4 ms·

I recently quit a company where we were having daily morning meetings of 30 minutes or longer, plus weekly sprint check-ins and weekly sprint reviews, and quart

I recently quit a company where we were having daily morning meetings of 30 minutes or longer, plus weekly sprint check-ins and weekly sprint reviews, and quarterly PI planning events that were several days of 6-8 hrs/day. I like technical work, design and coding and interaction with customers to understand their needs. I'm okay with approximately weekly status updates and ad-hoc quickie get-togethers to figure something out, but I hate stand-ups (so-called) that feel more like justifying one's job or trying to sound productive (I knew for a fact some of those fancy updates people were giving were just covering for watching Netflix and Youtube 4 hrs/day) :) It seems to me Shopify's approach might have some merit, even if it seems heavy-handed and clumsy.

andirk 4y ago
Standups first thing in the morning are a great way to get the day going with some hot coffee. Each status should be 5-30 seconds. Keeps people honest. The shittier employees always go on and on about what they're doing and start asking questions about their personal tasks and if the bossman/bosswoman allows it, the meeting can take up valuable time. I always have a sheet in front of me where I start drawing and the more the drawing progresses, the more the project is digressing.
- blisterpeanuts 4y ago
  That was my experience as well :) I tried to keep my check-ins to 30 seconds. Others could go on for nearly limitless time until the mgr finally shut them up. I suggested to the mgr, a nice enough guy, about splitting the team into smaller groups with 15-minute limits on morning stand-ups, and he responded that he had already proposed that but had been shot down. For years I've been hearing about how Agile is an effective methodology, but I have not been able to verify this personally. On the contrary, I've come to believe that poorly executed Agile is much worse than nothing. Now I'm contemplating my next steps and many if not most employers do list Agile as a "skill" or a requirement. Not sure if I should just smile and make nice about it, or be honest and say "Yes I've used Agile but it was at best a waste of time."

andirk 4y ago

Standups first thing in the morning are a great way to get the day going with some hot coffee. Each status should be 5-30 seconds. Keeps people honest. The shittier employees always go on and on about what they're doing and start asking questions about their personal tasks and if the bossman/bosswoman allows it, the meeting can take up valuable time. I always have a sheet in front of me where I start drawing and the more the drawing progresses, the more the project is digressing.

blisterpeanuts 4y ago
That was my experience as well :) I tried to keep my check-ins to 30 seconds. Others could go on for nearly limitless time until the mgr finally shut them up. I suggested to the mgr, a nice enough guy, about splitting the team into smaller groups with 15-minute limits on morning stand-ups, and he responded that he had already proposed that but had been shot down. For years I've been hearing about how Agile is an effective methodology, but I have not been able to verify this personally. On the contrary, I've come to believe that poorly executed Agile is much worse than nothing. Now I'm contemplating my next steps and many if not most employers do list Agile as a "skill" or a requirement. Not sure if I should just smile and make nice about it, or be honest and say "Yes I've used Agile but it was at best a waste of time."