Running effective daily stand-ups

Originally posted on my Substack

Long are the days when the three questions made any sense. Similarly, going around the room asking for updates on individual task can be dull and yield little value. You can do all those things by email or on your chosen team chat product. Status updates can be async and no one would miss anything of value.

We need to make good use of our sync time. After all, “too many meetings” is the main feedback that we hear from team members. So we focus instead on making sure that we are tracking on the right direction. Looking for opportunities to help each other, and learn from each other.

Here are the key things I focus my teams on during daily stand-ups:

• Review the Iteration Goal

  • Kanban teams: review any short-terms goals

• Walk the board from right to left – discussing the work items closest to Done

  • This keeps the focus on the work and what we can do as a Team to complete something.
  • Encourage pairing and swarming by asking questions such as:
    • “Who can help on this item and get it to Done?” – this includes helping review and test the work done.
    • “Does this work item present a learning opportunity for someone else?”

• Ensure all impediments have agreed-upon action items with names assigned

• Finish with questions such as:

  • “Is anyone working on items not shown on our board?”
  • “Do we feel like we have a good plan of attack for today for achieving the Iteration Goal?”
  • “Do we feel synchronized as a team?”