Daily Scrum - Scrum Master Essentials

1Purpose of the Daily Scrum

The Daily Scrum is a 15-minute event for Developers to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and adapt the plan for the day.

Key points:

15 minutes, every day, same time and place
Developers only: Scrum Master and PO may attend but don't participate unless doing Developer work
Not a status report: It's the team coordinating, not reporting to anyone

The outcome is an updated plan—the Sprint Backlog—reflecting what the team learned since yesterday.

Not Three Questions

The Scrum Guide doesn't prescribe the three questions format ("What did you do? What will you do? Any blockers?"). Use whatever format works, as long as you inspect and adapt.

2What Makes It Work

Stand up: Standing keeps it short and energized.

Focus on the Goal: Reference the Sprint Goal. "Are we on track? What do we need to do today to stay on track?"

Talk to each other, not the SM: This isn't a report to the Scrum Master. Developers coordinate with each other.

Identify blockers, solve them later: Don't derail the standup to solve a problem. Note it and continue.

Same time, every day: Predictability reduces coordination overhead.

3Common Anti-Patterns

Status report to the manager: People report "up" instead of coordinating. Fix: Manager shouldn't attend, or should visibly not participate.

Too long: 45 minutes isn't a standup. Fix: Enforce the timebox. Take discussions offline.

Problem-solving in the standup: One issue consumes all the time. Fix: "Let's take this offline after standup."

Low energy, going through the motions: People zone out. Fix: Change format. Walk the board. Ask about blockers first.

Skip it when it's inconvenient: The habit breaks down. Fix: Same time, every day, no exceptions. Make it a ritual.