Thursday, July 8, 2010

pull stand-up sessions

Though I haven't (yet) succeeded at this, I'd really like stand-up sessions to go more efficiently by replacing the standard stand-up and report tradition to a stand-up and ask questions. We'd organize the discussions around the active story cards, addressing each card one by one. Someone who is not working on the selected card will ask--"what's left to move this to the done pile?" followed by any clarifying questions necessary. Answers will be short and to the point. If questioning goes on too long, we'd just take it offline and move to the next card.
What's my motivation? I'm always torn between listening to what people around the circle are saying and trying to summarize my status... and as a result I get less out of the other people's summaries. I learn more by asking questions, by pulling information--and I wonder if other people would too.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I've thought about this too. In my current team it also feels more like a verification of the fact that everyone is really doing something and not really the feeling that we are trying to achieve a common goal. Our current implementation of the standup doesn't really fit with the agile state of mind.
You gave me something to think about. I might just give it a shot when I get back to the office.