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My manager at a software company I've worked at for a few years has asked me to join a status update (a standup if you are familiar with agile) meeting daily, before my normal work hours. My boss didn't call this meeting, but a project manager did as he is primarily interested in the status of the issues. This has proven difficult as I'm usually quite busy in the mornings, handling getting myself and my children ready for their day during this time, and for the most part unavailable. I could rearrange my schedule to make it work, I just really don't want to do that.

To make matters worse, this meeting is pointless for me to attend, it is a status update on a project I have very little to do with. Once every few weeks I may actually need to be there to say a few "status update" words. These could easily be summarized during work hours, as they are not time critical.

I tried just not attending, but got caught and he asked me again to join. I've explained my time commitments, and my lack of work on this project, but still he pressures me me to attend and "zone out" waiting to see if my name is called.

How can I better communicate that I do not wish to waste my time attending this meeting every day?

Isn't the real problem here that they are asking to have work meetings, outside of work hours? We have daily scrums slightly after the day starts sothat people can get drinks/etc and then do the meeting and focus on their day. I would argue that, given the meetings are for work, they should arrange them at the start of worktime and not before.

Also because they are daily, if for whatever reason they cant do it during your work hours (because its normal work hours for everyone else perhaps?) you could try working out the night before what you want to say and send it to someone that is in the meeting so it can be read out daily as a compromise.

The only reason for mandatory attendance is either so you have visibility on everything that is occurring or for them to discuss issues with you and the former you seem to not require and the latter shouldn't be done in a scrum anyway.

A few suggestions:

• Ask the meeting organizer if you can attend the meeting remotely, over email or chat for example. Send your update the prior evening or at some other convenient time.




• Ask the meeting organizer to move the meeting time to accommodate your schedule. If they won't, you can at least inform your supervisor that they didn't which is one way of demonstrating that you might not be needed anyways.
  I know that this goes against some people's ideas about Agile, but if your Agile process isn't agile, I'm not sure it's really Agile.

Ugh.. that's immensely irritating - you have my sympathies!

Since it sounds like your boss isn't going to just let this one go completely I'd suggest you offer him a compromise option where you can meet the business objectives but don't actually have to attend.

Try offering to write a status update message for the times when you do have something relevant to say and have that be delivered to whoever is chairing the meeting by close of business the previous day.

If this is really about getting your updates to the team then this should be sufficient from what you've described. If he pushes back on this with vague mumbling about "visibility" or similar then you can counter with the fact that the optics of you being there but "zoned out" (his words) are going to be worse than you not being there in the first place. If on the other hand he pushes back using the old "what if someone has a question?" line then offer that if they e-mail you the question you'll respond to any queries by time x (where time X is during your working day, reasonably early if possible).

If the meeting is truly pointless for you, and you cannot contribute (as opposed to being unlikely to contribute), he's probably trying to expand his footprint in the organization, and using you as manpower to do it.

I'd suggest talking to him about his goals of having you attend the meeting, and if he shares them with you, you can gain a lot of favor by attempting to help him achieve them.

That said, you need to also suggest that you further his goals in a way you can sustain. For example, you might suggest that by being late or nearly late to each meeting, you're probably projecting the wrong impression, so instead you'll try to go out to lunch with a few key players, or follow up in ways that can work with your schedule.

As Agile, everyone's time is supposed to be taken into account. In my team, everyone is usually in the office by 9.30 AM, but there is one person who comes in later due to their daily routine. We scheduled the meeting at a time everyday after their arrival so that everyone is included. I think your manager can do the same and the fact that they are not is just wrong. You should address this with a person above you and the manager.

...my lack of work on this project, but still he pressures me me to attend and "zone out" waiting to see if my name is called.

The meeting an agile team standup.

One of the key tenets of agile is to maximise productivity by minimising time-wasting meetings. A standup should be short, informal, effective and useful to all attendees.

If it is not, then it is a waste of time.

Another key tenet of agile is that the rituals of any given process that you are following, such as Scrum, should not be considered to be carved in stone. The process should adapt to you rather than you adapting to the process.

It sounds to me as if your team is trying to be agile, but actually being far too rigid about it, and thereby missing the point.

I don't have any specific advice for you on how to approach your manager with this, but clearly there is a problem and you do need to discuss it. I hope the above will give you some useful ammunition to help you make your case.