Teamwork makes the dream work, right?

Well, how do you encourage teamwork and get the best results?

A short answer is ‘communication’. But a longer answer is daily scrum meetings.

You’ve heard of these scrum meetings. If not, you wouldn’t be here.

This blog will teach you about daily scrum meetings and how to run successful meetings with your team.

In no time, you’ll be creating solid bonds within your teams and crushing your project goals quickly.

First, let’s define what a scrum meeting is.   

What is a ‘daily scrum meeting’?

Source

To understand what a scrum meeting is, you first need to understand what ‘scrum’ is.

‘Scrum’ is a short form of “scrummage”. It is a term used in the game of rugby to describe the gathering of the team players.

That same idea exists in the workplace as a project management framework. 

In the scrum model, team members don’t just work together, they are a unit. A single unit that starts out knowing nothing but slowly adapts to the project’s challenges. And continually works to deliver on set goals.

Must read: Top Reasons Why You Should Choose WebRTC-based Video Meeting App 

Hence daily scrum meetings involve team members gathering to ensure that projects run smoothly. 

Although used mainly by software development teams, any team working together on a project can have daily scrum meetings. 

So how do you run an excellent daily scrum meeting?

How to run a daily scrum meeting?

Source: Pexels

The following are easy steps to take when organising a scrum meeting:

• Keep the meeting short, usually between 10-15mins. 
• Have only your team members present, except when an external individual participates in the project you’re discussing. 
• Keep your meeting organised, and adhere to your agenda and schedule. It’s always a good idea to bring your scrum board to the meeting so your team can see the progress.

But you may ask, what does the meeting achieve?

What is the main purpose of a daily scrum meeting?

Source 

In a daily scrum meeting, team members open up about what they’ve achieved and what they intend to work on. 

As such, the main purpose of the daily scrum meeting is to check the project’s progress in detail. This way, you can decide if to continue as is or change some aspects where necessary.

Daily scrum meetings help you catch issues before they grow into bigger problems. And that brings us to the next point.

What to discuss in daily scrum meetings?

Source

 During a daily scrum meeting, these three things are essential:

• The progress of each team member
• Their short-term goals 
• The roadblocks that prevent your team from doing their work.

Daily scrum meeting agenda?

Source

It would surprise you that a daily scrum meeting is about more than just serious talk. Here is a great agenda to guide you:

• Icebreaker: Start with a fun team bonding question and give everyone a chance to speak (3 min)
• Project updates: Share updates that are relevant to the entire group. Not everyone will have an update every time (5 min)
• Surface issues: Ask team members the 3 cornerstone questions (more on this soon), and find out their challenges. You can also address the challenges or pair up challenged team members with those who can help. (5 min)
• Assign action items: Give new tasks if necessary. (2 min)

Daily scrum meeting checklist?

Source

You need a checklist to tick off each point as the meeting proceeds. That’ll help you stay on track throughout the meeting.

Read: Best Video Conferencing App For Remote Work: An A-Z Guide

What do you add to your checklist? Well, it’s simple. You can add the agenda, timing, attendees, or tasks you want to assign. 

You can also have a simple checklist like the one below. It’s totally up to you.

Feel free to customise it according to your team’s needs as well. 

Scrum daily standup questions?

Source

Let’s discuss the three crucial questions your meeting should revolve around. Each team member can answer the following questions during your daily scrum standup meetings: 

• What did you do yesterday? 
• What will you do today? 
• Are you having any challenges?

Read: What is Web Conferencing? A Complete Guide to Everything You Need to Know

To set the record straight, standup meetings differ from scrum meetings. Standup meetings don’t have the guide and restrictions of scrum meetings. But scrum meetings can have a stand-up approach.

The three questions above make it easy to measure the progress of a project. But to get the most out of your daily scrum meetings, you need to understand some rules.

What are the rules of scrum?

Source

Yes, nobody like rules, but trust us, you need these rules. They will help you have great scrum meetings and ensure that things go smoothly:

• Scrum meetings should be 15 minutes max. 
• Meet at the same time daily for consistency. 
• Only discuss ‘sprint work’ (A sprint is a short, time-boxed period when your team is working on a specific set of tasks on a particular project. Usually 1 week to a month)
• What are the possible challenges? 
• If the whole team is in the same location, hop on a ‘conference call’. 
• When on a conference call, a head nod or a smile can go a long way in reassuring team members. 
• Always show your scrum board. You can also have a virtual board for video conference scrum meetings.

Source

Daily scrum FAQs

We’ve dealt with every aspect you need to have excellent daily scrum meetings with your team. But we’d also like to answer some frequently asked questions to make it more explicit. Here they are:

Also read: Looking For The Best Video Conferencing App For Online Classes?

Who runs the daily scrum meeting? 

Members of the team are responsible for conducting the daily scrum meeting.

What happens in daily scrum meetings? 

The team discusses details of the day’s work and identifies challenges. Then they find solutions to the challenges.

When is the best daily scrum meeting time?  

Mornings bring clarity to the day’s work.

What is the timebox for a daily scrum meeting? 

The time-box for daily scrum meetings is 15 minutes, nothing more.

Who would talk in the scrum daily standup meetings? 

Team members take turns speaking. One team member at a time.

Who participates in daily scrum meetings? 

Every team member should attend the meeting. Developers, writers, designers, marketers, etc. Non-team members may also participate in the meeting as observers. The scrum master and the product owner may also participate when needed.

Who can attend the daily scrum meeting? 

Attendance is mandatory for all your developers working on the project. The scrum master, the Product owner, and other stakeholders are not required to unless your team members need them there.

How long is the daily scrum meeting? 

Daily scrum meetings should be at most 15 minutes.

Who starts the daily scrum meeting? 

Any team member can start the meeting. Respect your team member’s time, and do not wait for latecomers.

You should also read:

• 10 Best Video Conferencing Platforms That Allow Recording 
• 10 Best Video Meeting Apps To Use On Mobile
• 5 Best Zoom Alternatives, Free and Paid, From India
• Video Conferencing Apps vs. Audio Conferencing Apps: The Complete Truth

Why should the product owner attend the daily scrum? 

Only when they have to explain some details to the team members to aid smooth work. Otherwise, no need for the product owner’s presence in your daily scrum meetings.

Who should attend the daily scrum? 

Attendance is mandatory for all your development team members, even if they don’t have any pending work. The scrum master, product owner, and other stakeholders are not needed, except your team members need them there.

When must the product owner participate in daily scrum? 

The product owner must be present if the team needs their knowledge and input.

What is the role of a ‘scrum master’? 

As a scrum master, you are responsible for holding the team together. And guiding them towards achieving the set objectives despite limitations. Here is what you can do to accomplish this:  

1. Reduce dependence on the internet where possible 

Some of your team members may have issues with their internet access. To combat this, replace apps like Skype and Zoom with simpler ones like grptalk and Join. 

With TelebuJoin, you can host virtual video meetings and webinars with 100+ attendees. And due to its low internet bandwidth usage, you’ll enjoy smoother calls always.

Grptalk even lets you have audio conference calls without internet access. It uses the  PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network).

2. Make scrum boards visible 

Use tools like Trello to make virtual boards and share them with your team. You can pin tasks on Trello, so everybody knows what to do. With the entire team on the same page, working together becomes easy. You can also use Google Sheets. 

3. Listen to everybody 

Conference calls can often get confusing and chaotic. As the scrum Master and the call host, you could take control and ensure everyone gets heard. On grptalk, the host can mute all the other call participants. You could use that and unmute only those with something important to say.

4. Video-enabled conferences 

A daily scrum video conference call can be a real win for you and your team. You will achieve a lot if you plan it well with an agenda. 

5. Use polls to achieve consensus 

The Scrum Master has to iron out differences and get the entire team to agree. Use polls to gather the opinions of your team members and avoid disagreements. This is also useful for decision-making, some issues wouldn’t need discussing, and you’d have everyone’s consent easily.

Run the best scrum meetings with TelebuJoin!

You are not the same person you were when you began reading this article. You now have all the expertise and tools needed to conduct productive scrum meetings.

If you run a hybrid or remote team, you should use TelebuJoin for your next scrum meeting. TelebuJoin is a simple video and audio conferencing platform. No need for downloads and no complex controls.

Schedule a demo to see how it works, or contact the sales team for more information.