What is a Daily Scrum?
In Scrum, teams have a short meeting, not to exceed 15 minutes, on a daily basis, where they seek to share knowledge, identify areas where help might be needed or can be given, surface dependencies or risks, and agree on next steps to address anything that might be impeding the flow of work to done.
A common synonym for the Daily Scrum is the Daily Standup, which originated in eXtreme Programming (XP), and where collocated team members are expected to stand up during the meeting (generally near a physical board showing the work), which helps reinforce the notion that the meeting should be short.
What’s the Benefit of a Daily Scrum?
There are several benefits of a Daily Scrum, which include ensuring that there is team transparency and alignment, making sure that the work that is being done helps realize the Sprint Goal, and seeking agreement on an action plan to address any new or recurring impediments.
When?
It is common for Daily Scrums to occur early in the work day, although ultimately it is up to the team to agree on a time that works for all of them. Daily Scrums typically occur on every work day, with the the possible exception of the first and/or the last day of the Sprint.
Who attends the Daily Stand-Up?
- The Developers on the Scrum Team *
- Scrum Master (optional)
- Product Owner (optional)
* In the most recent update to the Scrum Guide, “Developer” is a term that represents any member of the Scrum Team, other than the Scrum Master or the Product Owner.
Inputs
- Any changes to work item priority
- Any updates to the Sprint Backlog
- Any new or existing dependencies or risks
- Any changes to team member availability
Outputs
- Confirmation that the work that is being done is consistent with fulfilling the Sprint Goal
- Agreement on any next steps needed to address information that surfaced/re-surfaced during the conversation, for instance, anything that might be placing the Sprint Goal in jeopardy, or that might be slowing down or stopping the flow of work to done
Preparing for Success
Team Preparation
On many teams, the Daily Scrum is often the first time the team communicates with each other during the work day, and thus it’s helpful for each team member to briefly consider the information that is most likely to be useful to the rest of their team members before joinging the Daily Scrum.
Facilitator Preparation
It is helpful if the person facilitating the conversation ensures that the physical space is ready (for collocated teams), that any information radiators (e.g., boards showing the work) are up to date, and that they initiate the conference call (for hybrid or all-remote teams) on schedule, or even a little ahead of time.
Execution
It is especially important that the Daily Scrum start on time, given its short duration. It is also important for the meeting to end in 15 minutes or less. If the meeting is consistently taking longer than 15 minutes, it is likely a sign that the team is going deeper than necessary on one or more topics, and/or discussing topics that might best be considered in a different team setting.
Classic
Past versions of the Scrum Guide suggested that team members base their responses on answers to these questions, as a guideline:
- What have I accomplished since time we met that helps us get closer to achieving the Sprint Goal
- What do I plan to do between now and the next time we meet to help us achieve the Sprint Goal
- What is slowing down or stopping the progress of my work
Kanban Style
- What work items are blocked and what can be done to unblock them
- What work is flowing slower than expected
- What factors might not represented on the board that may impact our ability to complete work today
- What might we have learned that might change what we work on next
- Are we about to exceed our Work In Progress (WIP) limit, and if so, what steps need to be taken to address that
Value Focused
- What can we do to ensure that the highest priority work item gets completed
- What can we do to ensure that the next highest priority work item gets completed
- (Repeat as necessary for additional work items)
Additional Guidance for Daily Scrums
- Many teams find it beneficial to:
- Agree on a visual or verbal cue, to signify they are going to0 deep, and should that particular conversation until later
- Set aside a short block of time at the end of the Daily Scrum, which they might call a “Parking Lot” or a similar term, for a follow-up conversation, which may not necessarily require the whole team to be present
- Rotate who the facilitator is, rather than having the same person facilitate every time
- Have a time-keeping display device visible
- For collocated teams, it’s helpful for the team to stand in a circle or a semi-circle, and to address each other, not the facilitator (if the facilitator is the Scrum Master, for example)
- Each team member should have the opportunity to speak. If anybody else is present, they should only speak at the end, during a Parking Lot or similar block of time that is set aside for sharing any additional information
Related Media
Daily Scrum Video
Daily Scrum Podcasts
Daily Scrum Example
Related Subjects
Acknowledgments
Authored by Steve Moubray
Edited by Philip Rogers
Photo by Helena Lopes on Unsplash
Agile World Resources are provided as free resources to anyone seeking to learn more and are shared under a creative commons attribution license. This means if you use a resource elsewhere you must name Agile World Publishing as the source, who the author is, and the photo creator (if used).
