The main sections of this presentation 1. Overview 2. What can go wrong? 3. Guidelines to run an effective meeting.

1. HOW TO RUN AN
EFFECTIVE SCRUM
MEETING
DAVID TZEMACH
WWW.DTVISIONTECH.COM
FEB 29 2016

2. OVERVIEW
THE DAILY SCRUM MEETING IS EXECUTED PER DAY THOUGHT THE SPRINT,
AT THIS MEETING THE SCRUM TEAM GATHERS TO REVIEW AND SYNCHRONIZE ABOUT THE
PROJECT STATUS.
IN THEORY, EACH TEAM MEMBER SHOULD PROVIDE HIS STATUS BASED ON THREE Q :
1. WHAT DID YOU DO YESTERDAY?
2. WHAT DO YOU INTEND TO DO TODAY?
3. IS THERE ANY ISSUES THAT BLOCKS YOUR WORK?

3. WHAT CAN GO WRONG..?
IN THEORY, YOU HAVE 10 PEOPLE STANDING TOGETHER IN A ONE PLACE AND WAIT
UNTIL EACH ONE OF THEM WILL TELL HIS STORY, THE PROBLEM IS THAT IF YOU FAILED
TO DO IT RUN THIS MEETING WITH SOME BASIC GUIDELINES AND RULES, THE MEETING
CAN EASILY GO TO THE WRONG DIRECTION (PEOPLE THAT SPEAK TOO MUCH , THE
MEETING IS RUNNING TOO LONG, PEOPLE ARE DISTRACTED..).

4. THE GUIDELINES TO RUN AN
EFFECTIVE SCRUM MEETING

5. THE PARTICIPANTS SHOULD COME PREPARED (1)
• STOP PARTICIPANTS THAT DON’T COME PREPARED AND WASTE THE MEETING TIME.
• YOU SHOULD DESCRIBE HOW TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS EFFECTIVELY TO INCREASE THE
SYNCHRONIZATION AMONG THE TEAM MEMBERS.
• THE TEAM MEMBERS SHOULD KNOW WHAT IS YOUR EXPECTATIONS FROM THEM WHILE
ANSWERING THESE QUESTIONS.
• THE TEAM MEMBERS SHOULD COME PREPARED TO ANSWER THE BASIC THREE QUESTIONS ON
A DAILY BASIS.

6. VALIDATE THAT EACH INDIVIDUAL DESCRIBE THE FULL PICTURE (2)
• VALIDATE THAT EACH INDIVIDUAL CAN ANSWER THE 3 QUESTIONS (DO NOT CONTINUE UNTIL
YOU GET THE ANSWERS OR THE REASONS FOR WHY CAN’T HE PROVIDE THEM).
• VALIDATE THAT THE INDIVIDUAL POINT TO THE STORY THAT HE DESCRIBE TO THE OTHER TEAM
MEMBERS (INCREASE THE OTHER TEAM MEMBERS FOCUS).
• VALIDATE THAT EACH TEAM MEMBER WILL PARTICIPATE IN THIS MEETING (MANDATORY FOR THIS
MEETING!)
• VALIDATE THAT EACH INDIVIDUAL WILL ANSWER THE TRUTH ABOUT EACH ONE OF THE
QUESTIONS.

7. THIS IS NOT A TECHNICAL MEETING (3)
• REMEMBER, THESE MEETINGS ARE DONE TO SYNCHRONIZE THE TEAM MEMBERS, IT’S
NOT ABOUT PROBLEM RESOLVING.
• WHEN A TECHNICAL PROBLEM IS RAISED, THE SCRUM MASTER WILL RESOLVE IT
AFTER THE MEETING.
• YOU CANNOT RUN AN EFFECTIVE MEETING WHILE WASTING TIME ON TECHNICAL
SOLUTIONS.

8. THE MEETING SHOULD RUN WITH A SPECIFIC TIMEFRAME (4)
• EACH INDIVIDUAL SHOULD KNOW HOW MUCH HE CAN SPEAK (2-3 MINUTES AT MAX).
• MEETINGS THAT RUN FOR MORE THAN THE DEFINED TIME FRAME, ARE LESS EFFECTIVE.
• YOU SHOULD DEFINE THE START/END TIME OF THE MEETING.
• YOU SHOULD ENFORCE THE TIMELINES.
• THE MEETING IS RELEVANT PER DAY, THERE IS NO REAL REASON TO MAKE IT FOR MORE THAN
15 MINUTES.

9. THE TEAM MEMBERS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THE MEETING TARGET (5)
• YOU NEED TO VALIDATE THAT EACH INDIVIDUAL WILL UNDERSTAND THE MEETING TARGET.
• ANY SUBJECTS THAT ARE NOT RELATED TO THE MEETING SHOULD BE POSTPONED.
• THE BEST WAY TO KEEP THE MEETING ON TRACK, IS TO FOLLOW THESE 3 QUESTIONS :
• IS THERE ANY ISSUE THAT BLOCKS YOUR WORK?
• WHAT DO YOU INTEND TO DO TODAY?
• WHAT DID YOU DO YESTERDAY?

10. SCRUM MEETING IS A “STAND UP” MEETING (6)
• PEOPLE WILL WANT TO STAY ON FOCUS BECAUSE NO ONE LIKES
TO KEEP STANDING FOR HOURS.
• THE MEETING SHOULD EXECUTE WHILE ALL INDIVIDUALS ARE IN
STANDING POSITION.

11. REMOVE ANY “EYE CATCHER” OBJECTS (7)
• THE MEETING MUST BE FREE FROM ANY “EYE CATCHER” OBJECTS
(PHONES, LAPTOPS..).
• EACH PARTICIPANT SHOULD FOCUS ON THE “SPRINT-BACKLOG”
MONITOR AND LISTEN TO THE OTHER TEAM MEMBERS.

12. THE SCRUM MASTER (8)
• THE SCRUM MASTER SHOULD LEAD THE MEETING.
• WHEN REPORTING, THE TEAM MEMBERS SHOULD FOCUS ON THE OTHER TEAM MEMBERS AND
NOT ON THE SCRUM MASTER
• THE SCRUM MASTER SHOULD NOT UPDATE THE SPRINT BACKLOG DURING THIS MEETING (THE
FOCUS IS ON THE TEAM).
• THE DAILY MEETING SHOULDN’T BE A STATUS REPORT TO THE SCRUM MASTER, IF THAT’S THE
CASE:
• THE SCRUM MASTER SHOULD STEP OUT FROM THE TEAM CIRCLE.
• THE SCRUM MASTER SHOULD AVOID A DIRECT “EYE-CONTACT” WITH OTHER TEAM MEMBERS.

13. THE TIME AND LOCATION OF THE MEETING (9)
• VALIDATE THAT YOU DO IT NEAR TO THE TEAM WORKING PLACE (DO NOT
SCHEDULE IT TO BE IN A MEETING ROOM THAT LOCATED ON OTHER FLOOR…).
• MAKE SURE THAT THE MEETING WILL START IN THE MORNING (IT’S A
“SYNCHRONIZATION” MEETING.. ).
• MAKE SURE THAT THE MEETING IS SCHEDULED AT THE SAME TIME AND ON THE
SAME LOCATION.

14. USE THE RETROSPECTIVE MEETING TO IMPROVE THE PROCESS (10)
• WRITE ANY ISSUES THAT YOU HAD ON A SPRINT THAT ARE
RELATED TO THIS MEETING.
• VALIDATE THAT YOU RESOLVE THE ISSUES THAT THE TEAM
MEMBERS REQUESTED.

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