AGILE

The Original Spirit of Agile

The Agile Manifesto, crafted in 2001, championed values over processes:

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.
• Working software over comprehensive documentation.
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation.
• Responding to change over following a plan.

The intent was clear: Agile was meant to empower teams to focus on delivering value and solving problems, not to enforce rigid rituals. But somewhere along the way, the focus shifted.

The Original Purpose of Daily Stand-ups

The daily stand-up, also known as the daily scrum, was conceived as one of the most accessible and valuable agile practices. According to Atlassian, stand-ups are meant to be short, daily meetings to discuss progress and identify blockers – like a sports team's huddle before each play. They're designed to keep the team informed, connected, and calibrated throughout the project.

The meeting typically revolves around three questions:

• What did I work on yesterday?
• What am I working on today?
• What issues are blocking me?

These questions aren't meant to be a script for status reporting but rather guidelines to facilitate discussion about the team's progress toward their sprint goal.

How Stand-ups Transform into Micromanagement

In many organizations, stand-ups become a mechanism for managers to track individual productivity rather than team progress. The shift toward micromanagement often begins subtly, with meetings extending beyond their intended 15-minute timeframe and focusing on detailed status updates rather than team synchronization.

Common anti-patterns include:

• Managers using stand-ups as a tool to monitor attendance and activity
• Detailed problem-solving sessions that should happen offline
• Team members feeling pressured to justify their daily work
• Focus shifting from team goals to individual tasks