Scrum Mastery

by Geoff Watts

“I’ve noticed a lack of energy in these meetings recently and thought I would try and shake things up a little,” Harvey began. “The aim remains the same: for everyone to get a feel for where we are as a team and what we need to focus on today, and the rest of the sprint. However, just because the meeting has a prescribed format, doesn’t mean we can’t change it up a little.” “The first thing we are going to do is focus on the cards rather than the people,” he continued. “Rather than go round from person to person, we will go through the sprint backlog from card to card and get a feel for progress that way. It might not work but it could give us a different perspective on things.” “The next thing I want us to use is this toy bomb from one of my kids’ games. It goes off at a random time. We’ll pass it to whoever is speaking. Then, whoever is holding it when it goes off will have a consequence to face. But that doesn’t mean you can just throw it to the next person too quickly; if the team feel they need more information from you, then you will have to take the bomb back.” A couple of the team giggled at the somewhat juvenile approach but most of them seemed keen to give it a go. One of them picked the first card from the task board and began talking, passing the bomb from person to person as they all added their input to the status of the cards. When Don came in, he was immediately thrown the bomb and asked if he wanted to add anything to the current discussion. “What? What’s ...