The 15-min Daily Standup has given teams tremendous value. It increases the frequency of communication and exposes issues early. It’s a great start, but I bet we can do even better.
Can you leverage the value of a daily standup if you are not an Agile team? How can you super-charge the traditional daily standup format?
Agile teams typically meet for 15 minutes daily, and each team member answers 3 questions:
1) What did I do yesterday? 2) What do I plan to do tomorrow? 3) What is blocking me?
This format works in spite of itself. How much do you care what someone else did yesterday? Snoozer! The idea is that we hold each other accountable, but let’s be honest, our thoughts are a million miles away when they deliver their update.
Super-Charged Daily Standup format:
What is the most important thing for the team to accomplish today? In other words, “If nothing else gets done today, what must we get done?”
What’s stopping us?
That’s it. You don’t need to go around the circle and bore everyone to tears. Get the whole team focused on what’s important, how they can help and how they remove obstacles.
For non-Agile Teams. The Daily Standup is a simple practice that anyone can use. It requires no setup or training and you can use it starting tomorrow. Simply schedule 15 minutes per day with your team to sync up. Don’t use the time to solve problems, simply identify the problem and make a plan for action.
What have you done to Super-Charge your Daily Standup? Post your tips in the comments section!
