This is what makes standups shitty. I couldn't care less to know if you are still working on something.
If that's all anybody ever says, then I'd agree. But, in practice, with my team, there might be one person with nothing much to report, but several others who needs assistance, want to demo something they've built, are ready to transition something to QA, or something else. If you aren't getting any of that in your stand-up then the team is "broken" and could likely use an open conversation about the meeting's purpose and value.
> If that's all anybody ever says, then I'd agree.
If it gets said at all, you should also agree. If the goal if your standup is simply to hear people talk, talk about what you did on the weekend instead. That will actually provide value to the team in building a better relationship with teammates. "I did X yesterday, I will do X today" provides no information potential or bonding potential. It is flat out worthless.
More realistically, if all you have to say is "I did X yesterday, I will do X today" it is best to not say anything at all. The goal shouldn't be to hear someone speak, but rather to achieve a business objective. Sometimes people won't have anything to contribute towards that objective and that's okay. Other times they will. They can speak then.
Team meetings can be beneficial. Having the team meet so that they can utter practically-gibberish canned messages to each other is not beneficial. On the bright side, I see (from the parent comment and many others) that we have finally dropped the equally useless "no blockers" routine. We're making progress here!
The problem I have with saying nothing is that the act of saying "still working on X" can be a trigger for more conversation. Is X taking longer than expected by the rest of the team? Let's dig into that. Did somebody else's work unexpectedly intersect with X yesterday? Now they have a mental trigger to mention that. Etc.
But, in practice, I'd prefer somebody gave a little more context than a simple "working on X" (assuming X isn't trivial - if it was, you would have finished it already) - what part of X... Design? Coding? Testing? Any roadblocks? Do you expect to turn it over to QA today or tomorrow? Nobody is working a vacuum and all our work intersects at some point.
That works if you are saying it to yourself in front of a mirror, perhaps. If there are other people listening in, it will take another five minutes just to wake them all up.
Then I think you need to explain yourself better. Saying a 10s phrase that says I don't have anything to report would send everyone to sleep seems to imply that you don't think people should say that.
Regurgitating a, what is little more than gibberish, canned response when you have nothing to say is very different to speaking when you have something of value to say. That it only takes 10 seconds to utter that gibberish does not give it any more value.
Assigning turns so that someone is forced to spit out that gibberish is nonsensical. Allowing someone the floor when they speak up when they have something to say is worthwhile, and something people do naturally. There is no need for an explicit turn where someone must say something.
> Same way humans have always figured it out? They say it.
> Regurgitating a, what is little more than gibberish, canned response when you have nothing to say is very different to speaking when you have something of value to say. That it only takes 10 seconds to utter that gibberish does not give it any more value.
I can't tell if there are two people on your account? Maybe you two should chat.
What you seem to not understand is that normal people don't speak up when they only have a canned response they were told to say, to say.
They technically could, but usually they are smart enough to realize that it is stupid to do so and reserve the act for when they know they have something of value to contribute.
If you are hiring stupid people, well, good luck. Someone uttering gibberish is likely the least of your worries, which no doubt explains why you haven't noticed the problem with it.
You didn't need to mention it. It was already baked into the discussion long before you ever replied. It is not like the subject would have magically changed beneath us.
That you seem confused about the subject now is... strange.
It wasn't baked into anything. I never said that. If you're inventing things, then I don't know what to tell you. Presumably you'll interpret anything I say in an arbitrary way, adding or subtracting to make what I say fit a stereotype.
Since the first comment, the thread has been about how "Yesterday I worked on X, today I will work on X" is pointless. That is the canned response. It is not something a thinking person would logically say on their own accord. It gets said because it is the answer to two of the three questions that the book on Scrum indicates should be asked in a standup. The third being the equally useless "Do you have any blockers?"
Sure, you can say that in 10 seconds. More likely even less time. That doesn't mean you should. It provides nothing of value. Setting a specific turn aside so that someone has to say something useless is even crazier.
Actually, most of the thread has been about whether or not you're saying people are allowed to indicate that they have no blockers.
People don't say things because they're in a book. If you want to work as a team and quickly update your team on what you're doing, then leaving your day free to do or collaborate as needed, it's an efficient way to do it.
You don't (seem to) say all this should not be communicated, nor that the team shouldn't be aware of it. You seem to only be concerned with the form of the communication; that it should be implied where possible, and where it must be explicit, should be done in point to point conversations throughout the day. That seems a) worse and b) bikeshedding.
> Actually, most of the thread has been about whether or not you're saying people are allowed to indicate that they have no blockers.
There has been no mention of the topic of blockers in this thread at all, save my last comment. I am not sure where you dreamed up the idea it was central to the discussion, let alone a part of it in any capacity.
> People don't say things because they're in a book.
Not on their own accord. If there is social pressure, or even economic pressure, to take a turn they absolutely do. This topic is not based on a work of fiction. It was a tale about someone's actual experience. One many have had at that.
You must have hit the wrong reply button somewhere along the way.
If that's all anybody ever says, then I'd agree. But, in practice, with my team, there might be one person with nothing much to report, but several others who needs assistance, want to demo something they've built, are ready to transition something to QA, or something else. If you aren't getting any of that in your stand-up then the team is "broken" and could likely use an open conversation about the meeting's purpose and value.