It seems that Scrum meetings (just the meetings – not the full-scale methodology yet) are starting to catch on at my workplace. However, I’ve heard grumblings from co-workers on other teams that talk about how their “scrums” are droning on and on and not being very productive. I think this may be due to a lack of understanding or clear definition by the scrum leader as to what the meeting should look like.

I found an excellent article that sums it up in a nutshell…

Scrum meetings defined:

The Meeting

As an integral part of the Scrum methodology, teams meet frequently – daily or every other day. The meeting usually lasts fifteen minutes, occasionally longer, but never more than thirty minutes. This provides enough time to address obstacles, but does not allow time to define solutions. Problem-solving discussion is held later, where only those who are involved in the problem attend. Having the meeting focus on raising but not solving issues is definitely a factor in making these meetings effective.

During the meeting, the Scrum Master (usually the team leader) asks three questions of each team member. Each team member answers those three questions. That’s it. Meeting over.

Here are the three questions:

1. Relative to the Backlog (list of incomplete tasks), what have you completed since the last meeting?

2. What obstacles got in the way of your completing this work?

3. Relative to the Backlog, what specific things do you plan to accomplish between now and the next meeting

I also like the XP concept of standing up during these meetings to reinforce the idea of keeping them short. I think, in the end though, it all rests on the meeting facilitator’s shoulders to keep the meetings efficient and meaningful.