Questions About Daily Scrums
Lots of questions about the Daily Scrum today from the folks in Shanghai.
- What message should we exchange in our Daily Scrum to improve our communication? Enough detail to explain what you are working on and any obstacles you are struggling with, i.e. just the headlines. It is the responsibility of the Team members to bring up problems, issues and delays that might put the Sprint Goal at risk.
- Why does the Daily Scrum start on time? What if I cannot be there for when the meeting starts? A Daily Scrum is a short, timeboxed meeting for Team members to identify roadblocks. If we spend time hunting down missing Team members, then we consume time reserved for Team members to realign. It is not considered rude to begin the meeting without one or two Team members. They are adults and know how to be on time for a meeting that happens the same time and same place everyday. If you are going to be late, or miss the meeting to take care of your kids, please try to notify the ScrumMaster in advance.
- Is it OK to change the rules or what we talk about at the Daily Scrum? Typically, a Daily Scrum is about three questions: what did I do yesterday? what I am going to do today? what obstacles are in my way? However, the purpose of the meeting is for the Team members to get aligned with one another, identify obstacles, figure out how to get the work of the Sprint done and provide visibility on their progress. If the Team can come up with other ways to do that, then they are empowered to modify the Daily Scrum. However, they must meet face-to-face (email meetings don’t count) daily and should never exceed the timebox of 15 minutes.
