We approached the reasons for the regular meetings of the team in the first post.
Another issue ScumMaster should consider is where the daily stand-up would be held. This topic is obviously more important for the non-distributed teams.
The stand-up that has taken place without any changes in a team room is the common mistake that ScrumMasters do. People are simply facing their computers and the biggest move they do, is raising their heads from the screen at the moment, when they should be answering questions. Once they respond, again, they turn back to the screens and (are pretending) to listen. This way the stand-up has no potency. There is nothing to create conditions for cooperation in solving problems. ScrumMasters are wondering when we ask if this is a good way. They don’t see too many opportunities for change. After all the questions were answered and the meeting has been held.
How to improve it? Interfere with the comfort zone! It is recommended that the meeting is held in front of the physical blackboard.
This might help,
- leave the monitor,
- stand-up, sometimes it’s enough to stand aside from the table,
- do a semi-circle around the blackboard (even electronic board, but shared),
- ensure the team is not disturbed by either phone or chat,
- ensure private space without interrupting by others, but allow them sitting around and listening (including other ScrumMasters, teams and management),
- people should have the board and papers in sight,
- allow people to see each other – to have a face-to-face communication,
- small changes like these enable better conditions for concentration on meetings as well active participating.
And how should it look in case of distributed teams? Simply switch off your phone and log out all of the sites that might be interfere with your attention.
How does it look like on your stand-up meeting?
