A common complaint on Scrum teams is, “We have too many meetings.” However, I would like to argue that the issue isn’t the number of activities in Scrum; it’s how they’re used (or misused). I was recently on Mountain Goat's Podcast. Take a listen here if you wish.
What many refer to as "meetings” should instead be considered working sessions, structured opportunities for inspection, adaptation, and collaboration. Rather than adding random status check-ins or side meetings, I recommend eliminating other non‑Scrum meetings and embedding essential collaboration into the existing Scrum rhythm.
If you strip everything else away, the Scrum events account for only about 12% of a team’s time, a small investment if they’re well-run and generate clarity. By the way, you have to spend time doing these things anyway, regardless of whether you are doing Scrum or any other process/method.
Four Scrum Events + Backlog Refinement
Below is a quick guide to common pitfalls and best practices drawn from the podcast discussion:
| Scrum Event | Common Mistakes / Challenges | Advice to Improve |
|---|---|---|
| Sprint Planning | Teams rush it; unclear sprint goal; backlog items aren’t broken down enough. | Co-create the sprint goal, analyze team capacity, and break backlog items into smaller items so changes are detectable daily. |
| Daily Scrum | Becomes a status report; participants skip it because they already talk during the day. | Use it to align on the sprint goal and surface blockers. If the team suggests skipping it, experiment and measure impact on flow. |
| Sprint Review | Stakeholders don’t attend; becomes a demo instead of feedback loop; overly technical. | Structure it like a show-and-tell: recap goals, show what was delivered, invite interaction, and collect actionable feedback. |
| Sprint Retrospective | Too many items tackled; action items not followed through; low psychological safety. | Focus on 1–2 improvement goals, turn them into visible backlog items, and review them daily. Use data to guide conversations, not blame. |
| Backlog Refinement | Often neglected or done too close to planning; backlog is vague or too large. | Invest in regular, small sessions to clarify, slice, and size work items. Make this the engine of predictability and alignment. |
Retrospectives and backlog refinement are among the most essential activities in Scrum; if you get these correct, many other problems tend to resolve themselves.
Tips for Making Scrum Events More Valuable
Here are some practical ideas (from the discussion) to help make your Scrum events less burdensome and more effective:
- Time‑box strictly. Respect the time limits to prevent events from turning into lengthy meetings.
- Use real data. Bring flow metrics, defect escape rates, and cycle time charts; make data the focus, not opinions.
- Ensure psychological safety. Frame issues around problems, not individuals. Promote open and honest sharing.
- Facilitate, don’t dominate. Scrum Masters should strike a balance between participation and facilitation. Utilize techniques such as Liberating Structures or anonymous input to minimize bias.
- Embed improvement work. Treat retrospective action items like backlog items, visible, limited in number, and revisited regularly.
- Experiment. If someone says, “We don’t need this event,” try skipping it for a sprint and observe the results.
The phrase “too many meetings” masks a more profound truth: it’s not the quantity of events that matters, it’s their design and how they’re executed. When Scrum events are thoughtfully time‑boxed, data‑driven, psychologically safe, and focused on inspection and adaptation, they stop feeling like a drain and instead become valuable working sessions.
If your teams are pushing back against “too many meetings,” this is a good topic to discuss in your next retrospective or Scrum Master forum.
Want help implementing some of these ideas, perhaps with a better retrospective format or a meeting audit? I’d be happy to help you develop a plan.
We make it easy, simply book some time on my calendar and we can discuss or assess next steps for your team.