Amber Hunt - Sprint 3 Paper 1 - Understanding Agile Meetings

TABLE
OF CONTENTS

1.1
INTRODUCTION

1.2
STAYING
LIGHTWEIGHT

1.3
RUNNING AGILE
MEETINGS

1.4
TIMEBOXING

1.5
CONCLUSION

**1.1**
Introduction

Meetings in an agile
environment are well structured and scheduled.
Although many other conversations are going on at the same time, it is
still very productive.  It is not just
one person talking to the team, but the team talking to each all at
the same time.  Some teams call their
meetings “scrum activities” because it is not a formal meeting. (Lynda.com –
from LinkedIn, 2017) To understand agile meetings, one must follow these three
guidelines.  Staying lightweight, running
agile meetings and timeboxing.  These
steps allow the meetings to run smoothly.
The meetings are as it says, lightweight.

**1.2 Staying lightweight**

Most of the activities in Agile
are very lightweight.  Even though their
meetings are scheduled, they are considered “low value”. (Lynda.com – from
LinkedIn, 2017) Many team members still think in a way of traditional
projects.  Therefore, the scrum master
usually must remind them that Agile is about being lightweight.  And although it is lightweight, the
activities still move on a very tight schedule.
A lot of meetings can burden the team.

**1.3 Running Agile Meetings**
Running meetings in Agile
can be very successful, if these five steps are followed.  Standup, Planning, Refining, Demoing, and
Improving.  The first of the five and the
most used is Standup.  Standup takes
about 15 minutes for the developers to meet.
It is an activity that allows them to get a gist of what everyone is
doing or what they plan to do.  This type
of communication keeps everyone updated on where the team is at.  The second, which is Sprint Planning, says
what is going to happen for the next two weeks.
Third, refining is said to be one of the most flexible of all the
activities.  (Lynda.com – from LinkedIn,
2017) This is the one that does not have a set margin, the meetings are not as
organized as the others.  Demoing, which
is the fourth activity, is where the team shows the finished work to
stakeholders.  It is done at the end of
the two weeks and they usually have about two hours to present.  The product owner is mostly in charge of this
meeting.  The last of the activities is
Improvement, also known as “Self-Improvement”.
This activity is said to be the most important, has a constraint of two
hours and if often called the Team retrospective. (Lynda.com – from LinkedIn,
2017) If the team cannot be better, then there will be room for error.

**1.4 Timeboxing**

A Timebox is a box of time that
cannot expand. (Lynda.com – from LinkedIn, 2017) If a meeting says it is going
to be an hour, that means it cannot go beyond an hour.  Timeboxes are broken down into smaller boxes
within an agile environment and every team must have.  Without timeboxes, teams would not have a
steady pace.

**1.5 Conclusion**

 In conclusion, meetings in an
Agile are lightweight but also very scheduled and has a tight schedule.  Many scrum masters do not believe in having a
lot of meetings because it can burden the team.
Running meetings on the other hand, could be very easy if the five steps
are followed.  They keep the teams
working together and have proven to be very productive.  Timeboxing gives a specific time, once that
time is up, the activity is over.
Therefore, time must be allotted for.

Reference

Google.com.
(2017). *meetings in agile - Google Search*. [online] Available at:
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHWA\_enUS628US628&tbm=isch&q=meetings+in+agile&chips=q:meetings+in+agile,g\_1:team+meeting&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj3o47ejMbXAhXENSYKHVQjDTgQ4lYIJigA&biw=1500&bih=714&dpr=0.9#imgrc=YzIXtOGV8TNlIM:
[Accessed 17 Nov. 2017].

Lynda.com - from LinkedIn. (2017). *Running agile meetings*. [online]
Available at: https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Running-agile-meetings/175075/437991-4.html
[Accessed

16 Nov. 2017].

Lynda.com - from LinkedIn. (2017). *Staying lightweight*. [online]
Available at https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Staying-lightweight/175075/437990-4.html
l [Accessed 16 Nov. 2017].

Lynda.com - from LinkedIn. (2017). *Timeboxing*. [online] Available
at: https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Timeboxing/175075/437992-4.html
[Accessed 16 Nov. 2017].