Counterproductive & supporting behaviours : An exploratory study of behavioural differences within scrum team meetings

With increasing adoption of the agile and Scrum methodologies, the demand for meetings within the work setting is steadily rising. This research focuses on the different manifestations of supporting (positive) and counterproductive (negative) meeting behaviours within Scrum team meetings and their effects on meeting effectiveness. Thematic and frequency analysis are used to explore preceding and succeeding behaviours which were observed via videotaped meetings. The data consists of 8 teams over the course of one sprint. The results show a pattern of self-perpetuating positive and negative behaviours during a meeting. Additionally, effective team meetings display lower levels of negative meeting behaviour and react to negative feedback with communication strategies that are focused on solutions rather than counterproductive behaviours compared to their ineffective counterparts. Here these themes are discussed and patterns and recommendations for future research are given.