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Scrum or not Scrum

Last post 01:30 am September 17, 2016 by Ian Mitchell
5 replies
03:56 pm September 14, 2016

Hello everyone,

I am working as a scrum master (not much experience on that) in one project. Today was the first day that we had the stand up meeting. The people in the project was not used to this kind of meeting and after the meeting was over, some questions came up regarding if that kind of meeting was necessary. In their opinion they were feeling that the implementation of those meeting was just a way of controlling/monitoring what they are doing in a bad way and that it was a waste of time because in the project where I am there are not updates in the tasks so often.
They proposed to have an online document alternative to the scrum meeting where everyday every person updates a document with the same information that is supposed to be said in the meeting.
Can anyone give me a hand giving me arguments for the discussion to show them that is actually an important meeting and that is daily is a requirement, also what do you think about their alternative.

I appreciate very much all the answer.
Thanks a lot!!


04:54 pm September 14, 2016

Who decided that Scrum should be used in the first place? I take it that none in the team have had any training or introduction to Scrum?


05:48 pm September 14, 2016

Scrum In Name Only (SINO) This is, sadly, a far too common situation. Many people, thus organizations, ignorantly believe that Scrum means two week deadlines and daily status reports . . . and that's it. If there hasn't been any training, then SINO is probably the reality.

Is it a team or a group of individuals?
Is there collaborative effort or only asking for help when necessary?
Are there properly defined (in agile software development terms) items to be developed?

If a group of individuals are working in silos without properly defined items, then the meeting is probably pointless for the participants and has only (perceived) value for management.

Why the Daily Scrum event important? It's at http://scrumguides.org/ in The Scrum Guide.

synchronize activities and create a plan
inspect progress
improve communications, eliminate other meetings, identify impediments to development for removal, highlight and promote quick decision-making, and improve the Development Team’s level of knowledge


09:21 pm September 14, 2016

Hi Carlos and welcome,

you will find great feedback here. In fact Fredrik and Alan have made good points. The background of the company and the culture is quite important to understand your situation and if Scrum is an appropiated solution to your situation. Bear in mind that the culture and the approach to implement Scrum is very important. Scrum flourish well when it's a team decision promoted by the team and supported by the management positions. So my advice is: understand the culture of the company you are working for, analyze the current problems the company is facing and the reasons to implement Scrum or any other solution. Present the solutions maybe as workshops and let the team decide. This can sound quite overwhelming and in fact it requires experience, so if you can get some help would be great.

About your specific quesiton... there is no alternative. It's clear that Scrum training sessions are needed. Scrum must be implemented as the Scrum Guide specifies. You have to teach your team what the Daily Scrum is (Alan has already cited the Scrum guide) and what is not. First of all, the Daily Scrum is not the Daily Standup (the standup meeting is an eXtreme Programming event), so the DS can be implemented as a standup event or not. Clarified that, let's say what it's not and why the alternative is not such. The DS is not a status meeting. The DS is an event owned by the Development Team and served to inspect and adapt the Sprint Backlog. They do not have to report to anybody, they (the DT) have to sync activities and adjust the plan to achieve the Spring Goal. Remember you will be there just to teach them how to communicate effectively within 15 minutes and to enforce that the event is actually held. You must not lead the conversation, remember the DS is owned by them.


09:24 pm September 14, 2016

I would also question whether there was a commitment to Agile/Scrum by the organization (training, coaching, restructuring, etc). Are team members working collaboratively, or in silos?


Individuals and interactions over processes and tools



Using an online tool to capture status updates is not a replacement for Daily Scrums!

As a reformed project manager, I used to have a favorite saying: "If that one issue is going to throw your whole project timeline out of whack, it was an unrealistic plan to begin with". Along those same lines, if your team members cannot afford to spend 15 minutes (max!) out of their day to communicate with each other and all get on the same page, then whatever they're being asked to do is unrealistic.

Keep one thought in mind, and try to make this as visible to everyone as possible: the Daily Scrum is for the Development Team, and them only. It is not for management, or the Product Owners, or even the Scrum Masters. It is for the team to help them organize around the sprint work and discuss issues/concerns.

Management and Product Ownership may attend Daily Scrums, but they cannot be allowed to participate. They are simply flies on the wall. Think of the team as a bunch of cooks in a restaurant kitchen, and any stakeholder as a customer sitting at the chef's table. They are observers only.

Good luck!


01:30 am September 17, 2016

> some questions came up regarding if that kind of meeting was necessary

Any Development Team member can call a scrum for any reason at any time. The Daily Scrum is a formal opportunity to ensure that at least one scrum does happen, every day, so that the Sprint Goal is served. A Daily Scrum may well be unnecessary if collaboration is already excellent. It would then be reasonable to question its utility. That would be a wonderful problem to have and a fascinating paradox to resolve.

So, how effective is the team at attaining such a superlative level of collaboration, throughout the day, every day? Personally, I have never seen this achievement in nearly 20 years of Scrum.


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