Scrum Framework is one of the most widely adopted Agile frameworks as it is lightweight and easy to understand by many organizations. Scrum works iteratively and incrementally where the values are delivered in time-boxed periods called Sprints. When the project begins, the team works on building the basics of the product which could be released in the market. Later, based on the feedback of the customers and the users, the Developers start adding product increments to the Sprints. Scrum conducts four essential meetings called Sprint Planning, Sprint Review, Sprint Retrospective. While each Scrum event has a crucial role to play in product development, in this article, we learn more about the purpose of the Daily Scrum, which is also called Daily Stand-up. 

What is Daily Scrum?

Daily Scrum is one of the most important Scrum Events that help Developers reduce complexity in the product development and easily communicate with each other and the Scrum Master and Product Owner. It is a 15-minute event where the Developers discuss the techniques and structures they are using to progress forward for the Sprint Goal. The Daily Standup is held at the same place and time every working day. If the Scrum Master and the Product Owner are also working on the items of the Product Backlog, they participate as Developers. Daily Scrum aims to provide a structure for the Developers such that they can form an actionable plan for the day. It improves the self-management of the Developers and helps them to create focus in their work. 

One of the most important Daily Scrum purposes is to enhance the communications among the Developers such that they can find out impediments that would hinder the product development process earlier. Daily Stand up also helps in promoting quick decision-making skills such that the team need not hold other meetings that may have erupted if a particular problem would not have been solved. Another point to understand is that Daily Scrum is time-boxed and each individual only gets a limited time to explain how they are working with the process and how much progress they have made since yesterday. Daily Scrum is not the only time that the Developers communicate, they can have detailed discussions and meetings throughout the day to adapt and re-plan the rest of the Sprint’s tasks. 

What is the purpose of Daily Standup?

The purpose of the Daily Scrum is to evaluate the progress seen towards the Sprint Goal such that the team can make changes to the Sprint Backlog as needed and hence, update the existing work remaining in the Sprint. The Daily Scrum is used to assess the progress of the team and evaluate how they are working towards completing the Sprint Goal. It helps the team to understand how much they have to work such that they achieve the Sprint Goal. The Sprint aims to create an anticipated Product Increment at the end of the Sprint such that it adds value to the product. Daily Scrum helps the Developers to communicate and accomplish the aim and help the team become a self-organizing team.

The Scrum team often meets immediately after the Daily Scrum so that they can discuss the tasks of the Sprint in detail. They adapt and re-plan the remaining work in the Sprint, such that they can achieve the Sprint Goal. The Daily Standup helps the Developers to improve their level of knowledge and makes them concentrate on communicating with other members of the team. The main purpose of the Daily Scrum is also to remove any impediments that may arise during the development and solve it before it becomes a bigger issue. 

Purpose of Daily Scrum Questions

Before the Scrum 2020 update, the structure of the Daily Scrum was standard. The Developers had to answer three questions that would help everyone understand their progress towards the Sprint Goal. However, after the Scrum 2020 update, there is no specific structure in which the Developers have to structure their updates about their progress. Nevertheless, as a beginner in the Scrum, knowing about the three Daily Standup questions would give individuals clarity of what they have to present in the Daily Scrum.

The three Daily Scrum questions are:

• What did the Developer do yesterday that contributed to the Sprint Goal?
   
• What will they do today which will make them closer to the goal?
   
• Whether they are facing any impediments which are blocking their progress?

As these questions are pretty straightforward, one can understand what the Developer has to know before going for the Daily Scrum. The main purpose of Daily Scrum meeting questions are:

1. Ensuring that everyone on the Scrum Team is on the same page and knowing who has completed particular tasks. This helps the Developers in understanding what tasks need completion and what plans could be changed today based on the results yesterday.
    
2. A complete picture of the progress of the Sprint could be seen by the team so that they can help adjust their plans to complete their goal.
    
3. The blocker/impediments could be removed by the team and help each other finish their Sprint tasks.

Role of Scrum Master in Daily Scrum

The main task of the Scrum Master is to make sure that the meeting takes place every day. However, they do not act as the primary person who conducts the meeting. The Scrum Master encourages the Developers to facilitate the meeting such that they promote self-organization in the team. The Scrum Master also ensures that the Daily Scrum is time-boxed such that it is completed within 15 minutes. As the Daily Scrum is an internal meeting among the Developers, other people from outside the team are not allowed to disrupt the meeting. The Scrum Master makes sure that the meeting goes smoothly and the Developers do not have any disturbance from outside. 

Scrum 2020 Update for Daily Scrum Meeting

In 2017, the Scrum guide made the three questions optional and in the 2020 update, the Scrum guide eliminated these questions. The main aim of the Scrum guide 2020 update is to encourage the Scrum Framework to be more open and less prescriptive. By eliminating the questions specifically, the Developers can explain more easily what exactly they are working on. This gives them more flexibility to work and perform better. The Developers can suggest any questions which shed light on the project progress and answer questions regarding the Sprint Goal. The course of the day of a developer can be explained in detail and does not have to be bound only with the three Daily Scrum questions. This update helps the team members answer and address only important tasks which would help the company’s business and add value to the product.

Participants of the Daily Standup

• The Daily Scrum primarily consists of the Developers who have to meet every day at the same time and place. After the Daily Scrum, the Developers can meet among themselves and discuss the plan in detail such that they can schedule their work appropriately.
   
• The Scrum Master is also an important member of the Daily Standup as they ensure that the Daily Scrum occurs every day. The Scrum Master helps the Developers to make the meetings time-boxed within 15 minutes.
   
• Since the Daily Scrum is an internal meeting among the Developers and the Scrum Master, the presence of other members of the Scrum team is optional. The Product Owner and other Stakeholders may join the meeting, but should not disrupt the meeting. 

How to conduct a Daily Standup meeting?

For any Daily Standup to be effective, it should contain a pinch of motivation and experimentation so that the Scrum Team could gain all the benefits of this short meeting. Many people treat the Daily Standup is a place to discuss the details of the project in general, and this may end up taking longer time than expected. The meeting may be unfocused and can head in a vague direction. However, if one follows the below guidelines, then the Daily Scrum can be very effective. 

• Hold the meetings in a fixed place and at a fixed time and also make sure that everyone is one time as the meeting is a really short one. Nobody should leave early or should be late for this meeting as they may miss points that are discussed in the meeting. The main purpose of the Daily Scrum would be to decrease the communication gap such that everyone interacts effortlessly, naturally, and smoothly.
   
• Since the name of the meeting is called Daily Stand-up, no one should sit and discuss the points and only stand and communicate. This would help everyone finish the meeting easily as having a meeting in a comfortable position will only increase the time to get settled won etc. Hence, this would also make sure that the meeting ends in 15 minutes.
   
• As per the new Scrum 2020 update, there is no need to strictly follow the pattern of answering three questions in the Daily Scrum. Here, everyone can take those questions as a base and add concise and appropriate statements which would describe their work more accurately. The team members should remember that only a gist has to be spoken about and not the entire details of the update.
   
• The problems encountered by the Developers and the work status are the topics that have to be focused on during the Daily Scrum.
   
• In this meeting, each Developer doesn’t need to report their work to specifically the Scrum Master. They should address their status update to the entire team such that everyone associated with the feature is aware and transparency is created in the Scrum Team. Hence, this makes sure maximum collaboration for the entire team and every organization.
   
• Every person gets their chance to speak and each person has to speak only once. Other members have to listen and understand everyone’s update so that they could see if any update also interacts with their work. The team members can ask questions so that they can have clarity of tasks that they have to complete for the day.
   
• A software called the automated Scrum management software helps in tracking the project target (eg. Sprint board for user stories). 

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Conclusion

The Daily standup purpose is to improve the communication among the Developers and the Scrum Master. The main aim is to make sure that everyone on the Scrum Team understands all the goals and tasks properly and can share their status of the work with the entire team. The Daily Scrum is not just a status meeting, it also helps the team to identify any problems /blockers /impediments such that they are removed before it becomes a bigger issue. The Daily Scrum should be conducted at the same place and time such that it becomes a habit for everyone to come prepared for the meeting and discuss first thing in the morning. Using the questions as a reference to explain the current progress of the project is also a great way to communicate among the Developers. And lastly, the Daily Scrum is an excellent method to enhance the decision-making abilities of the team members and also increase their knowledge.