Are There Too Many Meetings in Scrum?

Have you been hearing your software developers asking to skip meetings? Or to make meetings shorter? Or for there to be no meetings at all? When scrum is introduced to development teams, they tend to be willing to embracing it. Why wouldn’t they? Scrum promotes self-organised, autonomous, multidisciplinary teams and acknowledges individual qualities and contributions. However, after implementing scrum, frustrations start as more meetings keep being added to the team calendar. We are all for scrum teams, but we can agree that there are too many meetings!  

Scrum is built on the idea of uncomplicating work for software development teams. This requires collaboration between the people that are doing the work to understand both the problem and the solution the team is trying to solve. This collaboration results in multiple meetings to make sure everyone has the same understanding of the goals and is working towards them. With daily scrums, sprint planning meetings, sprint reviews, retrospectives and possibly even product backlog refinement meetings, it’s easy to get frustrated at the number of meetings necessary to get the work done.

Common Frustrations Shared within Scrum Teams

We shouldn’t forget that meetings enable collaboration, knowledge sharing, involvement in decision making, and improvement. However, it’s always possible to have too many of them, especially when there’s Sprint work to be getting on with. 

Lack of Purpose

We’ve all been in those meetings where everyone looks around at each other trying to get an idea of what this meeting is about. Why are we here?

Too many meetings, or just bad meetings in general, are a symptom, not a cause. If your teams are complaining about there being too many meetings, then it might be time to review why you are having those meetings in the first place.

Creating meetings with purpose will allow your teams to come prepared, making the meetings more efficient and effective.

Poor Time Management

For Scrum to be successful, team members need to communicate regularly between themselves and with others around the organisation, so meetings come with the territory. However, excessive amounts of meetings result in constant interruptions from Sprint work.

How frustrating it is to get absorbed in complex work only to have to stop for a meeting. So much time then gets wasted on trying to get back to the same stage in the thought process.

These constant interruptions can cause poor time management for the team as their time is never spent productively. This can result in Estimations set during the Sprint Planning not being met.

Miscommunication

Often an increase in meetings is due to a lack of understanding of the initial message. Increasing the amount of meetings that take place will not resolve this issue, but rather cause more frustration and confusion, and create opportunities for more miscommunication to occur.

Scrum teams not being on the same page can slow down process and make things confusing. It is important to align at the start to avoid any problems that do not get fixed and cause any hidden issues later on in the process.

Adhoc Scrum Meetings

Scrum events all serve a purpose and don’t amount to an excessive number of meetings. When teams use their Scrum events efficiently, they can reduce their overall meeting count. It is therefore useful to evaluate, look for opportunities to improve them and avoid generating additional and avoidable meetings.

Is the Quantity of Meetings the Issue?

Sometimes the problem with meetings isn’t the quantity or the content. Sometimes, it’s the timing or lack of advance notice. Maybe there are too many or too few people involved in them.  

So, how do you ensure your meeting is covering the correct topics? Or who to invite to your meetings to make sure you get the relevant information?

How can ScrumBuddy Assist you in your Meetings?

Having ScrumBuddy join your meetings will help you to transform the way scrum teams operate. Taking all your requirements into account, ScrumBuddy will re-write them and highlight any potential issues and inconsistencies that may occur. This will minimise the need for multiple meetings as ScrumBuddy will answer questions you didn’t know you had!   

Schedule a demo and see how ScrumBuddy can help your dev teams.

Want to know more?

• What strategies or techniques can be implemented to streamline the meeting process within Scrum teams without sacrificing collaboration and communication?

Strategies to streamline meetings within Scrum teams without compromising collaboration include implementing a clear meeting agenda, setting time limits for discussions, and ensuring that only essential team members attend. Additionally, leveraging asynchronous communication tools for non-urgent discussions and utilizing techniques such as timeboxing can help minimize the number of meetings required while still facilitating effective communication.

• How can ScrumBuddy specifically address the challenges associated with excessive meetings in Scrum teams, and what features or functionalities does it offer to enhance meeting efficiency and effectiveness?

ScrumBuddy addresses the challenges associated with excessive meetings in Scrum teams by providing features that streamline meeting processes and enhance productivity. For example, ScrumBuddy can analyze meeting requirements, identify potential issues or inconsistencies, and provide insights that minimize the need for multiple meetings. By automating tasks related to meeting preparation and agenda setting, ScrumBuddy enables teams to focus on productive discussions and decision-making during meetings.