This article discusses the essence of Daily Scrum .

In a nutshell

Daily Scrum is a time-boxed daily event in which the Developers gather together to quickly inspect current performance and to identify necessary actions in order to increase the confidence in achieving the Sprint Goal .

Output

Essential:

  • Updated confidence in the Sprint Goal supported by evidence.

  • Updated plans, if necessary, for achieving the Sprint Goal .

Input

Essential:

  • Up-to-date Sprint performance status supported by evidence.

Tools and Techniques

Essential:

  • Time-box facilitation techniques.1

  • Goal-oriented inquiry.2 I suggest iterating based on Sprint Backlog Items instead of persons:

    1. To brief what the Developers have moved toward the Sprint Goal since the last Daily Scrum .

    2. To brief what the Developers plan to do toward the Sprint Goal today.

    3. To identify potential risks that affect the ability to achieve the Sprint Goal .

  • Encouraging a focus on the team rather than individuals.

Better:

  • Visualized information radiators (e.g., Scrum board, Kanban board).

  • Self-managing instead of being conducted solely by Scrum Master .

  

'Essence of Scrum' Series

❶ Product Backlog Refinement

❷ Daily Scrum

❸ Sprint Planning

❹ Sprint Review

❺ Agile Success Recipes: Example Agendas for Efficient Scrum Ceremonies

  

2020-11-24 Memo

The series of articles have been updated according to the 2020 revision of The Scrum Guide (published on Nov 2020).

  1. The Daily Scrum is typically time-boxed to avoid diving into implementation details. The Scrum Guide even defines it as “a 15-minute time-boxed event.” A Scrum Book: The Spirit of the Game also suggests that “this meeting is for replanning and decision-making, not for problem-solving. Strictly time-box the meeting to keep focus on the daily plan and to avoid robbing time from development.” ↩︎

  2. Traditionally Daily Scrum is for each person to take turns to speak up the “three questions”. For example, The Scrum Guide 2013 version said that “During the meeting, the Development Team members explain: […]” This may imply micro-management, however.    In 2017 version it was rephrased in a less prescriptive style as “Some Development Teams will use questions, some will be more discussion based. Here is an example of what might be used: […].”    In 2020 version it was even simplified further as “The Developers can select whatever structure and techniques they want, as long as their Daily Scrum focuses on progress toward the Sprint Goal and produces an actionable plan for the next day of work.” ↩︎