Are you a project manager or ScrumMaster? During your daily scrums to assess project status, you ask your team three basic questions:
- What did you do for the project yesterday?
- What are you planning to do today?
- Do you have any obstacles preventing you from accomplishing your goal?
Given that the goal is to get in and get out of these daily status meetings in 15 mins or less, one of the toughest jobs for the ScrumMaster is to redirect team members that exhibit self oriented behaviors that derail the meeting (and suck all of the air out of the room).
The Digressor
For example, let’s say a person on your team can’t stay focused on the topic. We’ll call him or her “The Digressor. When I say, “The processor is running hot.” He says, “That reminds me of a trip I took to the Bahamas. The water was Azure blue and the sand was as soft as pillow. They served the most delectable Mai Tai drink with light rum, creme de almond, triple sec, sweet and sour mix and pineapple. [He takes a quick breadth] I wonder if pirates drank Mai Tais? Speaking of pirates …” Arrgghhh!
Has anyone ever hijacked a meeting you were in to pontificate about something that has no relevance to the topic?
The Redirect
The effective ScrumMaster is prepared to redirect self oriented behaviors. For example, every time a Digressor wanders off track, you might say, “We need to get back on topic or we won’t be able to cover our agenda today.” Or you might say, “That’s sound wonderful. Can we come back to it after we cover the rest of our agenda?” Before you return to the Bahamas topic make sure you dismiss everyone who has more urgent matters to attend to. This visual of people walking out or disconnecting from the phone will usually que the digressor that his topic is not that interesting to everyone else.
You can find more useful tips for silencing a rambler under Top Tips on the front page of my website. Click Here
Do you have other examples of bad behaviors and possible ways to redirect the behavior? Share them with us.
