Who is required to attend the Daily Scrum?

The Daily Scrum is a key inspection event specifically for the Development Team (or "Developers" in the 2020 Scrum Guide). The purpose of this 15-minute event is for the developers to synchronize activities and create a plan for the next 24 hours to optimize their collaboration and performance. While the Scrum Master ensures the event happens and the Product Owner may attend to listen, their presence is not mandatory. The event is owned by and run for the Development Team, making them the only required attendees.

A. Scrum Master: The Scrum Master's role is to ensure the event occurs, but they are not required to attend if the team can facilitate it effectively.
C. Development Team and Product Owner: The Product Owner is not a required attendee. Their involvement could disrupt the team's self-management during this internal planning event.
D. Development Team and Scrum Master: The Scrum Master is not a required attendee. The Daily Scrum is the Development Team's event.

1. Schwaber, K., & Sutherland, J. (2020). The Scrum Guide. Scrum.org. p. 9. ("The Daily Scrum is a 15-minute event for the Developers of the Scrum Team... If the Product Owner or Scrum Master are actively working on items in the Sprint Backlog, they participate as Developers.")

2. University of Virginia, Darden School of Business. (2018). Agile Development in Practice. Courseware UVA-OM-1608. (Describes the Daily Scrum as a meeting for and by the development team to coordinate their work).