No, it's not a disease but rather a style of meeting that we've recently started to use in our engineering team. We started a few releases ago -- it worked so well that we decided to continue even when it's not cruch time.Scrum (a rugby term meaning to huddle) actually refers to a whole management methodology. We're just using one part of it -- the daily stand-up meeting. This isn't groundbreaking and our use of it is by no means unique but the results so far has been pretty dramatic. A brief 15 minute meeting gets everyone on the same page and really helps communication.

Here are a few crucial things to a good scrum style daily meeting:

1. 15 mins, tops. It's also key that people stand up -- when they're standing there's less incentive to get comfortable and stay for a long time. Being mindful of the clock means you'll be mindful of everyone's time.

2. Start on time. If someone shows up late, beat them up and steal their lunch money.

3. Come prepared. Everyone involved should think about what they're going to say so they don't waste time coming up with it during the meeting.

4. Have the meeting in the afternoon (ours is at 1:30). We originally tried it in the morning but that didn't work out because people get in to the office at different times.

5. For engineering meetings, make sure to involve your support team. It's their chance to listen in, stay in the loop and (most importantly) they get to ask about bug fixes and relay important customer issues.