Have you ever wondered how to keep your remote team on track with Scrum? Understanding scrum meeting types is crucial for keeping everyone aligned and productive, especially when working from different locations. In this article, we’ll break down the key Scrum meetings—like Sprint Planning, Daily Stand-ups, Sprint Reviews, and Retrospectives—and share tips on how to run them effectively with remote teams.
Whether you’re a Scrum Master or part of an Agile team, you’ll find practical insights to make your virtual meetings smoother and more engaging. Ready to optimize your remote Scrum process? Let’s dive in!
What is Agile methodology?
Before we define the term Scrum, it’s important to understand what Agile methodology is first.
Agile methodology is an approach to project management. You’ll also hear about it in the context of software development. With Agile, teams work in short cycles that are often referred to as sprints. The goal is to take an iterative, collaborative approach in order to deliver the most value to the customer in the shortest time possible.
But you might be wondering how this is different from other methodologies. Doesn’t every team follow this approach? While Agile is very popular, it’s not the only option available to organizations.
For instance, with the Waterfall Method, you create and follow a sequential plan that’s made up of multiple phases. For example, you may have analysis, research, design, and testing phases. Each phase must be completely wrapped up before moving on to the next one.
Understanding the basics of Scrum
Now that we’ve established the differences between the methodologies, let’s define what Scrum is. Scrum is one of many types of agile methodology. Other examples include Kanban, Extreme Programming, and Crystal. According to The Scrum Guide:
“Scrum is a lightweight framework that helps people, teams and organizations generate value through adaptive solutions for complex problems.”
It’s also important to understand the three pillars that Scrum operates on, which are:
1. Transparency
With Scrum, transparency is vital. And it’s not just about having high visibility within the team—it’s about making the work visible to all stakeholders of the project. A lack of transparency may lead to poor decisions, diminished value, and increased risk.
2. Inspection
Scrum also operates on frequent check-ins, or inspections. The purpose of this is to detect potential problems early on and give the team a chance to iterate as needed. That’s why Scrum has four meeting types, which are crucial to this project management approach. We’ll discuss these more later in the post.
3. Adaptation
Finally, adaptation is key to any teams that use Scrum. Unlike other frameworks that commit you to a specific path from start to finish, Scrum is all about adjusting as you go. So if a process isn’t working or the resulting product fails to achieve its goal, the team has to make adjustments as needed.
The pros and cons of Scrum
Like any other framework, Scrum has its strengths and weaknesses. If you’re trying to evaluate whether Scrum is the right approach for your team, check out this list of pros and cons first:
| Pros 😊 | Cons 😟 |
|---|---|
| Helps teams complete projects quickly and efficiently | Deadlines may be more uncertain |
| Creates more visibility for key stakeholders | Disagreements among stakeholders can slow down the process |
| Saves time, money, and resources | More meetings |
| Leads to a more collaborative, feedback-focused process | Challenging to implement with larger teams |
| Great option for both in-person and remote teams | Highly dependent on the skill level and commitment of team members |
| Can reduce the chances of significant mistakes |
Now that we understand the basics of Scrum, let’s explore one of the most critical aspects of this framework: the various meeting types.
Types of Agile frameworks
When it comes to Agile, there are several frameworks you can choose from depending on your team’s structure and project needs. Let’s go over some of the most common types to give you a clearer idea of what each one offers.
- Scrum: This is probably the most well-known Agile framework. Scrum breaks work into short, focused sprints (usually two weeks) where the team works toward specific goals. It’s great for keeping everyone aligned and accountable with daily stand-ups and regular reviews.
- Kanban: If you’re more into visual management, Kanban might be your go-to. It’s all about visualizing your workflow with a board that tracks tasks from start to finish. It’s a bit more flexible than Scrum since it doesn’t rely on set time frames.
- Lean: Lean focuses on eliminating waste and maximizing value. It’s all about doing more with less—less time, less effort, and less wasted resources. If you’re all about efficiency, this framework could really resonate with you.
- Extreme Programming (XP): XP is great for teams that need to deliver high-quality software in fast, frequent releases. It emphasizes practices like pair programming and test-driven development to improve code quality and team collaboration.
- Crystal: Flexibility is the name of the game with Crystal. It offers different variations based on the size and needs of your team. The idea is that no single process works for everyone, so Crystal lets you adapt the framework to your specific situation.
- DSDM (Dynamic Systems Development Method): If you’re working on a project with strict deadlines and budget constraints, DSDM might be the right fit. It focuses on delivering the most critical features first using a prioritization method called MoSCoW (Must have, Should have, Could have, Won’t have).
- SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework): This one’s designed for bigger organizations that need to scale Agile across multiple teams. SAFe combines the best of Scrum, Lean, and XP to manage large projects with lots of moving parts.
- Feature-Driven Development (FDD): FDD is all about delivering features. Instead of working on an entire product at once, the team breaks it down into small, functional pieces and works on them iteratively.
Each of these frameworks has its strengths, and the one you choose really depends on your team’s dynamics and project requirements. The good news? No matter the framework, Agile helps you stay flexible, focused, and ready to adapt as things evolve.
What are the 5 Scrum meeting types?
Meetings are one of the most important features of Scrum. These checkpoints—which can be in-person or remote—are essential to the collaborative, iterative process that defines this Agile methodology. Here are the 5 types of meetings to be aware of:
1. Sprint planning meeting
Time required: A maximum of eight hours for a one-month sprint, but less for shorter sprints
The Scrum framework uses sprints to define the start and end of its projects. These sprints can be anywhere from one to four weeks. The planning meeting kicks off the beginning of a sprint and lays out all the work needed for the project. During this meeting, the team should be able to answer the following questions:
- Why is this sprint valuable?
- What can we accomplish during this sprint?
- What does success look like (for all stakeholders) at the end of this sprint?
- How will we complete the work that needs to be done during this sprint?
- Who will be responsible for what during the sprint?
2. Daily standups
Time required: A maximum of 15 minutes per day
The purpose of daily standups is to check in on progress toward the goal. Daily Scrum meetings are valuable because they improve team communication, identify issues early on, promote quick decision-making, and potentially eliminate the need for other meetings.
Typically, each team member shares a brief update of what they’re working on, how things are going, and the obstacles they’re facing. These standups also provide an excellent opportunity to problem-solve with the rest of the team.
For instance, let’s say one of your team members is struggling with an obstacle and shares their dilemma during the meeting. You dealt with the exact same problem the week before and figured out a simple solution. So you offer to walk your colleague through the steps to unblock them. This saves your teammate a ton of time and keeps the project moving forward smoothly.
3. Sprint review meeting
Time required: A maximum of four hours for a one-month sprint, but less for shorter sprints
At the sprint review meeting, all the stakeholders get together to share the results of their work. Rather than presenting the outcomes, this type of Scrum meeting will benefit more as a working session or an open conversation. This creates the right environment to share feedback and discuss potential changes. Here are some phrases you can use during the sprint review to make suggestions to your teammates in a helpful way:
- “What are your thoughts on approaching the problem this way?”
- “Have you considered this particular edge case that could occur?”
- “I really like how this turned out and think it could be improved even more with this addition. What do you think?”
4. Sprint retrospective meeting
Time required: A maximum of three hours for a one-month sprint, but less for shorter sprints
The last type of Scrum meeting is the sprint retrospective. Think of this as a postmortem. The goal is to inspect the project outcomes and discuss what can improve for future sprints—whether in terms of individual work, processes, tools, or even communication. During this Scrum meeting, everyone should:
- Review what went well and what didn’t
- Share feedback about their overall experience with the sprint
- Identify potential solutions to the problems that were identified
- Discuss ways to incorporate changes to the next sprint
The retrospective is critical because it helps you continually improve their project management approach—allowing teams to become more efficient, collaborative, and in tune with one another moving forward.
5. Backlog refinement meeting
Time required: Usually around an hour per sprint, but it can vary depending on the team’s needs.
The backlog refinement meeting (also called backlog grooming) is all about keeping things organized and ready to go for the upcoming sprints. It’s like a quick check-in to make sure the team’s priorities are in order and everyone knows what’s coming next. In this meeting, you’ll go through the items in the backlog, making sure they’re clear, fully defined, and properly prioritized. Here are a few key questions to cover during the meeting:
- Is everything in the backlog clearly understood by the team?
- Are the priorities still aligned with our project goals?
- Do we have any dependencies or blockers that we need to handle?
- Should we adjust estimates based on any new information?
- Is there anything we can remove from the backlog to keep things streamlined?
This meeting helps make sure that when sprint planning rolls around, you’re not scrambling to figure out what’s important. It keeps things flowing smoothly!
Common Obstacles in Remote Scrum Meetings (with Solutions)
1. Communication Glitches
Problem: Bad audio, video lag, or even dropped connections can make it tough to have smooth conversations.
Fix: Make sure your team is using reliable tools like Krisp for noise cancellation and a solid video conferencing platform to keep things clear and frustration-free.
2. Time Zone Struggles
Problem: Working with people across different time zones can make scheduling meetings a bit of a nightmare.
Fix: Try rotating meeting times to spread the inconvenience, or for quick updates like daily stand-ups, consider doing them asynchronously.
3. Low Engagement
Problem: It’s easy to zone out during remote meetings, especially if they drag on too long.
Fix: Keep meetings short and sweet, and get everyone involved by asking questions or assigning roles like note-taking or facilitating.
4. Missing Non-verbal Cues
Problem: In remote settings, you can’t always see body language or facial expressions, which can make it hard to gauge how people are really feeling.
Fix: Encourage everyone to speak up more and use video when possible so you can still get some visual connection.
5. Tech Troubles
Problem: Software crashes or internet issues can really throw a wrench into meetings.
Fix: Make sure everyone’s tech is up to date, and have a backup plan (like a phone call) ready in case things go south.
6. Feeling Disconnected
Problem: It’s harder to build personal connections in a remote team, which can make meetings feel a bit impersonal.
Fix: Start meetings with a quick check-in or virtual icebreaker to help the team bond and build trust.
7. Meeting Overload
Problem: Too many meetings can lead to burnout, especially when you’re staring at a screen all day.
Fix: Only schedule meetings when absolutely necessary, keep them focused, and consider cutting back on their frequency or length.
5 tips to have more productive Scrum meetings
Regardless of the type of Scrum meeting, there are best practices you can follow to get the most out of your time with your teammates. Here are five of our best tips to improve productivity during your meetings:
1. Respect the time allocation
Scrum is about efficiency. Even though there are frequent meetings, the goal isn’t to drag them out for as long as possible—it’s about using the time wisely for their intended purpose. So if your standup meetings are limited to 15 minutes, respect that timeframe. It’ll keep everything running smoothly and minimize frustration from team members.
2. Have an agenda
On a similar note, it may help to go into some of your Scrum meetings with an agenda, which outlines the goal, topics of discussion, and action items. This will help keep the conversation on track and serve as a North Star to refocus the meeting. If people raise topics that don’t align with the agenda, they can find additional time outside of the meeting to discuss them with the appropriate stakeholders.
3. Be open minded
Since Scrum is all about taking an iterative approach to project management, all the meeting types leave room for feedback. Knowing this, it’s essential to go into these conversations with an open mind. Try not to take it personally when someone suggests improvements to your ideas. And be receptive to learning new ways to approach a problem.
If you find yourself getting frustrated or offended during a meeting, take a deep breath and shift your mindset to one of curiosity rather than judgment. Remember: the goal is to choose the process, tools, and approach that will lead to the best outcomes.
4. Use the right tools
When you’re trying to maximize efficiency as a remote team, the last thing you want is to run into technological issues. That’s why it’s critical to choose the right tools, depending on the type of Scrum meeting you’re having.
For instance, if you’re looking for a daily standup tool, consider a noise-cancelling software like Krisp. By using artificial intelligence, our product removes unwanted sounds from both sides of a call, creating a smoother meeting experience. You can also use tools like Slack to share virtual updates if there are days when everyone is heads down or pressed for time.
Another tool that can really boost your productivity is the Krisp AI Meeting Assistant. It goes beyond just improving audio clarity—it automatically transcribes your meetings, takes notes, and captures important action items. Imagine having instant summaries after each meeting, so you don’t have to worry about remembering every detail. It also helps you stay focused, knowing that everything is being recorded and organized for you.
5. Change it up
Some Scrum meeting types, such as the daily standup, can get old after a while and cause people to lose interest. So don’t be afraid to change things up occasionally! Change up the order of who speaks, start with a quick virtual icebreaker, or even have everyone physically stand up when sharing their updates. These small changes can help your teammates feel more engaged and attentive during the meetings.
