Daily Scrum

Last week we talked about the Sprint Planning session, today I’m going to move on to one of my favourite scrum events. The Daily Scrum.

The fifteen minutes each day where the team catch up are some of hte most powerful, but also some of the most woefully misunderstood of all the scrum events.

The purpose of the Daily Scrum is to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and adapt the Sprint Backlog as necessary, adjusting the upcoming planned work.

The Scrum Guide 2020

In other words the entire purpose of those 15 minutes is to review the team’s progress against the Sprint Goal and ensure that they are still on track. They should consider progress, any new information they’ve discovered, and any risks they’ve found and discuss if any change of strategy is required to hit the Sprint Goal.

The Scrum Guide also says

The Developers can select whatever structure and techniques they want, as long as their Daily Scrum focuses on progress toward the Sprint Goal and produces an actionable plan for the next day of work.

The Scrum Guide 2020

However, more than in almost any other event I see zombie scrum going on in Daily Scrums. In team after team, company after company I see teams standing up around a screen answering the dreaded three questions “What Did I Do Yesterday?”, “What Am I Doing Today?” and “Do I have any Impedements?” (by the way – 99% of the time people apparently don’t).

While there’s nothing wrong with this approach there’s something seriously amiss if the team do not circle back to address the main point of the meeting. Given the raw data we’ve captured from the team on their progress and their blockers do we still believe we are capable of meeting the Sprint Goal? Has something someone has said put that in jeopardy and what can the team do adapt.

The Daily Scrum is the daily iteration of the inspect and adapt pillars of empiriscm (which only works if there is a feeling of safety in the team which creates transparency). Instead of simply waiting for their turn to write the three questions developers should be listening to each other’s answers and looking for indication that the team may not meet it’s objectives.

Don’t be afraid to mix up the Daily Scrum format, but do be very nervous if you’re not discussing the Sprint Goal in each and every meeting!