Scrum tools are useful in many situations, not only for their original purpose. For example, you can use the burndown-tool to track meetings and make them more efficient. In addition, the participants of the meeting get a feeling for Scrum and it's focus as well as its transparency.
This is, how it works: You of course have to plan the goal and the agenda of the meeting, including rough time estimates for each agenda point. then take two flip-charts and draw a "task board" and a standard burndown. Write one sticky note for each agenda point (write legibly!) and put them in the first column of your task board. Choose a "iteration length" of five minutes (you can extend or shorten it after you tried it once). This is the timebox after which you draw the burndown and check if one of the agenda-points has to be moved from one column to the next.
When the meeting starts, take three minutes to briefly explain what those sheets of paper mean and how they relate to Scrum. If questions arise, answer them quickly, but don't go into depth - you can still do that after the meeting once you have reached it's goal. Draw the burndown line (and move the "tasks") without any comment during the meeting, but make sure everybody sees the board(s). You will notice that people get nervous and keep themselves shorter if the actual progress deviates from the "ideal line". When the meeting is over, take five minutes for a quick retrospective about this experience for management.
It helps, if you don't have to moderate and track the progress at the same time. Furthermore, you can color-code the sticky notes according to your needs. In any case, make sure you have inserted the "ideal line" - otherwise the focus is lost for your management colleagues.
When I did this (at a big automotive company), the meeting participants were enlightened. They experienced instant focus on the topic, full transparency within five minute slices, and they met the goal because they could adapt to changes (note the sudden drop after minute 35 - this agenda point was shortened due to the delay). On top of that, they felt the pressure they put on themselves. This helped very much in persuading them afterwards, that they do not have to exert control over the Scrum teams, because those are pressured already and the transparency is real (in opposition of the melon status they usually get - green on the outside, but squishy red on the inside).
Here is an example from one meeting where I did this:
Tuesday, December 18. 2012
Using burndowns for management meetings
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