Productive Meetings: Staying Lightweight

Lightweight Scrum Activities Throughout the life cycle of an agile project, teams will actively participate meetings called daily scrum. These impromptu meetings are meant to help developers hammer out details and sort out any problems that have occurred. In agile, it is important to keep these meetings lightweight. This means that they are well structured and scheduled. The underlying purpose for this concept is to ensure that these meetings are productive.

The structure of a meeting can quickly determine whether it is successful or not. When structuring the meeting, all team members are required to attend. This includes both the Scrum Master and product owner. Leaving out key figures will spell out disaster for the project. The daily scrum meeting should focus on what each team member accomplished yesterday and will accomplish today. By doing this, the team will gain understanding of the work completed and the work that still remains. The daily scrum is not a status update but a meeting for team members to make commitments. These commitments are the contributions to the project. Committed team members is reflective of a productive meeting.

The scheduling of a meeting is another factor that determines the productiveness of a meeting. Some things to keep in mind are the duration, location, and time of the day. Daily scrum meetings should be time-boxed to 15 minutes. The purpose is to keep the discussion short but relevant. To avoid conflict, meetings should be held at the same location and time each day. It is also essential to make the meeting time in morning because it will set the context for the rest of the day's work. Sometimes it is impossible to follow a strict schedule but it is necessary to develop a routine. Whatever the case may be, plan the meeting around the team.

Overall, agile meeting are designed to be lightweight. Being lightweight means that they are well structured and scheduled to be productive. There will be do's and don'ts. Just remember that every member on the team is to participate. Providing relevant information to the project shows each individual's commitment to it.

Work Cited

"Agile at Work: Driving Productive Agile Meetings" Lynda.com - from LinkedIn, https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Staying-lightweight/175075/437990-4.html Accessed 18 Nov. 2017.

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