The way you talk about this makes it sound like you are in a very bureaucratic world. The original idea of agile/scrum was to cut down this bureaucracy and only keep what is actually useful. But in most practical cases one still needs some degree of structured communication. The degree of structured communication could then perhaps be the famous scrum ceremonies. However, the way you talk about it, it sounds like the scrum ceremonies come in addition to the already existing bureaucracy. To me that sounds like putting the cart in front of the horse. A more agile way of looking at it would be to look to some bureaucratic procedures that seem burdensome and replace them with something lighter. The famous scrum ceremonies could be taken as suggestions if you like.
It also sounds like there is not very much trust between team members. You immediately go to 'signalling progress vs. actually making progress'.... The scrum ceremonies are actually meant to support an environment where developers trust each other and one developer helps another when s/he could use it.
It also sounds like there is not very much trust between team members. You immediately go to 'signalling progress vs. actually making progress'.... The scrum ceremonies are actually meant to support an environment where developers trust each other and one developer helps another when s/he could use it.