Comments on: All For One, One For All – Signal the End of Your Stand-ups

By: Jason Little

Jason Little — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 17:58:32 +0000

I’ve used a ‘rally cry’ to signal the end of the standup. The team ‘senses’ it’s over and someone will put their hand in the middle of the circle. The rest of the team puts their hands in the middle and yells something like ‘go team’ or ‘break!’ or something. Makes it fun and gets some nice strange looks from anybody observing!

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 21:17:53 +0000

I find “Ok, Were done” works very well.
I always make sure to do this, just for the above reasons.

By: Mike Alber

Mike Alber — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 22:35:38 +0000

For those interested, There is some good discussion about this post going on in the LinkedIn Scrum Practitioners Group

By: Bob MacNeal

Bob MacNeal — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 20:07:29 +0000

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.

By: Derek Huether

Derek Huether — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 12:39:40 +0000

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”