In Scrum, the Daily Standup is one of the 5 events that make successful product development possible in the first place. Why the Daily Standup Meeting is so important, what the agenda looks like and who has to follow which rules, you will learn in this article. A proven pro-tip for the Daily Scrum can be found below.
The Daily Scrum Definition & Rules
The Daily Scrum Meeting is by definition a daily meeting where the development team informs each other about the current status of their work with regard to the sprint goal. The coordination among each other ensures that everyone in the Development Team has a good overview of progress, questions and possible obstacles and knows what the others are working on. This way, each team member gets an accurate overall picture of the project.
In order for the Daily Standup meeting to be purposeful and motivating for everyone involved, you and your team should follow the following Daily Scrum Rules:
- Development Team members must be on time for the Daily Standup.
- The Daily Standup duration is a maximum of 15 minutes (time box).
- The participants stick to the Daily Scrum Meeting Agenda and usually answer three questions (see below).
- As the name says: It is a Standup Meeting, which means that the active participants stand there (preferably in a circle).
- The Scrum Master intervenes in the Daily Standup at most in a moderating role (if absolutely necessary) and notes down the impediments mentioned by the Development Team. - He then ensures that these are eliminated (not necessarily by himself).
- The Daily Scrum Meeting is attended by the Product Owner as often as possible to answer questions from the team on the "What?" and to stay up to date on the Sprint progress.
The Daily Scrum Meeting Process
The Daily Scrum Meeting has usually a set flow with three key Daily Standup questions to structure the meeting and good preparation.
The Preparation
- The Development Team - possibly supported by the Scrum Master - determines the place and time for the Daily Standup. Both should remain constant for all upcoming Daily Standup meetings.
- Each team member should prepare individually for about 2 to 3 minutes before each Daily Scrum Meeting by asking themselves what they did the day before.