RallyDev.com
Thu 20 Aug 2009
All For One, One For All – Signal the End of Your Stand-ups
In addition to being fashion forward - the Musketeers were also great at signaling the end of their stand-ups
I was struck recently by the low energy of a daily stand-up that did not signal the end. Some people headed back to work, others started follow-on discussions and others were not sure if the meeting was over or not.
The lack of a clear sign that the stand-up is over can lead to problems:
- People feeling left out
- Not having the right people there when decisions are made
- Time wasted on interesting rather than useful discussions
- People starting to question the merits of a daily stand-up that consumes a lot of team capacity
One way to avoid a never-ending stand-up is to have a clear signal at the end.
The ScrumMaster is the facilitator for the daily stand-up so I prefer that they not assume authority to close the meeting. I like a signal coming from anyone (not necessarily the ScrumMaster) followed by a response from all.
A friend of mine enjoys climbing. At the end of his daily stand-ups he would signal “On Belay?” and the rest of the team would respond “Belay On”.
Sports teams are good at signaling the end of the huddle. One of my favorites is the team portrayed in the classic book by Alexandre Dumas. The Three Musketeers would end their stand-ups with a single cry of “All for one” which then be followed by the refrain “and one for all”
What are your favorite signals?
Ken, awesome post! I can not agree more that you need a clear signal to the end of the meeting. Though I think it applies to all meetings, the daily stand-up really needs to have a clear beginning and end. Though some may not agree with me, I like to use a timer like a big alarm clock. Everyone sees the clock ticking away and know a very loud alarm is going to go off at an agreed upon time. You see people get anxious if others are rambling on and the clock is ticking away. Think back to your youth. Remember how you knew you were late for class because you heard that bell? Remember how you knew you were dismissed because you heard that same bell? I figure let those years of conditioning motivate the team. …and in closing I say, “Make it so” or “May the force be with you”
I agree it is sometimes helpful to have a signal for the end of standup. My first ScrumMaster used to say “Scrum out”.
My only caveat is to be careful of gratuitous ceremony. And, I caution against the potential here for rah-rah cheesiness. It’s a professional flaw, but I cringe at the first hint of scripted, rah-rah ceremony.
The “On Belay? / Belay On” question & response is perhaps an appropriate metaphor if every team-member has your back, but it might wear thin in cases where there’s an undercurrent of mistrust. That is, one might say “Belay On” to follow ceremony, when the actual intent is to let you fall to your death.
Thanks for a thought-provoking post Ken.
For those interested, There is some good discussion about this post going on in the LinkedIn Scrum Practitioners Group
I find “Ok, Were done” works very well.
I always make sure to do this, just for the above reasons.