What is the Scrum Meeting and what role does the meeting play within an Agile project? Who is involved in the meeting and what are the outputs of the meeting?
The Scrum Meeting in Agile Projects
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The Daily Scrum Meeting and Agile Projects
A 59 Seconds Agile Article
During a Sprint the Scrum Team holds a Daily Scrum Meeting that is a maximum of 15 minutes in duration. The Daily Scrum looks to coordinate the current days Sprint activities, while also providing a daily status check to ensure that the Scrum Team is on target to achieve its Sprint Goals. The meeting also assists with identifying any impediments that may be preventing the Scrum Team from achieving their Sprint Goals.
Scrum Meeting Format
In addition to the Scrum Master facilitates the Daily Scrum, they should also participate by resolving impediments that are raised during the meeting. Preventing a routine speaking order may be achieved through passing an object at random around the Scrum Team. The individual holding the object (typically a soft toy) is the current speaker. Passing the object around at random encourages each individual to pay attention throughout the meeting as they do not know when it will be their turn. Where individuals take too long, a heavier object or a timer may be used to encourage them to be precise. The meeting should follow a simple format, where:
- Firstly, what each Scrum team member did yesterday
- What each Scrum Team member plans to do today
- Finally, are there any impediments that any of the Scrum Team members have
The effectiveness of the Scrum Meeting
Conducting a meeting standing up helps to keep the meeting short and precise. Conducting a meeting while standing typically results in a 34% shorter meeting compared to sitting. Following these step allows for achieving short and effective Daily Scrum meetings:
- The meeting should start on time and the team must also stand for the duration of the meeting
- Focus on coordination, rather than issue resolution
- Scrum Master scheduling and facilitating
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Learn More: Writing Agile User Stories
User Stories Applied
A 59 Seconds Agile Book Review
User Stories Applied by Mike Cohn is one of our favourite books. The book starts with an overview into user stories, and details what they are and the different aspects of them. He then discusses how to go about writing a user story, and provides details of the INVEST criteria that can be used to determine if the requirement objectives are met. Next Mike gives an in depth discussion of who they are written for and where to begin when gathering the details for them. The book then discusses acceptance testing user stories, including how to go about specifying these criteria and the responsibilities of the development team and customers during this process.
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The Daily Stand-Up Meeting
A 59 Seconds Agile Infographic
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Our Favourite Agile Books
