT’S A “SYNCHRONIZATION” MEETING.. ).

• MAKE SURE THAT THE MEETING IS SCHEDULED AT THE SAME TIME AND ON THE SAME LOCATION.

USE THE RETROSPECTIVE MEETING TO IMPROVE THE PROCESS (10)• WRITE ANY ISSUES THAT YOU HAD ON A SPRINT THAT ARE RELATED TO THIS MEETING.• VALIDATE THAT YOU RESOLVE THE ISSUES THAT THE TEAM MEMBERS REQUESTED.

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