Fixing Your Scrum

Punishing Tardiness

Some Scrum masters lock the door to the conference room once the daily scrum starts. It may seem like, by creating a consequence for being late, you’re helping the team members show up on time. But punishments like closing the door, a late jar, and making people sing or dance if they’re late are acts of pillory. Public shaming isn’t one of the tools of a Scrum master.

Team members who don’t respect each other enough to be on time to a team event are exposing a problem that can’t be solved by doing a silly dance. You’ll need to dig deeper and work with the team to discover what’s going on.

For example, did the team get to decide when and where to hold the daily scrum? It’s their event—let them choose how to conduct it.

Does ...