The word “meeting” conjures up images of a setting where a group of people is gathered to discuss important issues, some of whom are sitting bored and uninterested, others of whom are trying valiantly to understand what is being discussed, and still others of whom are aggressively attempting to prove their point.
The “Scrum Meetings,” also known as “The Daily Scrum Meetings,” emerged as a new type of meeting as a result of evolving times and methodologies, deadline pressure, time restraints, growing competition, and the need to stay one step ahead. The scrum master certification will help you out in planning best scrum meetings.
How do Scrum Meetings work?
The participants stand during these succinct meetings because sitting for long periods would be uncomfortable. These Scrum Meetings take place every day (typically in the morning) or at irregular intervals decided upon in advance by the team members engaged in a particular project. These meetings strictly only address the following issues:
- What happened the day before?
- What tasks are left for today?
- Do you face any obstacles?
However, these meetings frequently become unfocused and run over their allotted time, defeating their very purpose. Here are some practical pointers for holding a fruitful stand-up meeting:
1. Remember that time is money…
Every morning, the meetings should begin at a set time, and the timing should be strictly adhered to even if some team members are late. If people arrive on time, you could reward them, and if they don’t, you could punish them. Additionally, keep meetings brief and to the point. The daily scrum meetings ought to last roughly fifteen minutes.
2. Establish the meeting’s standards in advance
A stand-up meeting is all about order and discipline. In the daily scrum meeting, only the scrum leader and the team members (who are actively working on the project) should be permitted to report, and only one person should be given uninterrupted time to speak.
3. Keep your attention on the task at hand
It’s a good idea to make a list of the topics and priorities that should be covered during a stand-up meeting. Only those items that are in progress or whose due dates are drawing near should be handled. Additionally, the topics should be relevant to everyone, otherwise, they tend to veer off course.
4. Maintain a high level of interest by increasing the fun factor
Because it’s crucial to keep meetings brief and to the point, everyone must participate fully and honestly throughout the entire meeting.
Each meeting should begin with a fresh joke, inspiring words of wisdom, a comic strip, or some other eye-catching visual. To choose who would speak next, you could also implement a lottery system. This would give everyone an equal opportunity to speak while also maintaining a high level of fun.
5. Please, no phones or laptops… This is a no-technology area.
Members find it difficult to concentrate during meetings if they are constantly checking their phones or laptops to check messages, respond to emails, play games, or look through codings because we have become so dependent on them. Make sure that all technology is off during your stand-up meetings to avoid this issue. This ensures consideration for other team members and prevents interruptions.
6. Stand up now… This is a stand-up meeting.
Daily scrum meetings are known as stand-up meetings for a reason. When participants are seated comfortably, traditional meetings tend to drag on, become monotonous, and veer off-topic. Standing up during these meetings ensures that they are brief, focused, and have a high level of energy. Try universal agile for best scrum master certification to plan the strategic scrum meetings.
7. Do not attend the meeting if…
Before you start to wonder what I’m talking about, allow me to explain that sometimes adopting a dramatic attitude can result in significant change. Having said that, if the meetings stop being beneficial and become merely routine status updates, you can put a stop to them and make it clear that something is wrong by skipping them.
You send a message that your time would be better spent on other projects and more productive development by choosing not to attend the meeting.
8. For unresolved issues, use a “parking lot”
Daily scrum meetings are primarily intended to inform team members of what is being done, what needs to be done, and what obstacles are preventing those tasks from being completed. Anything else needs to be taken care of later. Define a “parking lot” and make a list of the problems that need to be resolved later.
Set up a follow-up meeting with just the attendees who have a direct stake in that issue after the initial one has ended. You could keep track of the subjects that should be handled by each sub-division and require a longer discussion in a notebook or on a whiteboard.
The team members should have access to these “parking lots” outside of the daily scrum meetings so they can list the issues that need to be resolved. This keeps them present and prevents them from thinking about unrelated things during their daily scrum meetings.
9. Plan and be ready.
The team members should be prepared for the meeting because there isn’t much time. Their speech should strictly only cover what they did the day before, what they intend to do today, and any challenges they are encountering in achieving their objectives.
To accomplish this, the scrum leader should communicate to the team members what he anticipates hearing from them during the meeting. Anything off-topic should be cut off right away.
10. Encourage teamwork by using scrum meetings
It would be a good idea to include the remote team members in the daily meetings if you have outsourced your scrum projects. You could arrange conference calls or video chats for this during your daily scrum meetings. Just be cautious not to schedule any of your meetings here at a time that would be inconvenient for them (Say 1:00 a.m. for them).
This makes sure that you and your offshore colleagues are a cohesive team. Again, as the scrum master, ensure that the team members talk to each other and make eye contact with one another rather than concentrating solely on you. As a result, the meetings will be more productive and the team will communicate more clearly.
Conclusion
These meetings are essential, whether you call them a daily scrum, daily huddle, morning roll-call, morning meetings, coordination meetings, or our very own stand-up meetings. The team members gain a clear and coordinated understanding of how much work has been done and how much work is still to be done by getting an update on what each team member accomplished yesterday and what he plans to accomplish today.
Additionally, these meetings serve as a means of confirming each member’s commitments. When a member stands up and declares, “I will complete this task today,” he or she is fully aware that he or she is expected to report the following day on whether or not the task was completed.
