Metrics of Scrum events
Rencently I've got the opportunity to observe the following situation that I'd like to share with you:
QA colleagues (one or two people) have been attending the events of several scrum teams. I remark that they attend and not participate, but observe and take notes. The events I've been aware of are mostly daily scrums and sprint reviews, and for the daily scrum they do this 3-4 times randomly throughout a sprint .
They write the gathered data into a document by scoring their observations against some criteria, for example:
DAILY SCRUM CONTROL INFO <Project Name>
Date | Total (%) | Punctuality | Attendance | Participation | Conversation quality | Three questions | Duration | ... | Other observations
01/01/19 | 90% | Yes | Yes | No | Yes ...
15/01/19 | 100% | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes ...
...
Eventually this information is sent to the Scrum Master of the team and to management.
Ok, so now, some teams accept this to be ok, since at some point this info is useful for the team. On the other hand, other teams feel this is not ok, even reacted to it stating this is a way of interfere with their ceremonies, sometimes being highly influenced by the presence of QA colleagues gathering data on them.
Given the case I knew what the real reasons are behind this activity from management, I'd write them too, but unluckily that is not the case. The only thing I can do is guessing and at this point I'd rather stay as neutral/transparent as I can :)
What are your thoughts on this?
Why would a Scrum Master need the help of these visitors to stay informed?
Also, why are management interested in this data, in particular? What about actual outcomes? Are teams releasing “Done” increments of work, each and every Sprint, and which provide value to stakeholders?
Juan,
Based upon the information you provided, this practice reeks of management mistrust of teams and Scrum in general.
I would echo Ian's questions, specifically why are they focused on outside observational metrics around Scrum events, and not on whether the Scrum Team(s) are delivering value to the business/customers each sprint?
Thanks @Ian @Timothy for your observations which I definitely share.
I'm in the process of more investigation though. I sense there is a more important root cause triggering this practice that needs to be surfaced and (possibly) addressed.
"DAILY SCRUM CONTROL INFO" I'll say that again "CONTROL INFO". I guess I'm one of the lucky ones never to experience something similar.
Date | Total (%) | Punctuality | Attendance | Participation | Conversation quality | Three questions | Duration | ... | Other observations
01/01/19 | 90% | Yes | Yes | No | Yes ...
15/01/19 | 100% | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes ...
Touch in, touch out. Accounting 101