In order to deter people from showing up late to their daily "Scrum" or "stand-up" meeting, some teams charge the culprit(s) a fine, or make them do some embarrassing activity (such as singing) for the team. Some teams use the money to buy lunch for the team once a month or so. (If that's you: Please stop it! You're rewarding the wrong behavior.)
It may be effective, at first, but if there's a habitual lateness by an individual, or usually someone is late (though not always the same someone), then there's a deeper problem: The meeting is not considered valuable to the team.
I was just asked about this, and it showed up as a LinkedIn discussion, so here's what I wrote:
First, let's make a distinction between being late for work, and being late for a stand-up meeting. I think they need to be addressed separately. I only want to address the latter for now, because it's primarily Agile-specific. Stand-up meetings (they last at most 15 minutes, and everyone stands), are a core practice for Scrum and Extreme Programming (XP) teams.
Stand-up meetings that are scheduled first thing in the morning tend to be detrimental to the team: both to the latecomers and to those who usually show up 1/2 hour before the meeting. For those who usually get to work just a little before the meeting, you will find that you really cannot get enough accomplished in that 1/2 hour. Sure, you could just boot your machine and get some coffee; and morning rituals like this are entirely manageable in that amount of time. But expecting to make significant progress on a project task in that time, though, is a lot to ask of yourself. You're guaranteed to be interrupted, and you're going to be anticipating the interruption.
Also, what I worked on yesterday is a fading memory (assuming I went home, and slept well). If I wrote myself some notes, then I have to find those before the meeting.
These fees and amusing punishments are often (appropriately) recorded in the team's working agreement (aka "Rules of Engagement"). This avoids punishments that are randomly delivered and arbitrarily chosen. But note that people can agree to do things that are still rather obnoxious for the individual or team. Someday, no matter who you are, you will be late for a meeting. Fees, singing, etc. may work if you have an entirely socially comfortable team, but let's face it, we're still publicly punishing the latecomer, possibly punishing the team (they have to listen to someone sing?), and probably wasting more of the team's time. Isn't there an old adage about avoiding forms of amusement that requires the discomfort of another? (If not, there should be.)
Instead, motivate the team or individual by finding out why the stand-up seems less valuable than a few more minutes of sleep (or twitter-time, or whatever). Fix the root cause, not the symptoms.
Getting Specific
I encourage teams to have the stand-up before lunch. 11:45am comes with it's own natural motivation for keeping the meeting short (Everyone's hungry!). Mid-afternoon may also work well. Around 2pm or 3pm, perhaps. 4:30pm is getting a little late for those who arrived at 7am, or who have to pick up kids at daycare.
Start the stand-ups on-time. Don't wait, even if the CEO said she'd stop by today with your VC Angel and President Obama in tow. It's not their meeting.
If you're late, don't ask to start over, even if you're the Scrum Master/Project Manager (it's not your meeting, either) or PO/Customer (ditto). If you're really late--or the team feels that lateness is simply too disruptive--then skip it entirely. You know, there will be another tomorrow.
Find an Impartial Observer
The daily stand-up reveals much more than project progress; it exposes the attitude of the whole team and the pathologies of the whole process. If your stand-ups are dull, too long, frustrating, mechanical, or contentious, then hire an external Agile coach (preferrably moi) to observe them for a few days. You likely have deeper problems than a few tardy developers and no funding for pizza day.
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Rob,
ReplyDeleteI could not agree more. Sometimes a little peer pressure is needed, but I have seen people pay for their lack of dedication to the team. I even had one team member say "How much is it for a week or two? Here's $10." Obviously this person was not in it for the team.
Rod Claar
Rob,
ReplyDeleteI like that you are seeking root causes. Here is an idea: run a retrospective specifically on the theme of the Daily Scrum. What is working well, what is challenging or puzzling, what new agreement would we make based on this discussion. Hang agreements on the wall. Invite regular retrospection on agreements "Are these still serving the team?" and "How can I serve the team in making our Daily meetings as effective as possible?"
Another idea: Be a servant leader, and ask persistently late individuals, "How can I help you? I am concerned about you and about the team WRT to your impact on the team. Your tardiness could be misconstrued as disrespect to the team. I need your help with this, so tell me how I can help."
Here is another idea: the underlying cause may have to do with overall lack of team commitment as the purpose of the Daily meeting. If it is considered just a status check-in with the Scrummaster, why should anyone care about arriving late. The ScrumMaster will still get the late arrivers status in due course. Emphasize the sense of commitment in the readout by each individual. Emphasize that it is for them not for you. Find out how you can support them in this daily commitment.
Finally, it may not be that people don't care. It may be that there is no real cross-functional work. Therefore, they don't need to hear what others have to say, and they don't really need to have anyone else hear what they say. Retrospect on this to uncover the truth of that.
Some ideas to throw in the mix!
Jean
11.45 is my favorite time for stand-up meetings. The late-arrivers are present, the early departers are present, and as you say it has its own built-in motivation for keeping the meeting short.
ReplyDeleteI have never brought into the late-fee idea, and all the other tricks people do at standup meetings, like talking in silly voices, or singing when late just seem demeaning to me. The talking stick idea though (or toy or other token that gets passed aroun), seems to work well to keep conversation flowing and not overlapping.
I also have an aversion to "working agreements" as I usually see them heavily weighted by "don'ts", and even without those it seems patronizing to spell out normal, decent behavior in a document. We are not children.
Good post Rob, especially the phrase right at the beginning: Pleas stop it!
Absolutely. I add my voice to the choir of those saying "Please stop it!" All too often I see Scrum Masters trying to fix behavior of people in their team to conform to Scrum rules rather than taking time to understand the root cause. Remember folks that the first value of the Agile Manifesto is "Individuals and interactions over processes and tools". To coach a team you must appreciate each team is a unique set of people and help them work out solutions that respect their individuality.
ReplyDelete+1. the penalty for missing a daily stand-up is missing the stand-up. If you have an arsey non-attender, you've got a different set of problems to solve.
ReplyDeleteTop comments, with which I concur. Also much of relevance in "Software for Your Head" ~ Jim McCarthy
ReplyDeleteThere is another good reason against fees: they can shift the whole team culture from social norms (doing things because they are good for the group) to market norms (doing things because they provide more personal benefit than cost).
ReplyDeleteIn "Predictably Irrational", they cite a study where introducing a fee for parents who pick up their children late actually increased the number of late commers. Because of the fee, they didn't have to feel guilty anymore - they paid for the "right" to be late. Interestingly, removing the fee again then caused even more parents to be late - know being late was free, guilt wasn't restored.