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What is a daily scrum and do Scrum Masters lead them?

What is a daily Scrum?

A daily scrum is a short, sharp meeting that includes members of the Scrum Team.

Ideally, they are stand up meetings to ensure that they do not exceed 15 minutes and that each member of the team is focused specifically on what needs doing and what may be standing in the way.

Does the Scrum Master lead?

Ideally, when a Scrum Team achieve the goal of becoming a self-organising team, a Scrum Master is not even necessary in the daily scrum meetings.

The daily scrum is an event designed for the members of the development team to update each other on what is working, what needs doing, and what impediments stand in the way of progress.

Whilst a Scrum Master would always be welcome to such meetings, it is not necessary for them to be present for them.

So, no, a Scrum Master does not lead a daily scrum meeting. The development team do.

Beginning Scrum

When a team adopt Scrum as a way of building and developing valuable products, they might need some assistance in the beginning.

A Scrum Master can play a valuable role in helping to facilitate a Daily Scrum; however, it would be important that they don’t play a leading role.

Their focus should lie in helping the team self-organise and prioritise for the daily scrum meeting.

A Scrum Master could facilitate by simply asking questions and ensuring that each member of the Scrum Team participate in the meeting. Doing so will help shape expectations and requirements for the daily scrum and help the team lead their own meetings in the future.

A Scrum Master can participate in daily scrums and use the opportunity to identify impediments to progress within the Scrum Team. It is a great place to get the initial insight and facilitate a separate meeting to understand and resolve any issues that may arise.

Scrum Meetings

A Scrum Master will often have several meetings with members of the development team as well as the product owner. Those meetings are often focused and have a specific purpose.

The Scrum Master would make use of these individual or team meetings to discuss matters of importance or address any issues that may need resolving. A daily scrum would not be the time or place to address any issues relating to the product or team.

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