Re: [extremeprogramming] Origin of term "standup"?

We've strayed far from the question of the origin of the term "stand
up," so I guess it's okay to wander a bit more. I've come to value a
standup routine based on the cards or tickets or items on the wall
rather than any formulation of rote questions. Starting with the item
that's closest to completion, the team asks themselves what they need
to do to pull that item across the finish line. Then they look at the
second-most-complete item and ask the same question. That's usually
enough for one day's work - and it's a daily standup. After that, if
people have questions or blockers or otherwise need/want help, they
can mention it. This style of standup seems to be well-focused on
getting things done and also only takes a couple of minutes, usually.

A second observation is that the more closely a team collaborates
during routine work, the less need they have to pause and talk about
what everyone is doing. They already know what everyone is doing and
who needs help and which items are blocked, etc. Teams that use Mob
Programming as their default mode of work rarely need to have an
explicit standup meeting each day. It's not always possible or
advisable to use Mob Programming exclusively, so there's a balance to
strike and some form of touch-base discussion may be necessary from
time to time. When that's the case, I prefer to focus on pulling work
into "done" than on asking a series of standard questions.

Disclaimers: IMO, IME, FWIW, YMMV.

Dave

On 11/21/19, Jeff Langr <[email protected]> wrote:
> George Paci wrote on 11/21/19 12:17 PM:
>> On 11/18/19 4:52 PM, Tim Ottinger via Groups.Io wrote:
>>
>> > On Monday, November 18, 2019, 3:51 PM, Slava Imeshev via Groups.Io
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>     >> To me personally the value of the standups is that it forces
>>     participants to think in terms of work
>>     >> done. This is good for developer discipline because we know we
>>     will have to tell the team that
>>     >> we accomplished something. As a result we actually do something
>>     useful. Without stand ups it's
>>     >> common to have 'I'm working on it' for days. I've certainly
>>     done it.
>>
>>     >> Another thing it promotes collaboration. I've stopped counting
>>     times when someone brings up a
>>     >> blocker and other member of the team offer help and sync up
>>     after the standup. In theory they
>>     >> should be doing it in real time offline, but it works so I'll
>>     take it.
>>
>>> The value of standup is coercion and shame?
>> ...
>>
>> Or: "Try encouraging people worried about what they're going to say in
>> the next standup to vertically slice the story they're working on, so
>> they'll be able to say something like 'I got the shipping calculation
>> working for domestic addresses yesterday; today, it's on to Canada'
>> instead of the dreaded 'Still working on it'."
>>
> Hi George,
>
> Yes.
>
> These very common dysfunctions (never-ending work streams and
> tasks/stories that are too big) are quite apparent in most of the
> stand-ups I've walked into. The better solutions (things you & Slava
> suggested) aren't difficult to imagine: slice things to fit within a
> day; collaborate more. And yet the stand-ups that I join have often been
> going on for many months, if not years, with these common smells festering.
>
> Encouraging people is great. I'd be asking them if they could imagine
> working regularly in a different manner, one that didn't create as many
> every-day smells.
>
> Regards,
> Jeff
>
>
> <http://langrsoft.com> 	
> Jeff Langr/ Langr Software Solutions, Inc. <https://twitter.com/jlangr>
> <https://www.linkedin.com/in/jefflangr>
> <https://www.facebook.com/jeff.langr>
> http://langrsoft.com +1-719-287-4335
> Pragmatic Unit Testing in Java <http://pragprog.com/book/utj2>
> Modern C++ Programming with TDD <http://pragprog.com/book/lotdd>
> Agile in a Flash <http://pragprog.com/book/olag>
> Agile Java: Crafting Code with Test-Driven Development
> <http://amzn.com/0131482394>
> Essential Java Style <http://amzn.com/0130850861>
>
>
>
>
> 
>
>

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group.

View/Reply Online (#160295): https://groups.io/g/extremeprogramming/message/160295
Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/56090734/2417047
Group Owner: [email protected]
Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/extremeprogramming/leave/4902963/619838065/xyzzy  [[email protected]]
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-