Scrum

Don’t run your mouth… don’t go out of your way like a know-it-all. If you’re quiet and off to the side… if you listen and if you watch… then you’re able to help people because you see when someone needs help. That pays off as far as the team is concerned. – Bowe Bergdahl.

Desipte the controversial source of this quote (he’s accused of being an army deserter), the sentiment is right and it helped me reflect on the value of managers attending scrum meetings.

For the uninitiated: the scrum is a quick, daily meeting during which each member of the development team answers 3 basic questions:

  1. What did you do yesterday?
  2. What will you do today?
  3. Any blockers in your way?

Attendees fall into one of the following categories:

  • pigs - engineers, product owner and scrum-master (SM)
  • chickens - anyone else

The analogy comes from an old fable about the participants required to produce a plate of bacon & eggs. The pig is “committed”… the chicken is merely “involved”. As a manager, I am a chicken.

Benefits of attending

I’ve grown to appreciate the value of 1-on-1 and skip-level meetings. Attending the daily scrum gives you the added opportunity to actively observe to team dynamics. Here are some instances where it’s paid off for me…

Process improvement

Engineer: Yesterday I spent the majority of the day updating the design document

In our 1-on-1, the SM and I reviewed the document. It was a heavy template that predated the team’s transition to agile. They’d just used it for so many years that no-one thought about updating it. We were able to slim it down considerably and only include what made sense for team communication.

Opportunities for servant leadership

SM: Today, I need ops to install the latest driver. They don’t have a login to Oracle’s site, so I’ll sit with them today to download it.

I knew from listening to everything else on his plate that this was not the best use of the SM’s time that day. I had some time. I sat with ops to setup an Oracle account so the operator could download the driver.

Awareness of subtle time-sucks

Engineer: I’m helping Team Alpha learn the new build tool… their manager asked me to setup a meeting.

Cross-team collaboration is great, but coordinating a meeting with another team is something that could eat up precious coding minutes! In this case, the Alpha manager is my peer. I talked to her and she was happy to coordinate the meeting.

Avoid Pitfalls

Worst case - your attendance disrupts the normal flow of the meeting. Shit… The Boss is here. I’d better keep quiet about this issue!

If your organization is relatively flat and the SM is serving a dual role as engineer, it should be less weird than having two “managers” on the call. However, the more important aspect is trust. If you stay true to 1-on-1s and skip-levels, it won’t feel weird… because you’ve built the relationships.

A few tips…

  • Be crystal clear with the SM on motivation You don’t want this to be like the principal observing the teacher. In your 1-on-1, you could say hey, I’d like to attend the stand-ups when I can. Some days I may not be able to, so don’t ever wait for me. I’m really just there to listen in case you feel something comes up that I could help with. How would you feel about that?
  • Keep your mouth shut & listen If you’re talking you’re not listening. Aside from a friendly “hi guys”, actively avoid becoming a focus of attention.
  • Defer to the SM - if you’re asked a direct question by someone other than the SM, defer to the him/her whenever possible. This empowers the SM and demonstrates you’re there to support, not undermine.
  • Avoid giving feedback during the meeting wait until afterwards or in your next 1-on-1.

So… consider attending some daily scrums. Otherwise, you could be playing chicken with project success.