Standups:
1. The standups are held in very small groups that work on the same thing and where it is important that they are coordinated.
2. Standups are not a place to discuss priorities. Those were set way before. It's for you to tell everybody what you're working.
3. Standups take 5-6 minutes per day. It's less than one foosball game. Some teams actually do their standups while doing a plank, so that they're very short.
4. Standups help us achieve team cohesion. Everybody knows what everybody is doing, so people can help each other when needed + leads can detect issues sooner (especially valid for introverts, since they sometimes lock up and grind away without telling anybody).
5. If you're bored during standup and not getting any value then you should not be part of the standup. Standups are considered optional, but everybody attends.
Agile process:
1. 14-day scrums are to sync priorities and discuss the development process. Generally speaking, we set up quarterly goals (and we have a rolling forecast for the next two quarters) so its clear what people need to do. We do not change the quarterly goal, except if external forces force us (example: things failing).
2. The schedule also gives the leads a clear tool to block any "non-urgent" but important tasks that would meddle in the development process. Instead of caving under the pressure of product teams or high-level management they can clearly state when they will start working on the task. I think the schedule needs to be set so that management can handle the lag between request and start of work on the request. I've heard of 3-day sprints since that was the most effective way of blocking daily priorities changing until management got on board.