Personal status update

Myth: During the Daily Scrum, every developer answers the "Three Questions"

Follow-up myths:

• Daily Scrum exposes developers who don't contribute

Category: Daily Scrum myths
Danger: High

The basis of the myth

The Scrum Guide states, "During the [Daily Scrum] meeting, the Development Team members explain:
What did I do yesterday that helped the Development Team meet the Sprint Goal?
What will I do today to help the Development Team meet the Sprint Goal?
Do I see any impediment that prevents me or the Development Team from meeting the Sprint Goal?"

This is then re-interpreted as "Each developer must individually answer these questions". It also ties nicely with project status reporting, which is very easy to transfer into the Daily Scrum.

Why is it a myth?

As long as you have individuals working on individual items, the Three Questions are very similar to each team member giving an update based on the Three Questions. As soon as collaboration increases, team members already know what others did, and the answer to question 1 becomes redundant. When developers use techniques such as Pair Programming, the repetition of "Yeah, I was working with Joe on ..." also provides a level of redundance.
The Daily Scrum is not the mandatory point when this information should be conveyed, but the latest sensible point for this. Any information that is already available to the team is redundant during the Daily.
Lastly, the purpose of the Daily Scrum is not to answer questions (it's not an interrogation session), but to synchronize and plan the upcoming 24 hours.


Assumption #1: We're not really a team
When we really have teamwork, what is the benefit of them stating what they did during the Daily Scrum? Being part of a team should imply that others already know what each team member was doing, how far they got and where the problems rest.

Assumption #2: We work on many things

When we collaborate on one thing, it's really difficult not to know what is going on. Only when we distribute the work, we need to sync. As long as Daily Scrum helps me find out what my team is doing, we may have issues with scatter or transparency. Daily Scrum does not resolve these impediments, it only reduces the damage they case.

Assumption #3: It ain't obvious

The Daily Scrum nowhere states that the team should state the (freaking bloody) obvious. It only limits running out of sync. When things are not obvious, we should work on transparency, alignment and focus. As these aspects improve, the amount of communication about every individual's work decreases.

Consequences

The biggest problem of the "Three Questions" Daily Scrum meeting is when there are hints that people are working individually, and not as a team. When the "Three Questions" actually seem to reward having individual contribution over collaboration, the Daily Scrum turns from a synchronization meeting into a scattering meeting, a merit report or - even worse, a bashing or pressuring session.

Remedies

The Daily Scrum is good to synchronize, focus and create clarity on the next steps.

The Scrum Master should observe for problematic patterns such as team members "reporting in" or many different topics being discussed.
When people feel the need to "make up" something so that they have something to speak, the reasons for this should be analyzed,
When developers are more concerned about their own Three Sentences than about really synchronizing, the Scrum Master should step in and challenge the benefits obtained from the meeting.

If outsiders attend the Daily Scrum and use the obtained information to evaluate individuals, the Scrum Master should invite them out.