I had some teams, or people, encountering some “difficulties” to stay attentive during the SCRUM meeting. Especially during the daily stand-up meeting. We’re about to discuss about other SCRUM ceremonies later.
First of all, please remember the stand-up meeting involves standing, and taking as less time as possible. The SCRUM master is the guardian of the method, and have to cut short when expanding on a subject.
Now that it’s said, let’s see how to keep the whole team stay attentive during the SCRUM meeting.
It’s quite easy !
Ask the team to stand in a circle during the daily stand-up meeting, and find something to throw from hand to hand. It can be a small ball, as for example a small basket ball, football ball, etc.
Get ready for the new daily stand-up meeting !
And the rule is now really simple. You can speak only when you have the ball. Once done, throw the ball to a colleague that is not directly on your left or right, and do not warn the colleague before throwing. This way, everyone have to stay attentive during the SCRUM meeting so as not to take the ball right in the face.
The online daily stand-up meeting
COVID-19 drastically changed our way of working in the IT world. Firstly, it proved to companies and CEO that people are sufficiently responsible to work at home and not spend the whole day watching TV. On the other hand, we are not always on site and you will not ask people to stand-up in an online meeting.
To keep people a maximum attentive, I never use the alphabetical order to give the word to people. Instead, I use the order of people are displayed on screen. It’s never the same, and it can even move if someone arrive after the start of the daily stand-up meeting.
In conclusion
You will see that the benefits of a short Scrum daily stand-up meeting will appear really soon. Generally, the team is also happy with short DSM, as they prefer to code than to speak.
Also, this new habit will be usually quickly understand by the team, and you should not have to keep it for long.