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Scrum meetings, aside from kickoff where work items are broken out and
taken by team members to work on, should follow a few simple rules:
1) they're at the beginning of the day
2) they're attended by all members
3) everyone speaks
4) items discussed individually: what I did yesterday, what I plan to
do today, and what issues I've encountered.
5) everyone stands, ensuring the meeting moves along
6) open discussion about issues happens OUTSIDE the daily stand-up
meeting, involving only the necessary/interested parties
Scrum is a very easy model to follow, but you have to follow it. The
Scrum Master's job, above all else, is to stick to the scrum model and
step in to correct things that break the model, informing on the
proper time/place/method for handling them.
In rugby (or any team sport), you don't allow the team to do whatever
the hell it wants to do. There is a plan, a model, and plays to
follow. Breaking stride causes the team to fail, and you'll bet
that'll warrant bench time and a verbal beat-down by the coach.
It takes practice, diligence, and time to get the team moving
uniformly in the right direction. But, when done right, it makes for a
very productive, efficient and successful team.
I'm not a die-hard scrum advocate by any means. But, I am 100% about
efficiency. Failure to follow the model - whatever it may be - is not
an option. And if the model is broken, I advocate moving to one that
works or fixing it. This isn't rocket science. Usually when scrum or
any other project model fails, it's due to one factor: poor
leadership. If the model's not working, talk to that leader and find a
solution to make it work. That is, when the leader falls, you step up.
Bill
On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 9:29 AM, Robart, Kay <Kay -dot- Robart -at- tea -dot- state -dot- tx -dot- us> wrote:
> I have found the scrum meetings to be pretty much a waste of my time.
> They are just conducted as status meetings, and even though the team is
> supposed to discuss issues and changes in the meetings, they don't. I am
> working with one team that changes the stories in midstream and doesn't
> tell me, so I get done and the tester tells me the last day of the scrum
> that topics are missing.
>
> If I went to all the scrum meetings for all the teams I work on, I
> wouldn't have any time to do any work, so I only go when I have status
> to report. I am documenting about 20 products, luckily not all at once.
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