Daily Standup Meetings That Actually Work

🚨 A Hard Truth: Nothing has been abused more than the Daily Scrum 👉 The Daily isn't open mic night for managers, Product Owners, and Scrum Masters. It’s supposed to be for the Developers to plan out the next 24 hours so they get a step closer to the Sprint Goal. Over the years we’ve: - Forced people to stand up - Made people answer the 3 infamous questions like zombies - Turned it into a status meeting for managers, Scrum Masters, and Product Owners - Stretched it into a 30 to 60 minute problem-solving workshop - Endlessly reviewed Jira tickets one by one - Scheduled it at a time that works for others, not the Developers - Crushed self-management as Scrum Masters by facilitating it for the Developers - Let stakeholders "observe" silently, turning it into surveillance - Treated it as optional, with people wandering in late or skipping entirely 🦃 Guilty as charged! I'm truly sorry I was part of that. Here’s a story from the trenches: A few years ago I was invited to consult with an organization that thought they only needed to "make a few small adjustments." For 45 minutes, a team of project managers sat in front of the team during the Daily, interrogating them, taking notes, and updating Microsoft Project plans in real time. That wasn’t a Daily Scrum, it was a daily status interrogation disguised as Scrum. Here are several ways to make your Daily Scrum effective: ✅ Protect the 15 minutes: ask managers, Product Owners, and even Scrum Masters to allow Developers to have this time without interruption. ✅ Keep it simple: 15 minutes, same place, same time. ✅ Always work toward a Sprint Goal. Stop committing to a fixed number of PBIs. ✅ Use the time to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal, adapt the Sprint Backlog, and move forward together. ✅ Don't use a Sprint Goal? Start next Sprint. ✅ The three questions are not required. Drop them if they don’t add value. ✅ Scrum Masters, stop inventing "cute" replacements for the three questions. You are impeding self-management. Let Developers design their own structure. ✅ The Daily is not a synchronization meeting. Synchronization should be happening all day long. ✅ Impediments should not wait for the Daily. Raise them as soon as they appear. ✅ Scrum Masters are not required to attend or facilitate the Daily. ✅ If you do attend as a Scrum Master, observe quietly. Stand back, stay silent, and let the Developers own it. ✅ If the Daily is off the rails, use the Retrospective to figure out how to get back to it's purpose and make it healthy. Share your observations and ask Developers how they want to improve it. ⚠️ A plea to all Scrum Masters: For the next week, do not attend your team’s Daily Scrum. 🚪 Seriously, stay out. Hand it back to the Developers. 🤸 If they stumble, good. If it feels awkward, even better. 💡 That is how self-management grows. I promise you this: the world will not end, and your team will survive without you.

Let’s be honest. Traditional standups are a waste of time. “Yesterday I was in meetings...” “Today I’ll catch up...” “Tomorrow I hope to...” Why are we all here? That’s not a standup. It’s a calendar recap no one needs. Let’s be real: I don’t care how many calls you took or what doctor’s appointment you had. No one’s moving faster because you shared your admin log. No one’s solving problems with these useless updates. What do I care about? ✅ Are we on track? ✅ If not, why? ✅ What’s blocked? ✅ How do we fix it together? ⚠️ TPMs, PMs, Scrum Masters: Stop wasting the only time your full team might be together all day! ✅ Protect their time ✅ Escalate early ✅ Set the tone ❌ Stop burning time 🔥 Start building momentum Ask instead: - Are we on track? - What’s in our way? - What needs escalation now? - How can I help unblock you? Then: - Solve what you can in a quick team “parking lot” with remaining time. - Take deeper issues offline - Keep the team moving forward Here’s the difference: 🟥 Bad Standup: “Finished a few tickets, had some calls, going to work on more today.” 🟩 Strategic Standup: “We’re 2 days behind on X. Waiting on legal approval. Might miss delivery unless unblocked by EOD.” One is noise. The other drives action. No one needs to know you had a dentist appointment. They need to know if the delivery date just slipped, and what help you need. If you’re only recapping daily tasks, you’re just hosting standup theater. Your team deserves better. A standup should save time, not waste it. Be the one who sets the pace. Not the one who schedules a daily group stall. Leadership = Clarity under pressure. Not comfort in routine. Let this one sting. Then fix your standup. Agree? Disagree? Still running status-only standups? Comment below👇. Let’s fix the ritual, not just repeat it. ♻️ Repost to level-up your project leadership skills. 🔔 Follow Elizabeth Dworkin for more like this. #projectmanagement #projectleadership #dailystandup

Struggling to get value from daily standups? They don’t have to be a time suck! Here are 8 tips to make standup meetings more meaningful and productive: 1️⃣ Stick to the script: Avoid going into problem-solving mode during standups. Keep it short and address issues afterward. Focus on the 3 questions: ➡ What did you complete yesterday? ➡ What will you work on today? ➡ Are there any blockers? 2️⃣ Timebox it: Limit the standup to 15 minutes. This encourages brevity and ensures people stay engaged. Have a visual timer or someone to keep time to stick to the limit. 3️⃣ Same time, same place: Establish consistency and build a habit by holding standups at the same time and place. This makes it easier for team members to plan their workday around the standup. (And limits missed meetings) 4️⃣ Stay remote-friendly: For distributed teams ensure video conferencing is seamless. Mute when not speaking and stay on camera for better engagement. Focus on maximizing value and don't multi-task. It's 15 minutes that can save hours of time elsewhere. 5️⃣ Use Visual Aids Whether it’s a Kanban board, sprint board, or task tracker, visuals give context and focus to what’s being discussed. Great for documenting conversations and keeping the whole team in the loop. (Especially when there's an unavoidable absence.) ➡ Atlassian (Jira, Trello), Notion, monday.com, Asana, Canva, Miro, and Mural are some (mainly FREE) digital options to try. 6️⃣ Get team buy-in: Rotate responsibility and encourage everyone to contribute. Let different team members take turns leading the meeting or collect feedback to generate ideas. It empowers everyone and keeps the standup from getting stale. 7️⃣ Focus on collaboration, not status updates: The goal is to identify blockers and ensure the team is aligned, not to report to a manager. Keep it goal-oriented and build a psychologically safe environment where everyone feels like they can contribute meaningfully. 8️⃣ Find some fun in it: Novelty goes a long way, especially when teams get comfortable. Try changing up visual themes, experiment with facilitation methods, and incorporate team interests. Everyone has a fun hat or wig laying around, right? 🌟 Remember, the keys to a successful standup are to keep it short, relevant, and collaborative to ensure your team stays aligned and productive! ❓ What would you add? Would love to hear other ideas for making standups more meaningful. Let me know in the comments! --- ♻ Like this post? Please react, comment, or repost. 🙌 I'm Melissa, a #PMP, #CSM, and #CSPO that posts about #projectmanagement, #Agile, #education, and life. Follow or connect for more!