What do developers really think about daily stands (led by a non-developer)?

New
AaiT16

New

AaiT16
Apr 13 16 Comments

I’m a product manager and the VP of engineering has enforced daily stands for all our developers. They go through the Jira board every morning and say what they’re working on (basically stating what is on the board). If someone has a question for another dev, they’ll say something like “I left a comment, can you respond?” during the stand. To me: I don’t need to know what developers are working on each and every day, which is why our sprints are 2 weeks and why we have a Jira board in the first place. I wish it was used between developers instead to discuss any problems they might be having. Is this useful for anyone?

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TOP 16 Comments
  • Standups should always be led by tech lead, not product
    Apr 13 1
    • New
      AaiT16

      New

      AaiT16
      OP
      I agree! Right now they’re led by our “scrum master” is a glorified project manager…
      Apr 13
  • Wayfair / Eng
    BlueCouch

    Go to company page Wayfair Eng

    BlueCouch
    As a SWE - MOST places completely Miss the point of the stand up. There's no need to recite tickets that people can see. Also the person leading it could be a plumber for all it matters. The scrum master is a facilitator, not a software master. It's a huddle to quickly figure out the next move based on current situation. Agile is supposed to be about empowerment of the team - not having yet another meeting where people recite their activities and a tech lead judges them and asks them to work faster.
    Apr 13 2
    • New
      AaiT16

      New

      AaiT16
      OP
      At my last company, as a product manager I was not involved in stands. Do you ever skip stand when you don’t have something to discuss? Do you consider a “tech lead” someone who’s actually working on the code?
      Apr 13
    • Wayfair / Eng
      BlueCouch

      Go to company page Wayfair Eng

      BlueCouch
      Tech lead is accountable for tech... Not a project manager per se. But companies often combine the responsibilities. On attending stand ups - if everyone who wasn't blocked and didn't have an issue to talk about missed the stand up then the only people there would be ones with issues/problems... And no one to offer solutions or work with them to find it. Stand up is a team activity for a reason. I keep coming back to the sports analogy coz I'm football you won't see people working as individuals.... The team works as a unit.
      Apr 13
  • Oracle
    Non-OCI

    Go to company page Oracle

    Non-OCI
    “scrum master” is a glorified secretary, who got a CSM against their name by paying a couple hundred bucks. Their job is to state the obvious, read sentences from laziness board and get some dates for completion. The whole thing seems like a name and shame scheme.
    Apr 13 0
  • Remember one key part of standups is to surface blockers. You may have a huge role in removing obstacles, especially if external teams are involved.

    I also think standups are a poor place to ask someone to respond to a comment. What’s up with the team communication?
    Apr 13 2
    • New
      AaiT16

      New

      AaiT16
      OP
      Yes to surface blockers, I agree. I also think it’s strange because if you have a question, it seems like stand is a great place to ask it and receive an answer because it’s time someone already blocked off for this exact purpose. But they don’t use it for this, just to basically report to the tech leads

      is it excessive to expect blockers every day? And when people don’t have any they run pretty quickly, maybe 5-10 mins, but it still seems disruptive
      Apr 13
    • No, I have not found blockers to be daily but likely team dependent.

      I feel for this example, asking some to respond to a comment should be asynchronous in slack or something similar.

      When we have basic questions we usually ask them at the end of standup for the purpose you mention - everyone is together. If you shift to that model you can likely drop from the call right beforehand
      Apr 13
  • SAS
    manchild4

    Go to company page SAS

    manchild4
    We do weekly and that is already too often. If you need to discuss a topic that others will have input - setup a meeting. Otherwise - just do your job and stop wasting time with these stupid checkins.
    Apr 13 0