Daily Scrum Questions

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2024 06 01 head

The daily Scrum meeting is a key event for the development team.

It is a time-boxed event of maximum 15 minutes.

The developers find out if the Sprint Goal is still achievable and what are the identified impediments to be tackled.

Often the collaborators use the meeting to synchronize their work and to plan the day.

It is a great opportunity to ask questions and to learn from each other.

And by no means it is a status meeting for the Scrum Master or the Product Owner. This meeting belongs to the developers.

Official Definition

The official definition of the Daily Scrum as stated in the Scrum is:

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 Daily Scrum is a 15-minute event for the Developers of the Scrum Team. To reduce complexity, it is held at the same time and place every working day of the Sprint. If the Product Owner or Scrum Master are actively working on items in the Sprint Backlog, they participate as Developers.

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. This creates focus and improves self-management.

Daily Scrums improve communications, identify impediments, promote quick decision-making, and consequently eliminate the need for other meetings.

The Daily Scrum is not the only time Developers are allowed to adjust their plan.

They often meet throughout the day for more detailed discussions about adapting or re-planning the rest of the Sprint’s work.

Daily Scrum Questions

  1. Can we achieve the Sprint Goal?

  2. Do we have to change the content of the Sprint Backlog to achieve the Sprint Goal?

  3. Who needs help?

  4. Who will pair with me today?

  5. Where do we need to swarm today?

  6. Do we have any blockers?

  7. What should we drop to focus on the highest priority?

  8. Shall we reduce WIP?

  9. Appreciation time for provided help. Why wait until the Retrospective?

  10. What were the biggest learnings in this Sprint?

  11. Start with a quote about software engineering or agile!

Lessons Learnt

A great Scrum master shall make her teams aware of the true goal of a daily Scrum meeting [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].

Avoid doing Scrum, ask yourself how to be agile and continuously improve.

I have teams holding the daily Scrum in front of the Sprint board. I have teams holding the daily Scrum asynchronously through a Slack channel. Both approaches work well for the respective teams.

Most teams are astonished to hear that you can change the Sprint Backlog during the Sprint if it increases the odds to achieve the Sprint Goal.

Motivate your collaborators to read the Scrum. Support continuous formation. Certification does not proof deep knowledge. But at least you have learnt the definition and read historical and important texts.

Links

References

[1] G. Verheyen, 97 Things Every Scrum Practitioner Should Know. O’Reilly Media, Incorporated, 2020 [Online]. Available: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087T6F5RY

[2] G. Verheyen, Scrum - A Pocket Guide, Third. Van Haren Publishing, 2021 [Online]. Available: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08XWQ7DG9

[3] Z. Sochova, The Great Scrum Master. Addison Wesley, 2016 [Online]. Available: https://www.amazon.com/dp/013465711X

[4] J. Schartau, C. Verwijs, and B. Overeem, Zombie Scrum Survival Guide. Pearson Education, Limited, 2020 [Online]. Available: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08F5GY39V

[5] S. Ockerman and S. Reindl, Mastering Professional Scrum. Addison Wesley, 2019 [Online]. Available: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XTLNPTC