Why you need Agile meetings in your life<\/h2>\n
A quick Twitter search will show you how people really feel about your meetings and Zoom calls.<\/p>\n
![\"Tweet](\"https:\/\/www.monday.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image6-7.png\" "\\"Tweet\\"")
<\/p>\n
Meetings have an image problem. But you don\u2019t need Donald Draper and a million-dollar ad campaign.<\/p>\n
The root problem is that most meetings are unproductive<\/a>.<\/p>\nUnproductive meetings cost US businesses alone an estimated $399 billion every year.<\/span><\/a>\n What if we told you there was a way to cut down on useless meeting time and <\/em>make your team members like them more at the same time?<\/p>\n That\u2019s where Agile meetings come in.<\/p>\n There are many things that set Agile team meetings apart from their old-fashioned counterparts.<\/p>\n But a few of them stand out:<\/p>\n Of course, like with regular meetings, there\u2019s not just one type of Agile meeting.<\/p>\n In 2020, the majority (58%<\/a>) of Agile teams use the Scrum framework, which is why we\u2019re mainly covering Scrum ceremonies in this post.<\/p>\n The 5 most important Scrum meetings are:<\/p>\n Note: <\/strong>Although they\u2019re called Scrum \u201cceremonies,\u201d they\u2019re really just meetings. No gongs or incense involved.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Before you even start a Sprint, you need some sense of direction.<\/p>\n In a backlog refinement meeting, you make sure your Agile development roadmap is captured in clear user stories and actionable tasks.<\/p>\n Take your rough product backlog draft, and expand on items with details, tasks, and estimations.<\/p>\n Rate and prioritize the user stories (software features) based on importance and difficulty.<\/p>\n Working with Google or Excel sheets is like asking to lose control. Use a dedicated solution like monday.com\u2019s backlog template instead.<\/p>\n It makes it easy to revise and control both your general product backlog and your backlog for each Sprint.<\/p>\n After you have some idea what features you want in the short term, it\u2019s time for the Sprint planning<\/a> meeting.<\/p>\n The meeting takes place before the start of every Sprint, and the product owner and the whole team should participate.<\/p>\n The goal is simple, but not easy.<\/p>\n Review the entire product backlog (all features and tasks), and decide which to move into your Sprint backlog. Basically, choose exactly what you want to do over the next two weeks.<\/p>\n Many teams also include an overarching Sprint goal, which summarizes the intention of your new iteration. For example, you could target multiple user stories that impact the mobile app experience.<\/p>\n One of the main challenges of Sprint planning<\/a> is setting realistic deadlines.<\/p>\n At monday.com, we tackle this issue using story points (SP), which we consider to be roughly a workday (8 hours).<\/p>\n For a 2-week Sprint, we plan a total of 8 SP, giving us at least a 2-day margin for unexpected roadblocks, changes, and delays.<\/p>\n Our step-by-step guide to Agile planning<\/a> will help you through your first meeting.<\/p>\n Get started<\/a><\/p>\n After you\u2019ve started your Sprint, you need to stay on track. That\u2019s what the daily standup<\/a> is for.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a short meeting, typically done standing up (who would\u2019ve guessed) at the start of each day of a Sprint. The product owner and the entire team should participate.<\/p>\n You may think that a daily meeting is counterproductive, but the daily Scrum isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n It focuses on 3 main questions that facilitate action:<\/p>\n This helps your Scrum team quickly identify any potential roadblocks or issues and focus on what needs to be done now.<\/p>\n The daily Scrum meeting is what most people think of when they say \u201cAgile meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n The strict time box (15 minutes) and unwavering format (no tangents, just the 3 questions) boost productivity, instead of hampering it.<\/p>\n At monday.com, our remote team has daily standup meetings through Zoom. During the meeting, we share the project dashboard<\/a> on screen to improve transparency and accountability.<\/p>\n The Sprint review meeting is essential to the Agile process. It\u2019s where you get your user feedback, and test the progress.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just another meeting of your Scrum team members. You must invite important customers and users (stakeholders<\/a>) of the software to test the changes.<\/p>\n Stakeholder testing of the \u201cproduct increment\u201d (the changes you made during the Sprint) is essential.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not enough to have just successfully added the features. The Sprint goal is to deliver a new and better user experience.<\/p>\n If the new version is everything they wanted, success!<\/p>\n If not, you may have to adjust your upcoming backlog with necessary changes.<\/p>\n After every Sprint, you should have a Sprint retrospective<\/a> meeting.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a Scrum ceremony where your members look back at their work. You should focus on things that went well, imminent problems, and areas with room for improvement.<\/p>\n Typically, you distill it into 4 key takeaways:<\/p>\n But it\u2019s hard to gain any meaningful insights unless you closely tracked each user story and task.<\/p>\n monday.com\u2019s internal team uses the Scrum Sprint planning dashboard to analyze our performance. At a glance, all team members can see what goals were met and if they were completed on time.<\/p>\n A daily Scrum meeting shouldn\u2019t exceed 15 minutes unless you have an unusually large team. (And we mean unusually <\/em>large, 8 members don\u2019t cut it.)<\/p>\n Any team member shouldn\u2019t have a problem answering the 3 questions in under 90 seconds.<\/p>\n If they do, this could be a sign that they have too many responsibilities.<\/p>\n Other meetings have varying lengths depending on the length of your Sprint:<\/p>\n Most books and blogs on the topic will tell you that you absolutely need a Scrum master<\/a> to arrange your meetings.<\/p>\n But at monday.com, we believe sharing responsibility and ownership is more important for an efficient Scrum process. (Democracy FTW!)<\/p>\n When everyone has skin in the game, it\u2019s easier to hold productive meetings and maintain a Sprint. Establishing a culture where everyone cares about the project is the best compass.<\/p>\n But for it to work with no clear leader, you need to follow a few clear ground rules.<\/p>\n Instead of just handing out a list of rules, discuss them and make sure that everyone agrees and internalizes them. That way, there\u2019s no need for meeting police.<\/p>\n The key to following the Agile method in meetings is to get straight to the point.<\/p>\n But to get to the meat of it, you need to have a clear view of where your project stands at all times.<\/p>\n That way, there\u2019s no need for in-depth play-by-play updates. Everyone already has a general idea of what\u2019s happening.<\/p>\n Our Scrum planning template<\/a> will get you off to the right start.<\/p>\n Get started<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":"We know what you\u2019re thinking. Agile = Flexible.\r\n\r\nBut no, Agile meetings have nothing to do with Yoga. We\u2019re not going to ask you to bring mats and do a downward dog pose while reciting the agenda. You will, however, learn about another way to be productive.\r\n\r\nAgile meetings are a productive alternative to the dreaded office meeting or conference call. With a clear structure, shared responsibility, and strict time limits, they\u2019re much more effective.\r\n\r\nIn this article, we\u2019ll cover the 5 main Agile meetings, and exactly how you can use them to boost productivity in your company.\r\n [cta-button url=\"https:\/\/auth.monday.com\/users\/sign_up_new\" target=\"_blank\"]Get started[\/cta-button]<\/p>\r\n\r\n [cta-button url=\"https:\/\/auth.monday.com\/users\/sign_up_new\" target=\"_blank\"]Get started[\/cta-button]<\/p>\r\n\r\nHow Agile meetings are different<\/h2>\n
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What are the 5 Scrum ceremonies (meetings)?<\/h2>\n
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#1: Backlog refinement<\/h3>\n
![\"Screenshot](\"https:\/\/www.monday.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Feature-backlog-1024x588.jpg\" "\\"feature")
<\/p>\n#2: Sprint planning<\/h3>\n
#3: Daily standup<\/h3>\n
\n
![\"Sample](\"https:\/\/www.monday.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image3-8.png\" "\\"project")
<\/p>\n#4: Sprint review<\/h3>\n
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#5: Sprint retrospective<\/h3>\n
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How long should Agile meetings last?<\/h2>\n
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How do you run an Agile meeting?<\/h2>\n
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Conclusion<\/h2>\n
![\"monday.com](\"https:\/\/www.monday.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Scrum-sprint-planning-template-1024x754.jpg\" "\\"scrum")
<\/p>\nWhy you need Agile meetings in your life<\/h2>\r\nA quick Twitter search will show you how people really feel about your meetings and Zoom calls.\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\nMeetings have an image problem. But you don\u2019t need Donald Draper and a million-dollar ad campaign.\r\n\r\nThe root problem is that most meetings are unproductive<\/a>.\r\n\r\n[twitter]Unproductive meetings cost US businesses alone an estimated $399 billion every year.[\/twitter]\r\n\r\nWhat if we told you there was a way to cut down on useless meeting time and <\/em>make your team members like them more at the same time?\r\n\r\nThat\u2019s where Agile meetings come in.\r\nHow Agile meetings are different<\/h2>\r\nThere are many things that set Agile team meetings apart from their old-fashioned counterparts.\r\n\r\nBut a few of them stand out:\r\n
\r\n \t
What are the 5 Scrum ceremonies (meetings)?<\/h2>\r\nIn 2020, the majority (58%<\/a>) of Agile teams use the Scrum framework, which is why we\u2019re mainly covering Scrum ceremonies in this post.\r\n\r\nThe 5 most important Scrum meetings are:\r\n
\r\n \t
Note: <\/strong>Although they\u2019re called Scrum \u201cceremonies,\u201d they\u2019re really just meetings. No gongs or incense involved.<\/em><\/blockquote>\r\n
#1: Backlog refinement<\/h3>\r\nBefore you even start a Sprint, you need some sense of direction.\r\n\r\nIn a backlog refinement meeting, you make sure your Agile development roadmap is captured in clear user stories and actionable tasks.\r\n\r\nTake your rough product backlog draft, and expand on items with details, tasks, and estimations.\r\n\r\nRate and prioritize the user stories (software features) based on importance and difficulty.\r\n\r\nWorking with Google or Excel sheets is like asking to lose control. Use a dedicated solution like monday.com\u2019s backlog template instead.\r\n\r\nIt makes it easy to revise and control both your general product backlog and your backlog for each Sprint.\r\n\r\n
\r\n#2: Sprint planning<\/h3>\r\nAfter you have some idea what features you want in the short term, it\u2019s time for the Sprint planning<\/a> meeting.\r\n\r\nThe meeting takes place before the start of every Sprint, and the product owner and the whole team should participate.\r\n\r\nThe goal is simple, but not easy.\r\n\r\nReview the entire product backlog (all features and tasks), and decide which to move into your Sprint backlog. Basically, choose exactly what you want to do over the next two weeks.\r\n\r\nMany teams also include an overarching Sprint goal, which summarizes the intention of your new iteration. For example, you could target multiple user stories that impact the mobile app experience.\r\n\r\nOne of the main challenges of Sprint planning<\/a> is setting realistic deadlines.\r\n\r\nAt monday.com, we tackle this issue using story points (SP), which we consider to be roughly a workday (8 hours).\r\n\r\nFor a 2-week Sprint, we plan a total of 8 SP, giving us at least a 2-day margin for unexpected roadblocks, changes, and delays.\r\n\r\nOur step-by-step guide to Agile planning<\/a> will help you through your first meeting.\r\n
#3: Daily standup<\/h3>\r\nAfter you\u2019ve started your Sprint, you need to stay on track. That\u2019s what the daily standup<\/a> is for.\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s a short meeting, typically done standing up (who would\u2019ve guessed) at the start of each day of a Sprint. The product owner and the entire team should participate.\r\n\r\nYou may think that a daily meeting is counterproductive, but the daily Scrum isn\u2019t.\r\n\r\nIt focuses on 3 main questions that facilitate action:\r\n
\r\n \t
\r\n#4: Sprint review<\/h3>\r\nThe Sprint review meeting is essential to the Agile process. It\u2019s where you get your user feedback, and test the progress.\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s not just another meeting of your Scrum team members. You must invite important customers and users (stakeholders<\/a>) of the software to test the changes.\r\n\r\nStakeholder testing of the \u201cproduct increment\u201d (the changes you made during the Sprint) is essential.\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s not enough to have just successfully added the features. The Sprint goal is to deliver a new and better user experience.\r\n
\r\n \t
#5: Sprint retrospective<\/h3>\r\nAfter every Sprint, you should have a Sprint retrospective<\/a> meeting.\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s a Scrum ceremony where your members look back at their work. You should focus on things that went well, imminent problems, and areas with room for improvement.\r\n\r\nTypically, you distill it into 4 key takeaways:\r\n
\r\n \t
How long should Agile meetings last?<\/h2>\r\nA daily Scrum meeting shouldn\u2019t exceed 15 minutes unless you have an unusually large team. (And we mean unusually <\/em>large, 8 members don\u2019t cut it.)\r\n\r\nAny team member shouldn\u2019t have a problem answering the 3 questions in under 90 seconds.\r\n\r\nIf they do, this could be a sign that they have too many responsibilities.\r\n\r\nOther meetings have varying lengths depending on the length of your Sprint:\r\n
\r\n \t
How do you run an Agile meeting?<\/h2>\r\nMost books and blogs on the topic will tell you that you absolutely need a Scrum master<\/a> to arrange your meetings.\r\n\r\nBut at monday.com, we believe sharing responsibility and ownership is more important for an efficient Scrum process. (Democracy FTW!)\r\n\r\nWhen everyone has skin in the game, it\u2019s easier to hold productive meetings and maintain a Sprint. Establishing a culture where everyone cares about the project is the best compass.\r\n\r\nBut for it to work with no clear leader, you need to follow a few clear ground rules.\r\n