Allowing paid contributors to take high-level tasks without breaking them down into small digestible pieces (which could potentially be done by a volunteer) has led to the situation where no progress is reported until just before (or even during) the sprint meetings.
IMHO, the paid contributors role is not to do, it's to enable. And micro-planning on a task by task basis enables. Monthly reporting does not. In an ideal wor[ld], the paid contributors would not be doing all the work.
Unfortunately, the way we've been working allows (perhaps even forces) the community to leave everything to the man whose name is beside the task. Smaller tasks = more opportunities to put your own name beside the task.
I would like to see paid staff taking responsibility for a bigger task, and breaking it down into smaller chunks so that we can see continual progress - and if a chunk looks too big or vague to get done, then it needs clarification & further breaking down.