Welcome to the Lounge

jschell wrote:

ExcellentOrg wrote:

SCRUM was one of the best environment I've worked in.

 

How many formal process control methodologies have you worked under for real company projects?

How large are the teams both for your current success and other failures?

SCRUM doesn't define a "project manager" and in normal business practice the role of "project manager" is not one that controls people but instead manages tasks. Perhaps you meant something more general like "manager".

snorkie wrote:

I've been doing SCRUM development for 4 weeks now and it feels like a huge waste of time.

Member 8261648 wrote:

It seems like the team is still getting used to the SCRUM mentality but as with most projects, there's probably little time to waste on them getting up to speed.

 

In reply to your original complaints and a couple of things that will help the scrum run better are:

 

1. Would any self organizing team of developers actually plan to meet every day?

A. Yes, the team need to meet everyday so they are fully aware of where they are in the development process and where their team mates are. They need to be made fully aware (usually by the scrum master) of what each meeting will focus on and what is expected of them.

 

2. About half of the 15 minute morning morning consists of, "Lets have a Meet After to Discuss". Half the team stays after the meeting every day. How about just discussing it now and getting it over with?

A. If they are having to have follow on meetings from the scrum, these should be formalised so that the results of the meetings can be shared at the next day's scrum. This will make sure that everyone is fully aware of any potential issues that could impact on their work and as they will have to put more into it than just chat for a while they will probably cut down on the amount of "discussions".

 

3. The other half of our 15 minute morning meetings is just to state that the status hasn't changed from yesterday

A. This needs to be addressed, if there is no progress from one scrum to the next then the project is essentially stalled. If they are saying nothing has changed since yesterday then challenge them on why there is no change and what they are doing to address this. Whatever you do don't let this carry on. It is counter productive and other team members will start to get the impression that they are either doing all the work when others aren't pulling their weight or they will take it as the norm and just stop making progress on their part.

 

From experience the simplest way to keep a scrum going is:

1. Give an update of where the project is along with any priorities.

2. Each person says what they accomplished yesterday and what they will accomplish today.

3. Everyone has a say and they need to question or comment on anything they don't understand or agree with.

4. The scrum leader has to keep the scrum as short as possible but at the same time covering everything that needs to be discussed. If the team is large, make certain people responsible for giving the updates rather than everyone chipping in.

5. Make sure that you thank everyone for their work and contribution to the scrum.

James Lonero wrote:

I also agree.   But, to sound like devil's advocate, we should plan ahead for the meeting.   We know it is coming at the appointed time.   So don't get too deep in your work.   Possibly, scheduling the scrum meeting at a better time, say just after lunch, at the end of the day, when every one gets in may work out.   The idea time would be before or after everyone has or had that inspirational moment.   The hard part is making sure that all of the participants are present at the meeting time.

Pete O'Hanlon wrote:

The Great Escape

Pete O'Hanlon wrote:

The Battle Of The Bulge

Pete O'Hanlon wrote:

Jason and The Argonauts