faithpeterson

When I started working with a team that kept missing sprint commitments, my first action was to drop the traditional static 3-question daily standup. Instead, we began a daily practice of recalibrating our plan-to-completion relative to the sprint goal.

We made the first order of business a recap of the sprint goal. Then the team walks through their work from right to left, but not card-by-card. We start from the sprint goal: what's the first element we need to satisfy it, and where does that work sit on our board? This builds both psychological and practical momentum toward actually shipping something.

Walking right-to-left directs attention forward, toward delivery—getting the sprint goal “over the line.” It's an Always. Be. Closing. mentality—or as software teams sometimes put it, “stop starting, start finishing.” Think about sports: you pass into the space where your teammate is going, not where they're standing. The team focuses on where the action is heading, not where it sits.

This approach surfaces the information that actually matters. Visual indicators—whatever system the team uses to highlight aging or blocked work—make these issues obvious and immediately relevant. The team can split oversized stories, negotiate scope with the product owner, or mobilize help to unblock impediments while everyone's attention is focused and the context is fresh.

I've found teams that adopt this approach are more engaged in standup and move toward completion more energetically.