EFFECTIVE DAILY SCRUM PATTERNS - · PDF fileEFFECTIVE DAILY SCRUM PATTERNS Charles Bradley ... •There is no Scrum Guide requirement that the Daily Scrum be a standup meeting

EFFECTIVE DAILY

SCRUM PATTERNS

Charles Bradley

• Professional Scrum Trainer, Scrum.org

• Courses I personally teach:

• Professional Scrum Foundations(2 days) • Professional Scrum Master (2 days)

• Coming Soon! Professional Scrum Developer - Java (3

days)

• Started Scrum in 2008, Scrum Development Team Member(Java) & Scrum Master Scrum Coach

• Trained and Coached numerous teams on Scrum • Short term and long term engagements

• B.S., Computer Science

Charles Bradley

Overview

• Setting the Stage: Daily Scrum Patterns

• Talk Order Patterns

• Q & A

• Obstacle Resolution Patterns

• Facilitation Patterns

• Q & A

• Who Participates? Patterns

• Who Attends? Patterns

• Sprint Backlog at The Daily Scrum Patterns

• Q & A

WHY SHOULD I

CARE ABOUT DAILY

SCRUM PATTERNS?

Warning:

The Scrum Patterns Prime Directive

• Patterns are not a concrete methodology, and using

only documented patterns is a sure fire way to

destroy creativity and innovation. So… use the

patterns with care, and don’t forget to be creative.

Mix and match, combine, tweak, create a new

pattern, or don’t ever hesitate to use your own

technique that doesn’t resemble an already existing

pattern.

• The Patterns are simply meant to be ideas to

consider

Scrum Guide

Requirements of Daily Scrum

• Purpose: Inspect, forecast, and adapt the plan for the next 24 hrs

• Rules:

• 15 minute time-box

• Same time/place each day

• Each team member explains Yesterday/Today/Obstacles

• Only Dev Team members participate • SM enforces this

• Not a status meeting

• No Scrum Guide Guidance On:

• Who can attend

• Whether obstacle resolution is handled inside or outside of the meeting

• Standup vs. Sit Down

Pattern Categories – Daily Scrum

• Talk Order Patterns(3)

• Obstacle Resolution Patterns(5)

• Facilitation Patterns(5)

• Who Participates? Patterns(2)

• Who Attends? Patterns(4)

• Sprint Backlog at The Daily Scrum Patterns(2)

TALK ORDER

PATTERNS

Round Robin

• One person starts, talk order proceeds in some

spatial pattern (clockwise, counter-clockwise, left to

right, etc)

• Teams often stand in a circle or semi-circle

Round Robin - Context

• Possibly Good For:

• New Scrum teams – simple technique

• Possibly Bad For:

• Teams that have been doing this same technique for a

long time, and are now bored with it. Change it up!

Talking Stick

• The person speaking in a Daily Scrum holds a “talking

stick” or token of some sort.

• Helps keep interruptions and side conversations to a

minimum.

• Helps to understand when previous speaker is

finished talking -> passes the stick

Talking Stick - Context

• Possibly Good For: • Teams with too many side discussions or interruptions • Teams that need to “break the monotony” of a previous Daily

Scrum format

• Possible Strategy: For Distributed Teams: “Toss the microphone” • Forces people to pay attention

• Possible Strategy: For Co-located Teams: “Random Order, Toss the Token” • Toss a physical token, mascot, ball, etc • Forces people to pay attention

• Be safe!

• Possibly Bad For: • Teams that find this technique annoying or kitchy • Teams that have been doing this same technique for a long

time, and are now bored with it. Change it up!

Controversial Pattern:

Walk the Items

• Rather than going person by person, the meeting is

facilitated to go PBI by PBI

• Someone indicates which PBI is being discussed

• Each person that worked on it yesterday or plans to

work on it today talks about:

• What they did yesterday on this PBI

• What they plan to do today on this PBI

• What possible obstacles are getting in their way for this PBI

Controversial Pattern:

Walk the Items - Context

• Possibly Good For: • Teams that struggle with getting closure on PBI’s. • Teams that are highly co-located and highly communicative

throughout the day, such that improvements or tips are shared immediately, rather than sharing them in the Daily Scrum

• Possibly Bad For: • Teams that share a lot of information or tips in the Daily Scrum

that may be unrelated to a particular PBI

• Teams where this approach might lead to the team following the <Turns into a Waterfall Status Meeting> anti-pattern, due to the similarities of this approach, and the Waterfall status meeting approach.

• Teams where members might find it easier to recall their previous (and forecast their next) 24 hours chronologically, rather than having to sort that 48 hours worth into what information applies to each PBI

OBSTACLE

RESOLUTION

PATTERNS

Defer Obstacle Resolution

• Don’t attempt to solve obstacles and impediments in

the Daily Scrum.

• Identify obstacles and impediments, but don’t solve

• Can allow some minimum discussion, but then need

to defer at some point

• Possible Strategy: Hand sign or other signal to

indicate someone’s preference for deferring a

particular obstacle’s resolution

Defer Obstacle Resolution -

Context

• Possibly Good For

• Teams that have trouble keeping the DS time-box

• Teams that want really short Daily Scrums, where they

can opt out of discussing specific topics

• Possibly Bad For

• Teams that are smaller, or can quickly discuss their

obstacles and impediments within the 15 minute time-

box.

Allow Obstacle Resolution

• Allow some or all obstacles and impediments to be

resolved in the Daily Scrum.

• Of course, some obstacles require information or

people not available at the Daily Scrum

• Can included discussion

• Must be able to consistently conform to the 15

minute time-box

Allow Obstacle Resolution -

Context


• Teams that are smaller, or can quickly discuss their

obstacles and impediments within the 15 minute time-

box.


• Teams that have trouble keeping the DS time-box

• Teams that want really short Daily Scrums, where they

can opt out of discussing specific topics

Anti-Pattern: Save All Obstacles

For The Daily Scrum

• Team defers discussing and resolving all obstacles

until the Daily Scrum

• Often happens with teams new to Scrum

• Increases obstacle delays by as much as 24 hours

• Instead, report and/or resolve all possible obstacles

as soon as they are identified. Don’t feel like you

have to wait until the Daily Scrum to report and/or

resolve.

Anti-Pattern: Save All Obstacles

For The Daily Scrum - Context


• Obstacles that appear shortly before the Daily Scrum.

• Discussing at or after the Daily Scrum is easier than calling a

separate gathering just before the Daily Scrum.


• Just about any situation that does not meet the

“Possibly Good For” context above. Attempt to

report/resolve all possible obstacles as soon as they are

identified.

The After Party

• The Dev Team meets just after the Daily Scrum to

handle things that are inappropriate for the Daily

Scrum.

• Non Dev Team members can also attend, though this

risks the appearance of the <After Party Defeats the

Daily Scrum> anti-pattern.

The After Party – Part 2

• Be sure to signal the official end of the Daily Scrum somehow, so it’s clear you’re now in <The After Party>.

• If your team follows the <Standup Meeting> pattern, this might be a time to sit down and discuss things that take longer to discuss. You might also change venues.

• If you end up with a long list of items to discuss at <The After Party>, see if it’s because the team is following the <Save All Obstacles For The Daily Scrum> anti-pattern.

• Possible Strategy: If you have multiple items to discuss, consider ordering the items such that the ones needing the largest audience are first, followed by ones needing smaller audiences, and so on.

• Possible Strategy: Allow Development Team members to “vote with their feet” at <The After Party>.

The After Party - Context


• Discussions with those not on the Development team

• Obstacle resolution if you’re following the <Defer

Obstacle Resolution> pattern.

• Discussions where only a small subset of the

Development team is needed and you don’t want to

waste the other members’ time.


• Any team that might succumb to the <After Party

Defeats the Daily Scrum> pattern.

But be careful. This…

…can turn into this!

Anti-Pattern: After Party Defeats

the Daily Scrum

• One or more non Scrum Team members “takes over”

<The After Party> and harms the self organization of

the Scrum Team.

• Related: See <Authority Figure Attends> anti-pattern.

• Often times when this anti-pattern is present, it will

feel like <The After Party> renders what just

happened at the Daily Scrum completely moot.

Anti-Pattern: After Party Defeats

the Daily Scrum


• No known context where this pattern is good for a

Scrum implementation.


• Any team where there seems to be a risk of this anti-

pattern.

FACILITATION

PATTERNS

Standup Meeting

• Participants stand up during the Daily Scrum

• Vast majority of Scrum teams do a stand up and

report that it is quite the successful practice

Standup Meeting - Context


• Teams that have trouble keeping to the DS time-box

• Teams that will communicate more efficiently if they are

standing.

• Teams that could use some “standup” time because

they sit most of the day

• Teams that enjoy the “standup tradition” of the Daily

Scrum


• Distributed teams that attend the DS via audio or video

conferencing at their desks or at home.

Sit Down Meeting

• Participants in the Daily Scrum sit down for the

meeting

• There is no Scrum Guide requirement that the Daily

Scrum be a standup meeting

• Should be used with caution

Sit Down Meeting - Context


• Distributed teams that attend the DS via audio or video

conferencing at their desks or at home.


• Teams that

• have trouble keeping the DS time-box

• will communicate more efficiently if they are standing.

• could use some “standup” time because they sit most of the day

• enjoy the “standup tradition” of the Daily Scrum

• will “lose energy and team spirit” by having a sit down meeting,

or maybe sitting down reminds them of old, painful, Waterfall

status meetings.

Close Facilitator

• A facilitator (often the Scrum Master) facilitates the

meeting very closely

• Might give hints to team members to mention

something

• Might coach members closely on what to do, say, or

that they need to let the next person talk

• Might simply just ask insightful questions to the team or

its members to “expose the system to itself”

• Subtle difference between “Close Facilitator” and

“Anti-Pattern: Controlling Facilitator”

Close Facilitator - Context


• Brand New Scrum Teams who need close teaching on

how to hold an effective Daily Scrum.

• Distributed Scrum Teams so that the Daily Scrum is

organized, and moves along efficiently. Consider the

<Talking Stick> pattern (“Toss the Microphone

Strategy”) as an alternative to this pattern for achieving

the same thing.


• Newer Scrum Teams that have the mechanics down

and no longer need the close facilitation and teaching

Anti-Pattern: Controlling

Facilitator

• A facilitator controls the meeting very tightly

• Might call out the name of each person before they talk

• Might quiz the person several levels deep to go further on “what is holding them up”

• Controlling Facilitator can be a Scrum Team member OR a Non Scrum Team member.

• Consider <Close Facilitator> pattern instead

• Often happens when <Authority Figure Attends>

Anti-Pattern:

Controlling Facilitator - Context


• No contexts are currently documented for when this

anti-pattern might be possibly good for a Scrum

implementation.

• Possibly Bad For • This is an anti-pattern for any Scrum team because it harms self-

organization.

• See Also:

• Anti-Pattern: <Turns into a Waterfall Status Meeting>

• Anti-Pattern: <Authority Figure Attends>

Anti-Pattern: Turns into a

Waterfall Status Meeting

• Focus on time (% complete, actual hours, etc) instead of

what the obstacle is, what help is needed, or what work is remaining

• Someone other than the Scrum Master or Development Team facilitates the meeting

• A <Controlling Facilitator> is present, • Polling each person for their status, and/or

• Interrogating people about obstacles or things that take longer than expected

• Constantly reminding team members about deadlines

• Meeting goes completely off track often

• People dread going to the meeting

• People appear to be “reporting” to a particular person present, rather than reporting to their fellow development team members. See <Authority Figure Attends> anti-pattern.

Anti-Pattern: Turns into a Waterfall

Status Meeting - Context




implementation.

• Possibly Bad For • This is an anti-pattern for any Scrum team because it harms self-

organization, and the ability of the team to inspect and adapt.

• See Also:

• Anti-Pattern: <Controlling Facilitator>


Q&A

WHO

PARTICIPATES?

PATTERNS

Controversial Pattern: Product

Owner Participates

• Product Owner Participates in the Daily Scrum

• Scrum Guide

• Only Dev Team members “participate”

• Participate == “yesterday/today/possible obstacles”?

• Agile Atlas (Scrum Alliance)

• Only Dev Team members give the

yesterday/today/possible obstacles

• PO and SM allowed to talk

• Non Scrum Team Members not allowed to talk or

participate

Controversial Pattern: Product

Owner Participates - Context


• Teams that have a good working relationship with their

PO


• Teams where the PO might harm Dev Team self

organization or exhibit one of the following anti-

patterns: • Anti-Pattern: <Authority Figure Attends>

• Anti-Pattern: <Controlling Facilitator>

Anti-Pattern: Non Scrum Team

Member Participates

• A person who is not on the Scrum Team participates

by speaking, or doing the “yesterday/today/possible

obstacles” talk

• This is a direct violation of the Scrum Guide which says

that only the Dev Team participates.

Anti-Pattern: Non Scrum Team

Member Participates - Context




implementation.

• Possibly Bad For • Any Scrum Team. This violates a very specific Scrum rule, and

harms self-organization, transparency, and the purpose of the

Daily Scrum itself.

• It’s better if the outsiders participate in the <The After Party> instead.

• See Also:

• Anti-Pattern: <Turns into a Waterfall Status Meeting>


WHO ATTENDS?

PATTERNS

Note difference between “attend” and

“participate.”

Only Dev Team Attends

• Only the Dev Team attends the Daily Scrum

• Caveat: Dev Team should make sure that they are still

serving/communicating with the Scrum Master, Product

Owner, and wider organization well, through any other

needed communication mechanisms.

Only Dev Team Attends - Context


• Teams where the Development Team is highly self organizing, and knows how to hold a correct and highly productive Daily Scrum


• Teams new to Scrum, who need some teaching and mentoring from the Scrum Master on how to hold a correct and effective Daily Scrum

• Teams who need a Scrum Master present to shield the Dev Team from outsiders – See <Authority Figure Attends> anti-pattern

• Teams where a Scrum Master’s extended absence has allowed slow degradation of the quality of the Daily Scrum

Scrum Master Attends

• The Scrum Master Attends the Daily Scrum

Scrum Master Attends - Context

• Possibly Good For: • Teams new to Scrum, who need some teaching and

mentoring from the Scrum Master on how to hold a correct and effective Daily Scrum.

• Teams who need the Scrum Master to help enforce the rules of the Daily Scrum, or make sure the Scrums are still effective.

• Teams who need a Scrum Master present to shield the Dev Team from outsiders – See <Authority Figure Attends> anti-pattern

• Possibly Bad For: • Teams where the Scrum Master is also an authority figure, and

has trouble playing only their Scrum Master role at the Daily Scrum.

• Teams that get dependent on the Scrum Master attending the Daily Scrum. The Scrum Master should make every effort to teach the Dev Team to hold their own, effective, Daily Scrums.

Product Owner Attends

• The Product Owner Attends the Daily Scrum

Product Owner Attends - Context


• Dev Teams who often need to speak to the Product

Owner at <The After Party>

• Product Owners who are “team players,” and attend to

hear how they can help the Scrum Team succeed.


• Scrum Teams that get into the habit of thinking that the

only time they can communicate to the Product Owner

is at the Daily Scrum or at <The After Party>. The

Product Owner should be highly available throughout

the Sprint.

• Product Owners who exhibit the <Authority Figure

Attends> or <Controlling Facilitator> anti-pattern.

Anti-Pattern: Authority Figure

Attends

• Someone of authority attends

• Team Lead

• Manager

• Executive

• Powerful Stakeholder

Anti-Pattern: Authority Figure

Attends

• Possibly Good For: • In extremely rare cases, it might be ok for the authority figure to attend

occasionally, when the authority figure is • not a Scrum Team member, AND • well liked, AND • not feared in any way that would harm Scrum or self-organization.

(consider educating the authority figure on Scrum and encourage them to attend Sprint Reviews instead)

• Organizations new to Scrum, where the authority figure is just trying to observe occasionally to understand more about how Scrum works.

• Teams where there is no getting around the fact that an authority figure is a member of the Scrum Team. In these cases, the authority figure is encouraged to take their “authority” hat off during the Daily Scrum, and to only wear their “Scrum role” hat during the Daily Scrum.

• Possibly Bad For: • Pretty much any situation not described in the “Possibly Good For”

section, plus… • Authority figures who don’t realize that effect they have on the team –

somewhat akin to the “lab coat effect”

SPRINT BACKLOG

AT THE DAILY

SCRUM PATTERNS

View Sprint Backlog at Daily

Scrum

• The Sprint Backlog is viewed or displayed at the Daily

Scrum.

• Typically done via a Physical Scrum Board for co-

located teams.

• For distributed teams/members could be a Sprint

Backlog depiction on a computer screen.

• Examples:

• Physical Scrum board

• Photograph of the Physical Scrum board

• Webcam pointed at the Physical Scrum board

• ALM tool screen

View Sprint Backlog at Daily

Scrum - Context


• Pretty much any Scrum Team, so long as they are not

exhibiting some other anti-pattern (<Authority Figure

Attends> , <Controlling Facilitator>, <Turns into a

Waterfall Status Meeting>, etc)



pattern might be possibly bad for a Scrum

implementation.

Controversial Pattern: Update Sprint

Backlog During Daily Scrum

• The Scrum team updates the Sprint Backlog and/or

Burndown during the Daily Scrum

Controversial Pattern: Update Sprint

Backlog During Daily Scrum - Context

• Possibly Good For • Very advanced/experienced Scrum Teams who will not let the updating get in

the way of the purpose of the Daily Scrum.

• Possibly Bad For • Less experienced Scrum Teams who are not yet excellent at having highly

effective Daily Scrums.

• Teams where the updating might distract from the “inspect and adapt” nature of the Daily Scrum since people are so focused on interacting with the Scrum Board or an ALM tool.

• Teams where the updating might hinder transparency since such a large crowd is watching the person do the update. The updater might feel compelled to make the audience happy instead of well informed. This is especially true if the <Authority Figure Attends> anti-pattern is present.

• Teams where the members might feel like the Daily Scrum is the only time to update the Sprint Backlog, and this will definitely hinder transparency. • Harder to update, inspect, and adapt based on the amount of work remaining(burndown),

when the current work remaining won’t be known until the very end of the Daily Scrum.

• A future Scrum Technique Pattern will document a different (and generally better) pattern, along the lines of <Update the Sprint Backlog Immediately>.

Create Your Own Pattern!

• <Your Pattern Description Here>

Create Your Own Pattern! -

Context


• <Possibly Good For these situations…>


• <Possibly Bad For these situations…>

Warning:

The Scrum Patterns Prime Directive

• Patterns are not a concrete methodology, and using

only documented patterns is a sure fire way to

destroy creativity and innovation. So… use the

patterns with care, and don’t forget to be creative.

Mix and match, combine, tweak, create a new

pattern, or don’t ever hesitate to use your own

technique that doesn’t resemble an already existing

pattern.

• The Patterns are simply meant to be ideas to

consider

Q&A

Wrapup

• Consider the Patterns as Ideas

• Not an official part of Scrum in any way

• Pay Attention to the Applicable Context

• You can find a pdf summarizing the patterns here:

• http://www.ScrumCrazy.com/DSPatterns

• Be published! Contribute your own patterns! See

the link above for details on how to submit your own

Scrum Patterns.

http://www.scrumcrazy.com/DSPatterns

Documents

EFFECTIVE DAILY SCRUM PATTERNS - · PDF fileEFFECTIVE DAILY SCRUM PATTERNS Charles Bradley ... •There is no Scrum Guide requirement that the Daily Scrum be a standup meeting