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Putting frequent, short meetings to work for your team by Linda Rising
AGILE
MEETINGS
I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE THINKING: “OH, BOY, working well, and they were astute enough to know that com-
another article on meetings. Just what I need!” munication was a contributing factor.
cles, which allows the team to share in that many of us are addicted to work. From Reluctance to Enthusiasm:
the success and pain of others. The pro- We put in long hours, look so virtuous, The Month-Long Trial
tocol enables the team to resolve obsta- and seem to be getting so much done. This team had a problematic history. It
cles as quickly as possible. Finally, the We look productive, but often waste was a support team made up of people
meeting makes it possible to track the time on less important tasks. We are from several projects given the task of
progress toward delivering Backlog well intentioned, but working in isola- creating an integrated set of tools. It
functionality. Fred Brooks in his still rel- tion can make it difficult to set priorities was unclear where this team should be
evant book, The Mythical Man-Month, that best serve the team. in the organizational structure, and they
said, “How does a project get to be a It was always an eye-opening experi- were passed around from one depart-
year late?” The answer, “One day at a ence to see how many developers had a ment to another. Each new “home” pro-
time.” The meeting identifies any obsta- tendency to wander off in the weeds— vided a new team leader and a new
cle immediately, and everyone knows intent on solving some problem that management hierarchy. The members of
about it. they felt was important but, even if the team were experienced, tough, inde-
Having frequent, short meetings solved, would not reduce the Backlog. pendent thinkers used to solving prob-
keeps everyone on track. It’s no secret In many situations, the Scrum Master lems on their own. Unfortunately, as a
had to corral these cowboys and team, they were going nowhere fast and
convince them that solving their losing ground with each reorganization.
very important problem was not Finally, they came to rest in a new de-
going to help the team make partment with a team lead who wanted
progress. Sometimes well-inten- to succeed.
tioned people wanted to create a The new team lead called for a proj-
homegrown tool that would (in ect checkup to understand what was go-
the eyes of its creator) solve a re- ing on. The checkup uncovered several
curring problem for teams in the problems, most of them related to poor
future. It was astounding to see communication. This team was not es-
how many closet tool writers we pecially enthusiastic about trying a new
had and how many experienced development method, but decided to pi-
Advice and Observations old hands underestimated the ef- lot Scrum and the frequent, short meet-
fort it would take to produce a ings for one month.
The Network Tools team in my example was less truly useful tool for cross-project Daily meetings seemed too much to
than thrilled about trying a new development use. tackle, so they set a schedule of Mon-
method. However, after only one meeting, they A couple of warnings: (1) Stick day/Wednesday/Friday one week, fol-
were singing the praises of Scrum. Here are to the meeting plan. It’s tempting lowed by Tuesday/Thursday the next
some observations and advice from the team to get caught up in problem solv- week. The meetings involved all devel-
that extended indefinitely its one-month pilot ing. Don’t do it! The Scrum Mas- opers, including telecommuters—some
with frequent, short meetings: ter must be a strong facilitator from different time zones.
and restrict comments only to an- I remember the first meeting well.
■ The Scrum Master must have the skill to run a
swers to the three questions. (2) We had to round up some team mem-
short, tightly focused meeting. Only active participants are in- bers who grumbled all the way, “I don’t
volved. It’s okay to invite a man- have time for this! I’ve got work to do!”
■ Stick to the three questions. It’s easy to get
ager or customer, but these out- Once we started around the table,
off the topic and extend a ten- to fifteen-minute siders may not speak. Sorry. Rules problems quickly surfaced. One person
meeting into a half-hour. is rules! The manager or customer said, “I’ve been having trouble getting
■ Some people are not very good at planning can hear the progress but may not the database access to work.” Another
comment. This prevents any side team member responded, “What? I did-
their workload. The Backlog keeps people on
discussion. n’t know you were working with the
track and aware of expectations. Answering the
database! I thought I was doing that!
questions helps people structure their work and Case Studies We need to talk after this meeting!” The
address tasks in a more organized fashion. The following case studies report next person: “I’ve had trouble finding
■ There’s an increase in volunteerism within the two of my experiences with fre- someone who knows about the code li-
quent, short meetings. The first braries we created on the Intelligent
team. We’re taking an interest in each other’s
team was made up of software de- Network project.” A helpful offer:
tasks and are more ready to help each other out.
velopers who followed the tenets “Hey! I used to work on IN. I can help
■ The best part of the meetings has been the of Scrum pretty closely. The sec- you with that. Come on over to my of-
problem resolution and clearing of obstacles. ond team was made up of testers. fice after the meeting.”
The meetings allow the team to take advantage Their process could be only loose- Detailed problem solving does not
ly described as related to Scrum. happen in the meeting, of course; only
of the group’s experience and ideas. As Gerald
This shows that you can see the an offer of help and an agreement to get
Weinberg has said, “None of us is as smart as all
benefits of frequent, short meet- together after the meeting. For example,
of us!” ings regardless of your team’s someone would say, “I ran into a prob-
product and regardless of whether lem.” Typical responses would be: “I
you’re following an agile process. had that problem a couple of weeks
Here’s an excerpt from another team—one that didn’t use frequent, short meetings: Improved Communication:
We never introduced these [frequent, short meetings], and I believe it was a major mis- Short Meetings during
Testing
take. Quick, daily, face-to-face meetings keep developers informed about what others on
My second example comes
the team are doing. They help stop people from stepping on each other’s toes. They keep
from a test team that was
the team lead informed about who’s ahead and who’s behind. They air new ideas and working on preliminary testing
prevent people from duplicating work. and bug fixing for a feature
when they tried frequent, short
meetings. The team was sched-
uled for four testing times in
eight days, so they planned a
ago. I can help with that. Let’s talk off- mediately see the benefits of the meet- meeting before each test time. The team
line,” or “I know the people working in ings and what they meant for their proj- was on the critical path for delivery. It
that area. I’ll help you get in touch with ect. was imperative that the feature be deliv-
them,” or “I’m having the same prob- As the meetings progressed there was ered on time.
lem myself. Let’s get together after the a shift in emphasis. At the beginning, The big problem this team was fac-
meeting and talk about it.” everyone was there to complain. But af- ing was hit-and-miss communications.
What would have happened if the ter a few team members had reported, Important information was sent out via
meeting had never taken place and the everyone became a helper—a problem- email but seemed to always be missed
problem was never voiced? The person solver. Instead of lobbing a nasty road- by at least one person on the team.
with the problem would have probably block at the team, people began to ask Team members were on so many email
struggled long and hard before asking for help. Instead of taking aim at some- distribution lists that their mailboxes
for help. Or maybe that person would one who was having trouble, people be- were full. They received dozens of
have created a workaround or another gan to take a real interest in seeing what emails a day and could not keep up with
tool that would have contributed noth- they could do to help out. When one them, so they usually didn’t try. As a re-
ing to the list of required deliverables. team member shared an obstacle, the re- sult, unless they happened to see some-
As problems surfaced and were met sources of the entire team were brought one who could remind them of an up-
head-on, the team began to come to- to bear on that problem. The entire team date, they sometimes went about their
gether. I could feel it and I could see that immediately owned every problem. work without knowing critical informa-
the team felt it, too. The fact that the team solved all or tion. In addition, the testers sometimes
Along with this, the team started to most of their own problems helped worked strange hours, and team mem-
have hope. Suddenly, they had a way to clarify the Scrum Master’s role for me. bers didn’t often see one another or
get their arms around the problems they I originally thought that this role communicate plans and results for a test
had been fighting. They were excited would be hard to fill. I thought that the session. This caused problems when
and energized—all in one short meeting. Scrum Master would need to facilitate loads were not ready or fixes had been
When is the last time you felt that any a tight meeting, keep everyone on added.
meeting accomplished anything—let track, and solve problems on the fly. During the meetings, team members
alone a team transformation? It’s hard But for these meetings, a good facilita- could ensure that the proper load was
to believe, but after only one meeting, tor allows the team to solve the prob- being used for the next scheduled test
this transformation was well under way lems and only jumps in when an issue time and that the fixes that had been
and picking up momentum. must be raised to a higher level. Even if added were announced. The team rede-
At the next meeting, most people the team is not using Scrum, this expe- fined some testing procedures to make
were there early and were eager to hear rience applies. things go faster. The meetings allowed
what the others were doing. It was a The team began to grow together all the testers to hear what was planned
180-degree turnaround from reluctance and display increasing involvement in and to volunteer to work the next test
to enthusiasm. These people could im- and delight with others’ successes. Fre- time. The meetings also served to re-
mind everyone of current load problems and suggests that projects use ceremony team leader ask the three questions.
and events scheduled for the next day. to focus attention on project goals and Make sure that asking and answer-
Decisions about the kind of testing to ideals. This is certainly one of the roles ing these questions is the only thing that
perform in the next test time were made of frequent, short meetings. The agenda happens. This should take fifteen to
by the group instead of just the tester is the same for each meeting: ask the thirty minutes—and it’s a good way to
who worked that time. three questions of each participant. This start the day. STQE
During one meeting, the team lead small ceremony is the way most teams
had to make a phone call to help decide at our company began each day. If you Linda Rising is the author of numerous
whether to go ahead with the next were standing on the second floor of the articles and three books. She is currently
scheduled test time. Without the meet- building where product development writing a book with Mary Lynn Manns,
ing, without the phone call, without the took place, you would see clusters of Introducing Patterns (or any Innovation)
information, the tester would have teams gathering between 8:00 and 9:00 into Organizations, to appear this fall.
worked an entire shift on an obsolete in the morning—team members stand- You can reach her at www.lindarising.
load—a complete waste of time. ing with a cup of coffee, listening intent- org or risingl@acm.org.
I saw the regularly scheduled meet- ly to the answers to the questions and
ings provide the team with an efficient then, poof!, the meeting is over and
way to share information and track everyone is back in their offices, work-
progress. The meetings kept everyone ing with a clear sense of where the team
together. The team met its goal—the is heading.
feature was ready for integration testing This is such an easy process improve-
at the end of the trial. ment. Try it with your teams. Frequent,
short meetings have a small cost and a
STQE magazine is produced by
Conclusion tremendous payback. Every day or
STQE Publishing, a division of
In his novel The Deadline, Tom DeMar- every other day, get the whole team to-
Software Quality Engineering.
co observes that projects need ceremony gether, form a small circle, and have the