Have you ever heard a status during a meeting that goes something like: “I am working on US876 (user story ID)”; not very useful, right? With just a small change, you can increase the flow, organization, and productivity of your stand up meetings. Here’s how:
Our team fixed the problem by walking the board from right to left, and asked these questions after reading the title of the user story: “What happened with this story yesterday, what will happened with this story today? Blockers?”
The goal of each story is to get it done; so what does this story need to jump to the next column? By asking these questions to move the project along, you’re creating a more organized workflow so your team can accomplish its goals in a step-by-step manner. For example, a common question could be: “What needs to be done to move this story to QA? Do you need any help?”
Remember, the Product Owner is part of the Scrum team. His/her presence is key in stand up meetings for quick follow up questions, (off-the-table talk if there is a discussion needed), or peer pressure to review items that are pending acceptance.
On remote teams, we also recommend using video correspondence, especially if the team becomes distracted easily.
If you practice these small adjustments in your problematic stand up meetings, your team will be on its way to greater productivity in no time. You’ll even notice an increase in the quality of work – remember, small changes make a big difference!
