DSM( Dragged-out Standup Meeting )

This blog is a series of posts on the common and difficult challenges many professionals face while implementing Agile. 

Agile is easy on process but many of us underestimate the difficulty of making it work.

DSM = Daily scrum meeting when done the wrong way can bring down the productivity of the entire scrum team and frustrated team members. 

Some common reasons for these frustrations: 

1) Time - How long is the DSM? anything more than 15 min is not healthy

2) Schedule- Does the scheduled time of DSM change very often? 

3) Quality of update - Team member stated that he/she worked on US(UserStory)#1234 and today he will work on US#4567, for other team members it was absolutely no(n)sense 

4) Tone of the DSM - Is this meeting a status meeting for SM/PO?

5) Many side conversations leading to "can you pls repeat" 

6) Team members give the same/similar update every day

7) Team members share too many details

8) Team members perception of DSM

Recommendation for SM: 

1) Strive hard to conclude the DSM in 15 min. Just focus on 3 questions a) What was completed yesterday, b) What will be completed today & c) any blockers 

2) DSM should be at a fixed time every day. It reduces ad hoc meeting anxiety

3) Updates should be meaningful to the team. Instead of Userstory numbers use the feature name that team members can relate to. Generic updates lack transparency 

4) Daily progress sharing by a team member is not for the SM(Scrum Master) or PO(Product Owner), it is sharing the progress with the  team members and SM and PO are part of the team

5) Don't discuss any solution on how to resolve a blocker in DSM. DSM is to report a blocker, take AI to identify and execute the next steps outside DSM

6) DSM is all about the incremental progress made every day. For team members who are stuck with an impediment should provide a granular update on the action taken, instead of reporting something like, "I am still working on the same problem". Sharing granular information like,  I tried experiment#1 yesterday and it failed and I am going to try experiment#2 will help other members to understand the situation and bring in ideas to resolve

7) Scrum master should time box updates from each team member. Sometimes team members may not do it themselves in case the other person is senior in position or a friend 😉

8) Team members should understand that this is an expedited forum to discuss their impediments transparently and get them help.

Previous post: 

Agile - Let's go back to waterfall

Agile - Team fit

Agile- Everything gets stuck in testing