The daily standup is probably the most common team meeting in the world. What started as a strange practice for software developers being 'AGILE' has morphed it's way in to everyday usage across most industries.

Today, I'm going to teach you how to improve your daily standup.

Watch the full video on YouTube or continue reading below...

Why listen to me?

I'm Zac and I've been managing software teams for over 8 years and I have worked in tech industry for almost 20 years. I have worked at small startups, big-name tech companies, and everything in between.

In that time I've seen some good and plenty of bad processes for running teams efficiently. Including the magic that is the agile methodology.

This is not for you...

If you don't know what agile is or what a daily standup is, this video is not for you. But leave a comment if you want me to do a deep dive covering the basics of agile and standups.

Note: There is no one size fits all

First, it is important to note that there is no single best way to do anything in agile or team management in general. And even in life. Nothing ever applies the same to everyone in every situation. You need to listen to advice and customise it to your situation.

Agile, and most methodologies, practices, or management cult rituals ALWAYS have to be customised to your team.

Anyone who tells you there is a single way to do anything like this is as a charlatan.

However, I will share with you some tips that I have learned over the past decades that may help you to run a better daily standup.

The Tips: How to improve your daily standup

Tip 1: Keep the time strictly

You need someone (i.e. time keeper/scrum master) whose role it is to keep the meeting running efficiently. They must be willing to cut people off and brutally enforce the process to ensure you stick to time.

I suggest rotating this role amongst the team, every week or so. And no, I don't really recommend employing someone solely as a Scrum Master just to do this job. That's a waste of time and money (and a topic for another post/video if you are interested).

For now, just remember someone needs to be vigilant in keeping the meeting effective.

Tip 2: No task, no talk

Have a board or a list of tasks that are the focus of the meeting. These tasks should only be the current priorities, not the entire backlog.

Then follow a simple rule: if you have tasks, you talk to them. If you dont have a task, dont talk. That includes you execs/managers.

Because....

Tip 3: This is not a justification of how you spend your time

The standup is not for justifying your existence or making excuses for how you spent your day. We don't care.

The standup is a time to give a clear and concise update on your tasks: What's done, what's changed status, and...

Tip 4: Asking for help

The daily standup is also great time for flagging if you might need help or input from someone else.

There are two main ways this happens:

I'm stuck on this problem. Can anyone help?
I'm thinking about solving it THIS way. Anyone have ideas or comments?

This a great use of standup time because everyone is around and it could trigger interesting debate. Plus it also allows for...

The daily standup can also be a time to quickly share something cool or useful, like tips and tricks, that could help others in the team.

This is not a long-winded dump of everything you know. If it will take more than 1-2 sentences to explain then it should be done more like a teaser with just enough info so people can choose to follow up with you AFTER the standup.

Which leads to...

Tip 6: Parking lot (aka "taking it offline")

The official part of standup is just the updates. Any active discussions MUST happen at the end, NOT in the middle of the standup.

I encourage you to push discussion to a 'parking lot' where you come back at the end to talk about them while everyone is around and already interrupted from their work. However, also note that some of these discussions do not need the whole team and invidivuals should be empowered to skip out if it is not relevant for them.

One tip here is to set a max time limit (e.g. a few minutes) for each item. If you find discussion needs more than this than it probably needs a dedicated session with a specific agenda and plan.

Tip 7: Constantly review your standup

Review your daily standup (and all agile process) regularly. Question what is and isn't working. Identify opportunities to improve it.

Discussing this is great retro item - it should be constantly reviewed by the team so make sure you create a safe space for them to give feedback on and suggest new ideas.

Remember as a leader the one simple question you should ask for any team process: is it still helping the team? If the answer is not a resounding and obviously "YES" then it's probably hurting more than helping.

If you have any other tips for running a good standup, or if you have horror stories of the worst standup you've seen please add it in comments as I would love to hear from you.

Good luck and have fun.