PMP Practice Questions #148
During an Agile project, the team notices that the time spent on daily stand-up meetings frequently exceeds the recommended 15-minute limit. The Scrum Master seeks to ensure these meetings remain both effective and efficient. Which of the following actions should the Scrum Master take to address this issue?
A) Enforce the time limit strictly by cutting off discussions and scheduling separate meetings for detailed discussions if necessary.
B) Allow the meetings to continue for as long as needed, as long as the team finds them useful.
C) Rotate the responsibility of facilitating the meeting among team members to foster engagement and accountability.
D) Remind the team to revisit their working agreement and plan the meeting agenda to stay focused and within the time limit.
Analysis
The scenario addresses a common challenge in Agile project management where daily stand-up meetings consistently exceed the recommended 15-minute duration. The Scrum Master aims to ensure that these meetings are both effective and efficient. The goal here is to find an approach that maintains the efficacy of these stand-ups while adhering more closely to their time constraints, enhancing overall team productivity without compromising the Agile values of communication and rapid iteration.
Analysis of Options:
Option A: Enforce the time limit strictly by cutting off discussions and scheduling separate meetings for detailed discussions if necessary. This option involves strictly enforcing the 15-minute limit by curtailing discussions that go beyond this time frame and scheduling separate meetings for more detailed discussions. While this approach can effectively keep meetings within the set duration, it might be seen as too rigid or top-down, potentially stifling spontaneous and valuable discussions. It risks turning the stand-up into a check-the-box activity rather than a genuinely productive team interaction.
Option B: Allow the meetings to continue for as long as needed, as long as the team finds them useful. This option opts for flexibility, allowing the team to extend meetings as needed. While it respects the team’s judgment on the usefulness of extended discussions, it disregards the guideline of keeping stand-ups concise and focused. This can lead to diminished meeting effectiveness over time, as prolonged sessions may cause participant disengagement and dilute the focus on immediate actions.
Option C: Rotate the responsibility of facilitating the meeting among team members to foster engagement and accountability. Rotating the facilitator role can enhance engagement and accountability within the team, potentially leading to more organized and efficient meetings. However, this does not directly address the issue of meetings exceeding the time limit. While beneficial for team dynamics, it doesn’t guarantee that meetings will adhere to the desired 15-minute timeframe.
Option D: Remind the team to revisit their working agreement and plan the meeting agenda to stay focused and within the time limit. This option encourages the team to revisit and possibly revise their working agreements, focusing on maintaining a disciplined approach to the daily stand-up. By reminding the team of their own agreements and encouraging them to plan the meeting agenda with time constraints in mind, this approach fosters a sense of ownership and self-management regarding meeting efficiency, aligning well with agility and team autonomy and continuous improvement.
Conclusion: Option D is the most effective choice for addressing the issue of extended daily stand-ups. It encourages the team to self-reflect and adjust their behaviors through the lens of their working agreements, promoting a balanced approach that maintains the flexibility and responsiveness of Agile while ensuring meetings remain concise and focused. This option supports empowering the team to manage their processes, rather than imposing strict top-down controls or allowing potentially unproductive leniency. Thus, it enhances both the efficiency of the meetings and the team’s adherence to Agile practices, making it the optimal solution for the problem described.
PMP Exam Content Outline Mapping
| Domain | Task |
|---|---|
| People | Task 2: Lead a team |
| People | Task 12: Define team ground rules |
Topics Covered
- Daily Standup
- Agile Approach
