3 ms·

What if your work consists largely of research and experimentation? No tasks or stories, mostly many long spikes. What if research and experimentation happens

by jkbyc 11y ago

What if your work consists largely of research and experimentation? No tasks or stories, mostly many long spikes. What if research and experimentation happens over a period of time and only later there is a period of focused prototype development? Have you experimented with alternatives to daily standups? Standups three times a week? Changing the routine based on the stage of the work (research vs. development for example)? What if standups are misused for micromanagement? If there are so many ways standups can go wrong maybe its not a good generic tool after all?

matthewmacleod 11y ago
If there are so many ways standups can go wrong maybe its not a good generic tool after all? I don't think that's a useful conclusion to draw. Standups go wrong if they are too long, and that's about the only way they can fail. What if your work consists largely of research and experimentation? No tasks or stories, mostly many long spikes. "I researched this area yesterday. It seems like a good approach. I noticed we need to think about how it will scale, but I'm going to look into that further today." Or even consider that standups are indeed not for your organisation. That's fine. Have you experimented with alternatives to daily standups? This is something I would encourage every team to do if they don't feel standups are useful. Try a status email at the end of the day instead, or a weekly status meeting. I definitely think that a standup had value, but I imagine it depends on the environment. What if standups are misused for micromanagement? Then fix it. If you are in a situation where you are being micromanaged, then it's not the fault of a standup – it's the fault of a micromanager, and eliminating a standup isn't going to fix that.
- jkbyc 11y ago
  >> What if standups are misused for micromanagement? > Then fix it. That's easier said than done. It assumes that the micromanager has enough self-awareness and listening skills. If he had, maybe he wouldn't be a micromanager. I tried to fix it but eventually it was one of the biggest reason I left the company. >> If there are so many ways standups can go wrong maybe its not a good generic tool after all? > I don't think that's a useful conclusion to draw. Standups go wrong if they are too long, and that's about the only way they can fail. Micromanagement is another way we already mentioned. Fabulating stories about work done as a means of avoidance is another (as your sibling suggests). I'd say there are even more ways they can fail in general. In specific cases they might still be indispensable. edit: formatting
7402 11y ago
Sure, I've been there, trying to do R&D under an imposed scrum regime. But, it's dangerous to challenge the current management religion unless you are in a position of power. The solution is the time-honored practice of keeping two sets of books. Even if your true stand-up report would be: Yesterday: thinking. Today: thinking more. Blockers: meetings like this. You would be well-advised not to say so. Instead, you need to identify or invent some small subsidiary tasks that can be used for stand-up reporting, e.g.: Yesterday: designed alternate schema for one of the database tables. Today: timing tests with new schema. Blockers: none. In this way, you can carry out your research, which may involve a meandering path, fuzzy ideas that are hard to express verbally, backtracking, and work in units of multiple days, in private. While doing so, you have a parallel public task list that follows the scrum agenda and can be used to keep people off your back while you work on the actual problems that need to be solved.

by jkbyc 11y ago

matthewmacleod 11y ago

If there are so many ways standups can go wrong maybe its not a good generic tool after all? I don't think that's a useful conclusion to draw. Standups go wrong if they are too long, and that's about the only way they can fail. What if your work consists largely of research and experimentation? No tasks or stories, mostly many long spikes. "I researched this area yesterday. It seems like a good approach. I noticed we need to think about how it will scale, but I'm going to look into that further today." Or even consider that standups are indeed not for your organisation. That's fine. Have you experimented with alternatives to daily standups? This is something I would encourage every team to do if they don't feel standups are useful. Try a status email at the end of the day instead, or a weekly status meeting. I definitely think that a standup had value, but I imagine it depends on the environment. What if standups are misused for micromanagement? Then fix it. If you are in a situation where you are being micromanaged, then it's not the fault of a standup – it's the fault of a micromanager, and eliminating a standup isn't going to fix that.

jkbyc 11y ago
>> What if standups are misused for micromanagement? > Then fix it. That's easier said than done. It assumes that the micromanager has enough self-awareness and listening skills. If he had, maybe he wouldn't be a micromanager. I tried to fix it but eventually it was one of the biggest reason I left the company. >> If there are so many ways standups can go wrong maybe its not a good generic tool after all? > I don't think that's a useful conclusion to draw. Standups go wrong if they are too long, and that's about the only way they can fail. Micromanagement is another way we already mentioned. Fabulating stories about work done as a means of avoidance is another (as your sibling suggests). I'd say there are even more ways they can fail in general. In specific cases they might still be indispensable. edit: formatting

7402 11y ago

Sure, I've been there, trying to do R&D under an imposed scrum regime. But, it's dangerous to challenge the current management religion unless you are in a position of power. The solution is the time-honored practice of keeping two sets of books. Even if your true stand-up report would be: Yesterday: thinking. Today: thinking more. Blockers: meetings like this. You would be well-advised not to say so. Instead, you need to identify or invent some small subsidiary tasks that can be used for stand-up reporting, e.g.: Yesterday: designed alternate schema for one of the database tables. Today: timing tests with new schema. Blockers: none. In this way, you can carry out your research, which may involve a meandering path, fuzzy ideas that are hard to express verbally, backtracking, and work in units of multiple days, in private. While doing so, you have a parallel public task list that follows the scrum agenda and can be used to keep people off your back while you work on the actual problems that need to be solved.