Norms for Holding Effective and Fruitful Scrum Meetings

Many types of meetings are held while scrum is implanted in a project. Right from sprint planning meeting to the sprint review and the sprint retrospective, other non-conventional meetings can also be arranged in scrum as and when needed to fulfill specific objectives.  Following certain norms can help to effective and fruitful meetings.

·       Scheduling the meeting

The best way to schedule a meeting is to consider all the information that needs to be conveyed during the meeting, and assign a proper time and duration for it. Do not try to cram in too many topics so that enough time is not allotted for discussing each topic during the meeting. Ideally, the meeting should last for approximately 30 minutes, so work out an agenda that fits into the time schedule. If the topics to be discussed are more, hold a separate meeting to discuss them. This is very important, since the team members need time to absorb the discussion, and remain perceptive to the plan of action decided for each topic in the agenda at the end of the meeting.

The time to hold the meeting should be properly selected too. Choose the time, which is most convenient to all. Ideally, the meeting should be held around 9 AM when everyone is fresh and about to start their day, or if that is not possible, than around 3 PM when everyone has taken the lunch and people are not feeling groggy immediately after having it.

·       Members attending the meeting

Work out the list of attendees who are going to remain present for the meeting. It is mandatory for the product owner and the scrum master to attend the meeting since they play a center role in scrum implementation. Invite only those members who are associated with the topics included in the agenda, and who need to carry out some plan of action based upon the discussions carried out during the meeting. Other members, who are not concerned, or who have no connection with the agenda topics should not be invited so the meeting place is not cluttered up with too many individuals. When the members are less, it becomes possible to have one-to-one discussion, which is more meaningful and effective.

·       Creating and distributing the agenda

Make sure that a proper agenda is created that includes all-important topics. Once the agenda is prepared, send it, or distribute to the concerned individuals well in time so they have enough time to prepare for the meeting. Each attendee should prepare a list of queries or issues concerning his or her work, and present it to the audience during the meeting. If the participants are well prepared, it leads to more fruitful and productive meetings.  

·       Conducting the meeting in the proper manner

Start your meeting on time. It is advisable not to wait for participants if they do not make it on time. It is essential to convey a message that the purpose and intent of the meeting is important, and should not be trifled with. The meeting should also not be taken lightly by the attendees. Some organizations even levy a certain penalty if the participants do not show up on time. 

Another aspect is regarding the discussions to be carried out during the meeting – they should be focused and topic centric. Make sure, only those topics relevant to the agenda are discussed, and the meeting is not emphasized with other trivial or non-related discussions. Utilize the meeting time in a productive way.Read more on https://www.apsense.com/article/norms-for-holding-effective-and-fruitful-scrum-meetings.html

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In Scrum, Is It Possible To Cancel A Sprint? If So, When?

The scrum framework and importance of sprints

Scrum is primarily about dealing with changing market conditions and introducing changes in the product definition while it is being developed. It is very difficult, and in certain cases impossible, to incorporate changes in the features and functionalists linked with the product while its development is currently underway. Traditional development methods such as waterfall do not offer facilities to change the product features once the development has started, since the entire development occurs in stages and it is not possible to reverse the stages, or “undo” the work carried out, nor it is possible to “pause” the development activities and restart them with new ideals and objectives. Scrum makes this possible because the actual development is carried out in sprints which generally last for two weeks. It is very easy to add on, or update the functionality associated with a particular feature of the product.

In scrum, the project requirements are defined in the form of user stories, or product backlog items, which constitute the product backlog. The user stories are arranged as per their priorities and importance in the backlog, and whenever development is to be carried out, a small portion or a set of the backlog, usually the top portion which is more important and carries a higher business value, is transferred to the sprint backlog. During the sprint, each user story contained within the sprint backlog is taken up for development by the team members. After the sprint is completed, the completed user stories are taken up for verification and adjudged whether they are stoppable, and are bug free.

The main feature of scrum which makes it unique is that it supports development in iterations known as sprints. The framework is specially designed to control the sprint, with its checks and counter checks that help to fulfill the objectives defined in the project. If any new feature or functionality needs to be introduced in the project, it can simply be defined as a user story in the product backlog, and subsequently transferred to the sprint backlog for development. The sprint is the most important activity of scrum, and the framework has laid down many rules regarding how it should be controlled. The rules are mandatory, and should be implemented to get the most out of scrum. 

Is it possible to terminate a sprint abnormally before it completes?

The team members have to complete their development tasks before the sprint ends. It is imperative that the sprint process be time boxed, and completed properly if positive results are to be achieved out of scrum implementation. However, under some rare circumstances, a sprint may be terminated before it can complete its full iteration or cycle. The product owner decides whether the sprint can, or should be terminated. Read more https://www.apsense.com/article/in-scrum-is-it-possible-to-cancel-a-sprint-if-so-when.html

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Effective and Productive Features Of A Scrum Retrospective Meeting – What Every Scrum Person Should Know

Sprint retrospectives are a technique in Scrum, used primarily to reveal or disclose the shortcomings and behavior of the scrum team to itself. When it becomes possible for a self-organizing body or a system to correctly identify the pitfalls and problems faced by it, it is possible to correct them by implementing proper solutions which can eradicate the impediments and remove the problematic issues from its roots. During scrum implementation, sprint retrospectives help to identify any erroneous working or problems faced by the team, and efforts are made to correct the problems in time. For retrospectives to be meaningful and useful, more emphasis should be stressed upon self-reflection – each member of the team should feel personally involved and responsible for the outcomes derived out of the sprint activity. This is one of the main essences of scrum. In addition to collaboration and team effort, scrum framework strongly promotes self-analysis and self-correction. Sprint retrospectives help to incorporate these scrum features during the implementation stage.  

Features of a healthy and beneficial sprint retrospective

The scrum guide has little to say about what an ideal retrospective should consist of. Since scrum is all about adapting to changes and collaboration of activities, it can be very difficult to specify exactly what the retrospective should include. Business processes can vary, and scrum implementation may be carried out in a customized manner to suit the particular organization or business. In short, it may be very difficult to define and standardize a retrospective. Rather, it would prove to be more meaningful and effective if the objectives and results of the retrospective are to be considered, instead of its anatomy or structure. Teams may vary, and can be big or small in size. The location should be ideally fixed, but it too can change as per convenience and feasibility. What does not change are the objective for which the retrospective is to be held, and what results are to be obtained out of it. Ideally, a sprint retrospective should support the following features:

• Each team member should engage in the discussion and actively support it in a pro-active manner.
• Discussions carried out ought to focus upon team activity and teamwork rather than individual team members.
• The definition of “Done” is clearly defined and explained properly to team members. Completed user stories should be accepted as “Over” or “Complete” only on the basis of the definition of “Done”. 
• A list of all actionable commitments should be created.
• The results of prior retrospectives are thought about and analyzed from time to time.
• Only relevant discussion pertaining to scrum implementation should be carried out.

 Who attends the sprint retrospective?

Everybody associated with the scrum project and scrum implementation should attend the retrospective. This includes the product owner and all team members. The scrum master too attends the meeting, but rather than indulging in active discussion, he or she engages in a manner which can facilitate the meeting, and positive results are derived out of it.

 Supporting the correct spirit while holding the retrospective

Regardless about who attends the meeting, or the level of seniority, there should be active participation by all the attendees, and discussions should be carried out in an open manner with a clear view of finding true and genuine solutions, rather than finding faults of individuals. Of course, self-introspection and error finding is a must as far as scrum is concerned, but instead of targeting specific individuals, it is important to discuss about team as a whole, and find solutions collectively. 

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Source:- http://quickscrum.wordpress.com/2014/02/10/effective-and-productive-features-of-a-scrum-retrospective-meeting-what-every-scrum-person-should-know/