The Daily Scrum is a 15-minute event for the Developers of the Scrum Team to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and adapt the Sprint Backlog as necessary, adjusting the upcoming planned work1. It is one of the five events of the Scrum framework and enables the three pillars of the empirical process of Scrum: transparency, inspection, and adaptation2. The Daily Scrum is not a status meeting, but a chance for the Developers to collaborate, coordinate, and plan their work3.

As a Scrum Master, you could help the Developers understand that lowering the frequency of communication will only increase the feeling of disconnect between the team members, especially when they are working from globally distributed locations. You could also coach the Developers on why a daily frequency is important as an opportunity to update the Sprint Plan and how it helps the team organize work toward achieving the Sprint Goal. You could suggest alternative conferencing tools or methods that are easily available and effective for the team. You could also facilitate the Daily Scrum by ensuring that it is positive, productive, and focused on the Sprint Goal.

Acknowledging and supporting this self-managing team’s decision might seem like a good option, but it would not help the team to improve their collaboration and alignment. Having the Developers vote to make sure there is consensus within the team might also seem like a democratic way to handle the situation, but it would not address the underlying issue of why the team wants to reduce the frequency of the Daily Scrum.

References:

The Scrum Guide 2020, section “The Daily Scrum”

What Is the Daily Scrum?, A Guide to the Daily Event - Scrum Alliance

The Importance of Daily Scrum Meetings | Grata Software