10 Rules and Insights of a Daily Scrum Meeting

Many stakeholders, developers, and managers often ask, “Why is a Daily Scrum needed, and how should it be conducted?” At first glance, it seems like a straightforward question, but explaining it in a way that ensures complete understanding by all team and company members is not so simple. In this article, I will share my top ten insights, secrets, and thoughts on the essential rules of conducting a Daily Standup Scrum meeting, its purposes, and its flow. Enjoy your reading!

A project development team should conduct a daily scrum meeting at a location and time that is previously known and agreed upon. This location and time should remain consistent for a team working on a particular project. The Daily Scrum Meeting is the core of Scrum methodology.

Wrong Cases

1) Andy: “Rasim/Guys, what time and where is today’s meeting about migrating products to Hetzner?” – This question is incorrect because the time and place should have been consistently established from the project’s inception.

2) A project development team forgot about the daily meeting, resulting in it not taking place.

3) Being late for the meeting and causing your team to wait for you.

Right Cases

1) Andy: “Guys, let’s head to the meeting room for our Daily Scrum. The meeting starts in a minute, at 12 noon.” – It’s correct when a team member speaks up to remind everyone about the daily meeting.
2) The entire project development team was present at the daily meeting, which took place successfully and on time.
3) Arrive on time for the daily meeting with your project colleagues.

The Daily Scrum ensures transparency and fosters an understanding of the project’s status and the involvement of each team member.

Each member of the development team should, in turn, answer the following three questions. The responses should be formulated positively and in the present tense. This approach enhances the understanding of each participant’s processes, socially motivates, and fosters excellent networking opportunities.

1. What did you accomplish yesterday?
2. What will you accomplish today?
3. What obstacles are you facing?

Why should the responses to the Daily Scrum questions be formulated positively and in the present tense?

The actions you have completed, plan to complete, or obstacles you face should be stated as current facts. For example, “Today, I have completed this task; by tomorrow, that task will be completed.”

Present Time Speaking – Healthy Brain Tricking

By articulating your plans in the present tense, you orient your brain towards outcomes rather than processes. Different tenses carry subtle semantic nuances. The past tense (“what I did”) can feel irrelevant, like history, while the future tense (“what I will do”) suggests uncertainty. By using the present tense, you project confidence and faith in the results, which are crucial for productive activity.

Wrong Cases

1) Responding to unrelated questions
2) Discussing a different project
3) Interrupting a team member when it’s their turn to speak

Right Cases

1) Andy: “Yesterday, I completed specific tasks. Today, these tasks will be completed, and I am encountering no issues.”
2) Focus discussions solely on the current project of the team.
3) Listen attentively to the speaker and wait until after the meeting to ask questions or share comments.

The Question Is Better To Be Pronounced

The Daily Scrum meeting has a specific time frame, known as a timebox. The maximum duration of this meeting is 15 minutes. While there is no restriction on the speech of any participant, the overall duration of a Daily Scrum cannot exceed 15 minutes.

Wrong Cases

1) Speaking too long and discussing every minor detail.
2) Allowing the timebox to exceed 15 minutes.

Right Cases

1) Speaking succinctly and to the point.
2) Conducting the meeting within the 15-minute timebox.

The Scrum meeting, also known as a stand-up meeting, operates on the principle that people prefer not to remain standing for long. Therefore, in good faith, a standing meeting tends to be quicker. Moreover, it’s beneficial for us in the IT sector to stand up and move away from our computers occasionally 🙂

Wrong Case
1) Sitting in a chair, on a table, or anywhere else during the meeting.

Right Case

1) Standing while listening and responding to the three questions.

It’s common to shift from “what I’ve done” to “what I’ll do” mid-sentence because tasks often lead into one another. However, it’s crucial to avoid this habit, as the scrum initially focuses on summarizing the previous day’s results before discussing today’s tasks.

Wrong Cases

1) What did you do yesterday? “Yesterday, I completed the validation for the registration form, and today I will list the users.”
2) What will you do today? “Today, I plan to create a new login page, and, oh, yesterday I reset my password.”
3) What’s stopping you? “No blockers.”

Right Cases

1) What did you do yesterday? “Yesterday, I completed validation on the registration form, added the capability for admin to edit registration fields, and implemented password reset functionality.”
2) What will you do today? “Today, I plan to list all users and create a new login page.”
3) What’s stopping you? “No blockers.”

The Daily Scrum meeting is intended solely for exchanging information about work completed and future plans. Participants should focus their attention on this exchange. Therefore, while one participant is speaking, the others should listen, and any arising questions should be quietly noted for subsequent discussion.

It is crucial to understand that Scrum is not a reporting mechanism to the company or team management. Rather, it serves as a commitment among all participants, reducing stress and fostering honesty with oneself and colleagues. Therefore, under no circumstances should a Scrum meeting be transformed into a report to leadership. Often, it is best if the boss does not participate in the Scrum meeting.

Nobody is perfect, and no project progresses without setbacks. When an employee admits, “I didn’t accomplish anything; I played games all day,” it’s valuable for them to be able to express this openly and honestly. We all have days where the most we can do is play a simple game at our desk. Making an employee feel guilty for such a day could lead them to fabricate excuses in the future, which ultimately misleads the team and erodes the atmosphere of trust.

Wrong Case

1) Sergio: “For the fourth day in a row, I have been working on creating a banner for the Front-end team to display game rounds.”

Andrew: “You are a fool! You’ve been at it for so long. I could have done it in half a day! You’re not a professional.”

Right Case

1) Accept information as it is presented. Issues of self-organization, self-discipline of a team member, and management are separate matters and do not directly pertain to the Daily Meeting. If you have any advice, offer it after the meeting.

A complete ban on all communications during the meeting is essential. WhatsApp, Skype, Telegram, Viber, and mobile phones should go offline, be turned off, or muted, ensuring full attention is dedicated to the meeting. Losing focus during the meeting can have negative consequences and prove costly for both the company and the team.

Wrong Cases

1) Someone’s phone rings or emits notification sounds in the middle of the meeting.

2) A team member gets distracted by their phone, either constantly or periodically, checking it or browsing through it during the meeting.

Right Cases

1) Turn off the sound and vibration on your phone during the meeting, place it face down on the table, or leave it outside the meeting room.
2) Avoid distractions and refrain from using your phone during the meeting.

Consistency, timeboxing, standing, asking the right questions, and providing appropriate responses, as well as respect, independence, autonomy, and self-organization of each team member, are clear indicators of the Agile Manifesto’s principle that individuals and interactions are more important than processes and tools.

Random Agile / Scrum Thought