How to Run a Scrum Meeting

I have just been assigned as a Scrum Lead.  Now what? 
This article serves as a template for Scrum Leads on how to run the daily meeting
itself.   This article assumes that the schedule for your Scrum meetings
is 1 per day.

 

Why Scrum?

 

Scrum meetings serve to:

1. Measure
   the success of everyone’s efforts over the last 24 hours.
2. Schedule
   the tasks of everyone on the project for the next 24 hours. 

 

Progress of the overall project really comes down to this. 
What will each of the project team members be doing to further the goals of the project
between now and the next time the group meets?  Understanding what everyone will
be doing allows each individual to understand their impact on the team and measure
their success in the project.

 

How to Scrum

 

Scrum meetings should be held in the same place and at the
same time each day, so that the process becomes a regular part of each team member’s
day.  If the Scrum is executed efficiently, there is no reason why the “stand-up”
metaphor cannot be literal.  Asking the team to stand for the meeting impresses
upon them the brevity of the discussion.

 

To accomplish the goal of the Scrum as stated above, each
team member answers the following 3 questions.  It works well to go around
the room with question 1, then around again for question 2, then once more for question
3.  This helps team members answer based on what they now know about other team
member’s progress.

 

The 3 Questions

1. What have
   you accomplished in the last 24 hours (since the last meeting)?
2. What will
   you accomplish within the next 24 hours?
3. What will
   prevent you from accomplishing your tasks from question 2?

White Noise

 

Keep the meeting and responses short and sweet. 
Implementation details or follow-up questions should be saved for later.

 

Often, a person feels compelled to share how they accomplished
task, or have questions about how they should accomplish an upcoming one.  This
is great!  This is exactly the information that Scrum is designed to uncover.

Unfortunately the tendency of the group is to allow these
tangents to occur during the Scrum itself.  After all, this information is interesting,
right?  Almost.

 

The thing about Scrum teams is that they consist of multiple
disciplines.  This means that a graphic artist might be treated to a 5 minute
dissertation on the relative merits of the new source control system, or how cool
a particular implementation is because it is using the latest design pattern.

 

Conversely, a developer is probably not interested in the
process of getting the contract signed with the client.  A BA might tell us that
he is having dinner with the client tonight at such-and-such restaurant at 8:30 and
feels positive about the meeting.  This is where developers start chewing their
bottom lips and counting ceiling tiles.

 

These conversations are important to the right audience. 
It is the job of the Scrum lead to note these tangents and pause them until after
the meeting. 

 

Close
the
Loop

 

A very legitimate way to end the Scrum is for the Scrum
Lead to say, “OK, that it everyone.  We know what we are doing next. The things
that came up that need follow-up are…  If you want to stay for these discussions,
feel free to do so.”

It may be more appropriate, given the subject, to suggest
that 2 people or more need to meet offline in another venue to get to the bottom
of something. 

 

A good example is a lead developer giving design consultation
to a junior developer.  The Scrum Lead should note this aloud.  “Bob, you
will call Mary to discuss that design pattern implementation.”

 

The important thing is that these conversations not get
lost, but that they don’t detract from the forward momentum of the Scrum meeting itself.

 

En Tonces

 

Applying discipline to Scrum meetings will prevent team
members from seeing these sessions as “just another meeting”.  An obvious benefit of
this being that attendees are more willing to participate and keep the project
moving forward.  Knowing that the Scrum can be used as a way of getting answers
to questions via the follow-on discussions is another advantage of attending.

 

Implemented well, Scrum will monitor measure and predict
the health of your project.