Fellow Scrum team member appears disengaged from stand ups, scrum master hasn't addressed it - what can/should I do? [closed]

Question

I'm a member of a Scrum team in a matrix managed organisation (as a QA, my actual boss is the QA Manager who has other QAs in other scrum teams as well, but day-to-day I report progress/blockers etc to the Scrum team with its own Scrum Master for this particular project). Our stand-ups happen in our "team pod" as that's where the scrum board is etc.

One of the other members - Anne - of this Scrum team is my peer in that we have a similar level of expertise, seniority etc but report to different managers. We carry out similar but parallel (QA and business analyst) functions on this team. (I believe Anne has worked primarily in 'traditional' e.g. waterfall based projects before this.)

Anne has made many negative comments about Agile/Scrum e.g. it's "too much talking and not enough doing", "process at the expense of results" etc. I actually can't really disagree with Anne, but I recognise that we have to work within the Agile/Scrum framework even so. And from my subjective assessment Anne seeks to do as little as reasonably possible.

My problem: as the daily stand up (and other ad-hoc team meetings etc) is held in our team area, Anne doesn't stand up with the rest of us -- she sort of appears in the circle of people, but just by swiveling a chair round. Then she actively disengages with the stand-up e.g. looking at her screen and typing a response to emails whilst other people are giving their updates. Occasionally she does stand up and 'engage' but making it clear that she looks down on the whole process e.g. examining fingernails during someone's update or brushing dirt off her jeans etc!

Essentially it's clear that Anne is skeptical and dismissive of the whole Scrum process, and lets that show.

I know the Scrum Master must have observed this, because it's obvious 3/5 days a week at least.

As a member of this team what can I do from this point? I am finding it really demotivating from at least 2 points of view i.e.:

1. The scrum master seems ineffective
2. why should I care (I'm also a Scrum-cynic) if Anne doesn't and faces no consequences, maybe just because I'm newer to the org than Anne?

Answer 1

Generally, if the following are true about an employee you observe performing unsatisfactorily:

• the employee doesn't report to you; you have no supervisory or performance responsibility for them,
• the employee's performance is not directly impacting your own deliverables,
• Others who do have responsibility for the employee are already aware of their actions or issues,

then the best thing you can do is nothing. Focus on your own work and your own performance. Let the management staff responsible for Anne take the actions they deem appropriate.

This may seem like an unfortunately passive approach, but in reality, there will often be poor performers on any team, it's a valuable skill to be able to focus on your own work despite their outcomes.

Answer 2

I know the Scrum Master must have observed this, because it's obvious 3/5 days a week at least.

As a member of this team what can I do from this point?

You should keep doing your good work and performing professionally during stand-ups (as you are already doing).

As you are not this person's manager nor scrum master there is nothing you should be trying to fix or correct on them. In fact, this doesn't seem to prevent you from doing your work at all, and is "just" something that demotivates you a bit.

You say your Scrum Master most likely has noticed this attitude, so on that matter I would leave it be and let your Scrum Master determine how to handle or approach this person's attitude (unless this starts to physically prevent you from doing your job).

why should I care (I'm also a Scrum-cynic) if Anne doesn't and faces no consequences, maybe just because I'm newer to the org than Anne?

You should care because you value your job, as well as the level of professionalism and quality of the work you deliver.

I know this person's attitude may be a bit demotivating, but I suggest you don't compare to others in terms of the quality of the work you have to do. Instead, try focusing on your own professional development, and chose to keep doing a good job.

Answer 3

I'm going to set aside good/bad scrum and answer in the context of workplace health. If you want the "Scrum" answer, I can add that. There are two questions you can ask:

1) Why DO you care? If it bugs you enough to post on StackExchange, it clearly has some effect on you. If you understand that, you can express to your team members your concern more effectively. I'd look at approaches like Non-Violent Communication for raising concerns like this.

2) Why does she feel like that is the way to act? Often times people act out like that because they feel powerless to do anything else. Sometimes empathizing with their circumstances can lead to actions that improve the situation.

Is this something that could be raised at the retrospective? Has anything like it been brought up before?

Answer 4

Anne doesn't stand up with the rest of us -- she sort of appears in the circle of people, but just by swiveling a chair round.

Why does it matter whether she stands or sits? The point of the stand-up isn't to stand in a circle, it's to briefly tell your team where you are at.

looking at her screen and typing a response to emails whilst other people are giving their updates. examining fingernails during someone's update or brushing dirt off her jeans etc!

So what? It doesn't mean she isn't listening. Perhaps what's being told isn't news to her, or isn't related to what she's working on.

I know the Scrum Master must have observed this, because it's obvious 3/5 days a week at least.

The task of the Scrum Master is to facilitate; he/she should work on getting blockages removed. The Scrum Master isn't a manager (although sometimes the roles of Scrum Master and manager are merged). If Anne's behaviour is bothering you, it's up to you to take it up with Anne; the Scrum Master may mediate, but you shouldn't just expect the Scrum Master to solve the problems for you.

Is there anything she does (or doesn't do) which actually hurts the velocity of the team (there's nothing in the question which suggest that this is the case)? If so, then you either discuss it with her, or bring it up in your next retrospective. If not, well, then it just may be you.

Answer 5

Scrum-cynicism is a pretty common initial reaction, but Scrum actually does work pretty well for incrementally improving the team's process. Done right, Agile's emphasis should be on continuous improvement. Retrospectives are a critical part of that; they're where the team reflects on where the process is working and where it's not, and tries to find solutions to the places where it's not working. If this is something that you feel is standing in the way of the team's work, you should bring it up at the next retrospective. If you aren't comfortable doing that, you should broach the topic with your Scrum Master in advance of the next retrospective, and ask them to guide the conversation towards this topic; that's part of their facilitation and mediation job.

Anne has made many negative comments about Agile/Scrum e.g. it's "too much talking and not enough doing", "process at the expense of results" etc. I actually can't really disagree with Anne,

This certainly sounds like an issue worthy of discussing amongst the team - at least two people on a team of 7 feel like the agile methodology is providing worse results than your previous process. Assuming you've been doing scrum for more than a few sprints, and have actually gotten a reasonable feel for the process and rituals, this absolutely seems like something that justifies a group discussion.

Anne doesn't stand up with the rest of us ... she actively disengages ... looking at her screen and typing a response to emails whilst other people are giving their updates. Occasionally she does stand up and 'engage' but ... examining fingernails during someone's update or brushing dirt off her jeans etc!

These seem, to an outsider not involved in the situation, to be much less of an issue than the scrum-cynicism itself is. I personally have trouble not fidgeting during stand-ups, and have certainly picked things off my pants. When we've done stand-ups at our desks over conference calls or the like, I also have trouble separating from my other work. I think many other people are in that boat. If the team agrees that this is a problem that prevents people from properly engaging during Scrum, it should be relatively easy to create a new policy that everyone must stand up for stand-up, or something like that.

Answer 6

I think if the scrum master is aware of this and you are not directly impacted for your work, the best thing to is absolutely nothing. Take it as a joke but women are multithreaded, they can answer to e-mails, while listening to a conversation with an ear and the other ear listen if somebody is coming in. I have made scrum meting where I listened, explained in two minutes what I have done and if I had some problem and than stay silent. Because, you know, I'm not talkative and a bit shy. I prefer to eat lunch in a park near the workplace, alone, not because colleagues are awful people or I don't get along, but I need silence to work and make my ideas.

On the other hand if she is causing problem for your work directly, you could explain her the problem and try to find some solutions, undersanding why she has that behaviour.

Answer 7

and welcome to The Workplace!

Now, here is the issue with any SCRUM situation, you are going to get outliers no matter how well intentioned the SCRUM and meetings are. Let me ask you this, do you notice that Anne does any of these actions you mentioned while in meetings outside of them? (Spinning of the chair, etc?)

I ask this because it may be a larger issue that you may not be aware of such as a disability such as Autism. Some people don't feel comfortable in meetings and do better one on one.

If you want to find out the answers, ask if you and she would like to go out to lunch just to talk, get to know each other better, etc. If they say no, fine, but you attempted. Sometimes people are just standoffish, others they just don't know how to handle group situations.

If she says yes, don't bring up disabilities in the conversation, just ask her what she thinks of the SCRUMs and see if there is a way to get her involved, perhaps she feels like an outsider?

Don't take it personally, or take offense to this, it is the work environment as a whole, there are always people who are "odd ducks" in every group.

If they do their jobs correctly, then just let them be them and let the Management take actions if they deem it necessary.

My suggestion, don't get involved unless asked, it will save you headaches in the future, just do your job well, and if they think she needs a mentor, volunteer if offered. Otherwise, nose to the grindstone and don't bankrupt the company. ;)

Answer 8

In SCRUM technically it's the scrum master's responsibility to make sure everyone is participating in the process as they should. He will ultimatly have to answer if something goes wrong because of one team member's behavior.

Having said that, SCRUM also emphasizes the participation of the team as an important element of delivering good results. And obviously, Anne's behavor seems to bother you, so I think you should speak out.

I am finding it really demotivating from at least 2 points of view i.e.: 1) scrum master seems ineffective and 2) why should I care (I'm also a Scrum-cynic) if Anne doesn't and faces no consequences, maybe just because I'm newer to the org than Anne?

Whose behavior is bothering you, Anne's or the scrum master's? If Anne's behavior is bothering you, talk to her. If it's the scrum master's, talk to him. If it's both, talk to both. Eventually though, someone will have to talk to Anne.

The motivator behind people's actions is either that they want to gain something or that they are afraid to lose something. Anne's behavior might not be even rational, so understanding her motivations is necessary to adress her behavior.

Since you share her scepticism of the SCRUM methodology it would not be a bad idea if you talk with Anne instead of the scrum master, since you can start on a common ground which would make the conversation much less confrontational. Once you have established a conntection through your shared scepticism, you can start exploring the reasons for her behavior, which will help you to find a way to get your point across.

After you figured out her motivation, you might want to leave the conversation at that to give you time to think about your approach to the next conversation with her.