tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13831777.post6943406583203435048..comments2024-03-27T09:37:53.071-04:00Comments on Coaching Agility: Do You Need a Standup Meeting?Damon Poolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16561311551267979837noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13831777.post-63010345382246891732015-05-21T08:48:45.539-04:002015-05-21T08:48:45.539-04:00Hi Damon. Thanks for this nice article. We figured...Hi Damon. Thanks for this nice article. We figured out that standup meetings are great but<br />needed improvement (they took a lot of time, de-focussed our colleagues and<br />interrupted their workflows). Because of this we developed a SaaS tool to ʺautomateʺ the daily standupmeetings - with just a single email. If you like to take a look: www.30secondsmail.com.<br />Best, Revino<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13831777.post-22890932467318458722014-02-16T10:56:10.670-05:002014-02-16T10:56:10.670-05:00New to agile and stand-ups but do have 30+ years e...New to agile and stand-ups but do have 30+ years experience in sw development. My initial problem with stand-ups is it tend to provide a alternative to managing the project... the managers think they can manage via the 15 minute stand-up instead of spending the time to actually manage the project correctly... also 80% of the stand-ups I've attended go 30 minutes...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13831777.post-45088507535801366662011-07-02T08:50:25.911-04:002011-07-02T08:50:25.911-04:00I can see a lot of value in daily stand-ups. Peopl...I can see a lot of value in daily stand-ups. People shouldn't be forced to say anything. They should understand that everyone else in the team is interested to know how their tasks are going, if there is anything preventing them from being completed, which tasks they're about to pick next... so it's pretty straight forward that it is important for everyone in the team. <br />Still I also prefer to work remotely, since I feel lesser distracted when at home. I'm quite able to communicate with my pears by email or chat, but can't see any advantage in a telecon (in what comes to daily meetings). I have lots of telecons and most of the time if I'm trying to do something else during them, I won't really be paying good attention to any of the tasks...Raquelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08986428250933055242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13831777.post-9039720373706567512011-06-30T10:19:11.609-04:002011-06-30T10:19:11.609-04:00Hi Anonymous,
I'm sorry to hear that you'...Hi Anonymous,<br /><br />I'm sorry to hear that you've had that experience. In my experience interacting with many Scrum teams, most teams get a lot of benefit out of the 15 minute meeting.<br /><br />I have to say, it sounds more like the problem is in the environment there, not in the stand-up itself. Words like "forced" and "not listening" are red flags.<br /><br />I'm also sad to hear that you find it to be a better environment working remote from the rest of the team. That's another red flag that being close to the team is not a rewarding experience which is pretty much the opposite of the way it should be.<br /><br />I hope things work out for you and if not, let me reassure you that there are lots of great Agile teams out there that are rewarding to be a part of.Damon Poolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16561311551267979837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13831777.post-80357162818944115362011-06-30T05:44:05.575-04:002011-06-30T05:44:05.575-04:00There is absolutely no point to a 15 minute daily ...There is absolutely no point to a 15 minute daily meeting. You force people to say things when they have nothing, or force them to summarize when they need more time. No one listens to anyone else because they're too busy concentrating on what they're going to say when it is their turn. <br /><br />The best thing that ever happened to me with regard to meetings was the day I went full-time remote. I attend meetings by telecon. When it is my turn, I deliver my info and ask questions. When it is not my turn, I am work and listen passively. When questions come up that require information, I'm in front of my computer and can pull it up right away.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13831777.post-34700432242878206532010-11-23T16:44:41.445-05:002010-11-23T16:44:41.445-05:00Hi Denis,
I sense three (4?) problems in your env...Hi Denis,<br /><br />I sense three (4?) problems in your environment. First, a stand-up meeting is 15 minutes long and there is no provision for preaching or dictating. If that is happening, that is not a stand-up meeting.<br /><br />Second, you are absolutely right that there is no place *in* a standup meeting for deep discussions. That happens directly after the stand-up meeting if/when required.<br /><br />Third, the stand-up meeting is not the place for any designing or anything like that. Related to that, the idea of Agile is that the teams should be self-organizing. Having managers decide how things will be done and who will do them is not the intent of Agile.<br /><br />It sounds like your organization may be "going Agile" a bit too quickly. I've seen folks "go Agile" without so much as reading a book, getting formal training, or bringing a coach on board. That rarely works.<br /><br />One option is to see if we are coming to a location near you and consider getting some <a href="http://www.accurev.com/events.html" rel="nofollow">formal training</a> on Scrum/Agile. We can also come on-site.Damon Poolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16561311551267979837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13831777.post-7120120252449018152010-11-10T12:31:21.514-05:002010-11-10T12:31:21.514-05:00My office uses morning 'stand up' meetings...My office uses morning 'stand up' meetings and has moved completely away from weekly Wednesday morning meetings. The problem with this is that the short duration of the stand up does not lend itself well to in deep discussions on OHS issues, or alternate ideas to those promoted by managers who no longer are required to know what work we do, why we do it a certain way or the impact on our clients (I work in a Social Work office). They are merely used to promote ideology without meaningful discussion.Denishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09708636046902404401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13831777.post-49578241402171858312009-06-07T10:28:52.061-04:002009-06-07T10:28:52.061-04:00Raquel,
The good news is that Agile has surfaced ...Raquel,<br /><br />The good news is that Agile has surfaced problems (though perhaps you knew about them anyway?) The bad news is that Agile is not a silver bullet. It can surface problems like these or make them more apparent, but it can't solve them.<br /><br />Let's say you weren't doing Agile development and you had somebody on the team that only wanted to do the "good stuff" or was uncommunicative about what they are working on. What would you do? I think the typical answers are:<br /><br />a) gentle persuasion<br />b) peer pressure<br />c) involve HR<br />d) put up with the situation because the person is too valuable to lose and hasn't responded to feedback<br />e) remove the person from the team (or further)<br /><br />Agile doesn't really add another option here, it just reminds you daily that you have the problem and it is up to you to pick from the options above.Damon Poolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16561311551267979837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13831777.post-63691247780112483392009-06-02T05:21:16.928-04:002009-06-02T05:21:16.928-04:00On your penultimate paragraph you refer that maybe...On your penultimate paragraph you refer that maybe if the person isn't doing it's tasks it's because he is lacking job satisfaction or motivation. In a development team there are always tasks that are more desired and tasks that aren't. Some people just want to do the "attractive" tasks and then leave the boring ones to their colleagues. And even with daily stand ups they're able to skip the effective communication of what they are doing. How to deal with this?!Raquelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08986428250933055242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13831777.post-46572492597720252702008-07-11T23:59:00.000-04:002008-07-11T23:59:00.000-04:00I think "stand up" meetings are definitely better ...I think "stand up" meetings are definitely better at promoting communication than the traditional 3 hours weekly meetings. In the traditional meeting the people who work the least talk the most while busy programmers think about the time they lose. Real communication doesn't happen in meetings but in the 1 to 1 discussions that follow after the meeting. And stand-up meetings are good at setting these up.<BR/>I would ad only one more guideline to your list:<BR/>The person asking the 3 questions and leading the meeting should not be a manager since such a practice doesn't promote honest answers due to the pressure involved.<BR/><BR/>Cheers,<BR/>DanielAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com