What is Daily Scrum or Daily Scrum Meeting? [2022]
Scrum management approaches are some of the best and most effective in the agile software development field. However, good software isn’t the only thing that makes up for a project to succeed. It needs a lot of planning before the execution. And that’s where daily scrum comes in. But, what is daily scrum? And how can you grow your team using this technique?
- Why Do Teams Need Daily Scrum?
- Members/Participants in the Daily Scrum Meeting
- When do Daily Scrum Meetings happen?
- Agenda of Daily Scrum
- Daily Scrum Guidelines
- Benefits of Daily Scrum Meetings
- Things to Avoid in the Daily Scrum Meetings
- Wrapping Up
- Frequently Asked Questions
Daily scrum is a brainstorming and planning meeting that typically begins every day at the start of work. During the meeting, team members put together 15-minute increments of work that move the project forward. After each team member delivers their update, the project owner selects which tasks to keep or kill, and other team members react and adjust their work accordingly.
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- Scrum Project Management – What You Should Know in 2022
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- The 3 Essential Scrum Artifacts You Must Know in 2022
Why Do Teams Need Daily Scrum?
Daily scrum is a daily meeting many project owners hold to keep on track with their projects. The purpose of the meeting is to make sure all the project team members are in sync and working as a team. There is no better time to create that sense of synchronized momentum than during the daily meeting and the implementation of the daily scrum process.
Creating the daily scrum meeting often seems unrealistic especially if you want to expect your team members to fit their work into 8 hours of work within one day. Agile and lean project teams take different approaches.
This meeting is not really about time management. It’s about setting priorities and the value of the work that you do. It’s about ensuring that everyone is on the same page and makes the most of their time, but at the same time, it’s also about keeping the energy level high, doing what needs to be done, and getting the team to work.
Members/Participants in the Daily Scrum Meeting
At these meetings, the development team and project members, scrum master. Project managers come together to discuss their tasks, ideas, obstacles, and progress on the things they are working on. In each meeting, you are responsible for delivering a progress report where you make sure to note how much work your members did. You then work with members to come up with ideas on how to surpass their goals for the day.
When do Daily Scrum Meetings happen?
Daily scrum meetings are usually held by the project manager, but they can also be held by other members if someone is out of the office or if there are two members that work together a lot, and those members would like more time to meet outside of the regular schedule.
They take place at the same time every day, but there are exceptions. There are also project sprints that are called daily scrum sprints. This sprint was created by the agile movement. If a sprint is not called a daily sprint, it is called an “as needed” sprint.
They planned as 15-minute quick team meetings in the morning time.
Daily holds are usually planned and included in these meetings. It is held in agile environments in the same area as the rest of the employee’s work. While handing over work is the responsibility of the manager and the team, it is still a team effort. Project managers help the team when needed in this meeting.
Agenda of Daily Scrum
- What was I able to complete yesterday?
- What am I planning to do today?
- Blockers or obstacles if any.
Daily Scrum Guidelines
- During the daily scrum meeting, there shall be no tardiness, early departure, or absence. Everyone gains from doing this since it allows them to form a habit, and as a result, the discussion will become more natural and fluid.
- The meetings usually take place at a specified place and time. This will be usually within your workplace limits.
- This meeting is otherwise called a stand-up meeting. It is named so because everyone in the meeting is expected to stand in the meeting and not sit. This is insisted because it emphasizes the meeting to be short and time-boxed for 15 minutes as it is meant to be.
- The discussions which take place in the meeting should be crisp and short. Avoid elaborating the details of the work status as the same can be discussed in the off sessions with your team members.
- This meeting ultimately focuses on the project status. When a team member talks in daily scrum, other members should actively listen and can ask questions or clarification if necessary. One should not interrupt or disturb the other person when the work status is shared.
- It is important to keep a track of daily scrum meetings. It can be done through a scrum board. You can update the stories. tasks, etc. and track the status every day.
Benefits of Daily Scrum Meetings
Members of the team may discuss their progress toward the sprint objective, and what they are working on today, and receive comments on whether or not they are advancing at the right speed. Additionally, they can clearly comprehend what the other team members are working on, ensuring transparency and clarity throughout the sprint.
Everyone discusses their progress and resolves any problems that may have come up during the session. Members of scrum teams can support one another in overcoming obstacles and applying the ideals and principles of agile.
It is also seen as a problem-solving meeting. This is because the team members discuss the status and challenges of their work on a daily basis in which other team members are also able to provide a solution to each other.
This helps the team communicate and organize, and sets a moral for the team in the context of following through on those tasks. The good news is that with the daily scrum concept, teams can develop their own rules to meet the needs of what their business requires.
Things to Avoid in the Daily Scrum Meetings
- Daily scrum meetings are for everybody to talk and no monopoly in the discussion is welcomed nor should be encouraged. Each person should take turns to discuss and talk about their work status in all the meetings.
- Be completely transparent about what you are putting forth in the meeting. Avoid giving false information or hiding something, this will not only disrupt the work progress of your project but also create a lack of trustworthiness within the team.
- Value each other’s time. Make sure to stick to the 15 minutes time box and do not waste anybody’s time by exceeding the discussion or delaying.
- One important thing you must avoid doing in the daily scrum is staring at the scrum or coming to the meeting unprepared. Remember to keep a to-do list in your mind or write it down before you come for the meeting. At any cost, do not stare at the scrum board during the meeting and think about what could be done when others are giving their work status.
Wrapping Up
If you have successfully followed a daily scrum meeting approach the next level of development will be the continuous integration and real-time ninja skills. Dividing a project into sprints and then doing daily sprints makes the development process more efficient. This is what a real-time business needs in terms of development and workflow. Learning to work in a team environment and using scrum methodology for development can help you in future roles.
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Frequently Asked Questions
1. Which role is most likely to communicate an impediment during a daily scrum?
The scrum master is the natural communication line that is most likely to relay information from members to stakeholders during a daily scrum. Their role is to provide the important information, collect feedback, and incite the changes that will fix the problem and bring the product closer to the desired outcome, ultimately increasing the team’s velocity.
2. Why should the product owner attend the daily scrum?
The product owner should be part of the daily scrum because it pushes the staff to find solutions and propose improvements. Daily scrums are also the best time for people to tell others what they are thinking about and how they are feeling. If an issue is put into the daily scrum, people can assess and vent about it too. Not only does this help the team find solutions, but it also helps the product owner to know what the team is thinking about the whole process.
3. Can you skip daily scrum?
It is good practice not to skip the daily scrum. But in any unforeseen situations or prior information to the senior member of the team, you can skip the daily scrum. Since this meeting is considered to be the kick start of the day, team members are encouraged to be part of it as a mandatory practice.
Simon Calder
Chris “Simon” Calder was working as a Project Manager in IT for one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious cultural institutions, LACMA.He taught himself to use Microsoft Project from a giant textbook and hated every moment of it. Online learning was in its infancy then, but he spotted an opportunity and made an online MS Project course - the rest, as they say, is history!
