Started my stand up update today with things that worked and things that I was stuck on. One of my team members who is senior to me asked me what was the exact issue and the conversation went on for 2 min. At this point another team member said, this is wasting everyone's time. I felt it was a bit rude, aren't standups there to discuss issues and problems that team members are facing. This other team member is usually very rude, especially towards me. One time I went to him and told him that a bug he was curious about was fixed, and he said that it didn't concern him and he didn't care. Its my 3rd month at Amazon and I am starting to get a toxic vibe from this team member. No one seems to say anything and have accepted this behavior as normal. I am thinking of leaving Amazon and find a company or a team that's probably much nicer. Wanted to know thoughts?
Ideally speaking there should not be any long discussion in scrum over which most of the participants don't have context. Such discussions should be done offline. So in 1 way what he did is the right thing. Secondly, if there are anything like negative vibes you're getting then its better to just avoid it bcz "More you think, more intense it'll become" and if you switch team/company then situations can be more worse in new team.
There is a thin line between useful conversation during standup and ratholing. Sounds like the guy is kind of straightforward due to his seniority. Bottom line is who cares? Its not unusual to ask people to take the discussion offline as standup time is limited and main purpose is people knowing what is going on in the project
I am a scrum master here! My team’s norms are that if questions cannot be answered within 1-2 minutes they need to be taken offline or into our “parking lot” (after huddle) discussion. It has been accepted by my team that as the SM, if I feel the conversation is not of benefit to the entire team, I can ask them to take it offline. It is important that since we have set the agreed upon standard upfront, I don’t believe people see it as rude or brash when I ask “do you mind if we take the conversation offline?” What I suggest you do with your team is asking your SM or leader privately first if they don’t mind setting aside time to discuss team norms as a group. Things like: when is the right time to discuss blockers, format of stand up, length of stand up etc. The purpose of a stand up is to talk about: what you did yesterday, what you’re doing today and any blockers. Deep discussion should always be taken offline with only the required folks needed. Happy to help with any other agile questions!
Bottom line is they do not have clear rules of the standup. Good knowledge in that post
Maybe the real issue was how it was broached - there’s nothing wrong with saying to take it offline but there’s an issue with saying it’s wasting everyone’s time. It’s just rude and demeans people.
He did the right thing
Standup is supposed to be quick updates for everyone, and then optional “offline” afterwards in which people don’t need to be there. The idea is to not waste people’s time.
Pick it up after standup when everyone is free to walk away
Remember how we used to solve problems before stand ups existed? I assert that stand ups aren’t what they claim to be. When you can accept that stand ups are just another way managers think they can manipulate people into producing a higher volume of output, it starts making more sense. Knowing that you have to talk about your work every day in front of your team will make some people work harder.
Lol sometimes it makes me less productive as I know I already have something to update. Save the rest for the next day
OP, I think you're right, the guy is rude and toxic. Tell your manager, but look for a better place already because that's unlikely to change.
Traditionally speaking yes this wasn't an appropriate conversation for standup. This employee could have said "let's take this offline" which is the proper way to keep standup moving along.
If it takes 2 min to describe a problem statement, you are wasting people’s time. Should take 1-2 sentences to summarize and then offer to sub-bullet/double click from there.
The entire conversation was 2 mins. Not just the problem statement. I agree with OP's point. No right or wrong answer though - it depends on your team's rhythm
Could you please describe double click for me? Foreigner here