Daily Scrum Meetings

What is a daily Scrum meeting?

A daily Scrum meeting (also known as a stand-up meeting) is a short, time-boxed meeting where members of the Scrum team gather to provide updates on what they worked on the previous day, what they plan to do today, and what (if any) impediments or issues they have encountered. 

Stand-up meetings are one of the Scrum ceremonies and are a process built into Agile Scrum that encourages problem-solving, self-organization, and continuous improvement.

Daily Scrum meetings are short and typically last 15 minutes. To reduce complexity, the daily stand-up meeting is ideally held at the same time and same place every day. Some teams even hold the meeting standing up to emphasize its time sensitivity. 

Ultimately, daily Scrum meetings enable teams to work through issues and constantly plan, reflect on, and synchronize activities that are in service of the sprint goal.

Who attends the daily Scrum meeting?

The development team, Scrum master, and product owner can attend the daily Scrum meeting. Primarily, the daily stand-up meeting is a forum for the development team to discuss progress and priorities and also work through any issues. 

The Scrum master facilitates the meeting and, though the product owner can be part of this meeting, they have a much smaller role to play. Wondering why? Unless the product owner has functional responsibilities within the project (as part of the development team, for example), they have less to offer during daily Scrum meetings.

Benefits of daily Scrum meetings

For Agile teams focused on cultivating supportive working environments, achieving the sprint goal, and ensuring efficient collaboration, daily Scrum meetings are very beneficial. When appropriately planned, daily Scrum meetings have the following benefits:

• Daily Scrum meetings help sync team progressTeam members can share the progress they’ve made toward the sprint goal, what they’re working on for the day, and get feedback on whether they are moving at a proper pace or not. They can also gain a clear understanding of what other team members are working on, ensuring clarity and visibility throughout the sprint. 
• Daily Scrum meetings promote teamwork During the session, everyone shares their progress and addresses whatever issue may have arisen. Scrum team members can help each other overcome challenges and employ Agile values and principles.
• Daily Scrum meetings can be a problem-solving platform Run into an Agile impediment? Scrum teams can communicate their concerns or issues so that other members can share possible solutions.

Daily Scrum meeting three questions and agenda

Every daily Scrum meeting revolves around three questions — also known as the daily Scrum questions. The questions are simple but necessary for every session. The three Scrum questions are:

• What did you do yesterday?
• What are you doing today?
• Is there any issue affecting the delivery of your tasks?

Members of the development team should endeavor to answer these three daily Scrum questions during the stand-up meeting. These questions should be a significant part of your meeting agenda.

Common mistakes of daily Scrum meetings to avoid

Scrum meetings are an important meeting — we know that for sure. But, for it to be an effective meeting, the stand-up meeting must be run properly. Avoid the mistakes that can impact the effectiveness of your daily Scrum meeting. Below are some mistakes that teams make during their daily Scrum meetings that should be avoided.

1. Tardiness: Stand-up meetings have a time-box that is approximately 15 minutes. Team members should try to show up on time and be prepared to discuss their work and any impediments.
2. Conversation monopoly: When a person has the floor, they should always stay on point and not veer off at the expense of everyone else. Everyone must speak to the team at an end and shouldn’t exceed the time slot allocated to them. 
3. Secrecy: Team members should be transparent about any issues or impediments they’re encountering. Members should also do their best to limit negative feedback or present said feedback in a diplomatic way.

Using Wrike to execute your Agile Scrum sprints

Daily Scrum meetings are vital to the success of every Scrum sprint. Track your Agile Scrum goals, manage processes, and turn meeting items into actionable tasks with Wrike’s project management software.