For a long time now we have run 2 stand-ups every day, first
thing in the morning and first thing after lunch, always at the
same times and always around the board.
The morning stand-up discusses the work-in-progress and allows the
team to co-ordinate their efforts to get stuff done. It usually
lasts no longer than 10 to 15 minutes and starts from the top of
the board and works downwards to cover any defects followed by the
user stories, debt and design work. People stand in a semicircle
and face the board. Each story owner steps out front, faces
everyone, and speaks about progress on their card. In terms of the
acceptance criteria on the reverse side they describe the current
focus and the next steps. They also share what they've learned and
what has consequently changed in the story. When progress on a
story is obstructed a pink Post-it note is stuck to the card, which
says BLOCKED and includes a brief description of the impediment.
When all the stories and impediments have been discussed the team
forms pairs to work on the cards.
The afternoon stand-up is usually done in less than 5 minutes and
focuses on
rolling the ownership of stories and arranging
new pairs. It's also an opportunity for people to provide updates
on anything significant that had occurred during the morning.
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
Two stand-ups a day
Posted by Simon Baker - Permalink
2 Comments
Sounds good!
This is a good example of taking the Daily Scrum one step further. In general, developers do not like meetings, but if they benefit from them they are usually are more positive.
Improve the frequency and quality of the communication within the team is a good thing.
Have you experienced any drawbacks or complaints within the team about these "dual standups"?
No complaints at all. The developers recognise the value in the stand-ups because the output affects them directly and immediately.