Daily Scrum is a vital part of any Scrum adoption. However, making sure the team is excited and participates fully can be a challenge. To make sure you take full advantage of this Scrum meeting, here are a couple of tips to help you succeed and motivate your team.
1 – A Set Time & Place
First and foremost, pick a precise time and place for your Daily Scrums. This approach may seem mundane and unnecessary, but having a routine will help your team fall into the habit and prepare for the meeting.
It is common to hold the Daily Scrum in the room where most of the team works or in the one where you have your Sprint board if you are using a physical one. Set a time that is convenient for all, but aims for the mornings. This way, you will discuss the most plan for the day before it starts and will be able to solve issues with a clear head.
2 – Stand Up
Daily Scrum is often called the stand-up, and there is a good reason for that. As tempting as it may seem to stay seated while having this meeting (primarily if it is being held in your office), you do have actually to stand up.
This routine adds a level of physicality to the meeting, and where everyone is just a little bit uncomfortable, there is a lesser chance of it becoming too long. Scrums are meant to be quick updates on the progress and standing up ensures that.
3 – Be Clear on What to Say
We all are very different in how we perceive and understand information. Thus when trying to communicate important things, we may have very different approaches. Daily Scrum, however, is not the place for much interpretation and should be clear and concise.
To help your team achieve that, create a template on what your team members should be saying during the meeting. It could sound something like: ‘Yesterday I worked on .. ‘, ‘I completed .. ‘, ‘I had trouble with .. ‘ and ‘Today I will be working on .. ‘. Make sure your template includes all the critical aspects of your process. This way, the team members will be less likely to forget important details and steer off track.
4 – Keep It Short
Just as you might have felt from the previous points, you should keep the Daily Scrum short. This meeting is aimed at getting a progress update from the team and troubleshooting task blocks.
However, if you feel that solving a problem will take longer, it should be settled outside of the meeting. You should aim at keeping the Daily Scrum under half an hour. Anything longer than that starts becoming ineffective and loses the point of the stand-up.
5 – Pick the Right Moderator
Usually, the whole team speaks during the Daily Scrum, however having the right moderator can help. They will assist the team members in presenting information and move things along if the meeting starts to drag.
While in most cases, Scrum Master will be a great choice, if you feel like one of the team members may be better suited for the role don’t be afraid to change things up. Just as Scrum is a collaborated effort, the Daily Scrum should be too.
Have your thoughts on how to improve the Daily Scrum? Share in the comments!
