Have you ever logged into a weekly standup where your Scrum Master didn’t arrive for 5 minutes?
Every time I do, it’s usually just the same 2 questions going around in circles — “Hi X, how are you?” — “Good, how are you?”
As the meeting progresses, there is limited participation from most developers. And unless there’s a major problem, their responses are along the lines of, “I’ve made progress on tickets 931, 1001, 1011. No blockers.”
Are you thinking that’s how my meetings are?
What’s going on? Everyone isn’t socially inept.
(Although I think I am. I often want the option to undo what I just said.)
So, why is engagement so low in so many meetings for software developers?
Social Pressure
Even the most senior software engineers rarely lead these meetings or speak at length. They’re usually just there to answer hard questions that management doesn’t know.
Could that mean social pressure to speak only when spoken to?