Stand-up

We use this to make a quick plan for the day so that we can understand what is going on in the team and plan out any interactions that may be required to get work items done.

A stand-up is a simple on-the-go, time-boxed 15-minute session where all members of the squad either stand or virtually get together and set the context for the coming day's work. The daily stand-up is important because it gives the team an opportunity to talk about both the negative and positive effects of their work. The team learn from one another and sees what can be improved upon.

The Scrum Master is usually the facilitator of this ceremony, but the stand-up can successfully be facilitated by any team member.

The primary goal is to identify areas where the squad may be blocked or impeded and to plan for the upcoming day.

This is often done in front of a visual or virtual wall that displays the team's work in the form of user stories.

The daily stand-up consists of each squad member answering three quick questions:

1. What did I do yesterday?

2. What am I doing today?

3. What impediments or blockers are in my way? - and then respond to any updates from their peers.

Note: Usually, only the squad attends, but it should be open to stakeholders that are curious to know more about the project’s progress.

Keep it short

If people are asked to stand, it is because it should be short.

Do not let conversations develop for too long, capture it as an action and encourage team members to take it up offline. Everyone needs to have time to go through the questions.

Team Attendance

It is important that the whole team is attending. If one team member cannot attend, make sure to capture their input beforehand and inform the team accordingly.

This is helpful for transparency reasons so that the whole team knows who is doing what. It helps to deal with impediments. The earlier they are reported, the earlier it can be solved.

Make sure that you work with the team to develop “norms” around what to do if someone is not present.

For example, it may be agreed to start without them or go ahead on time regardless. Also, consider how technology can be used to assist if someone cannot be present. A phone call or video conference link can help.

Start the day with a daily stand-up

The daily standup should inaugurate the working day, so make sure to keep the squad energized!

Agree this time with the team. As people may be in different time zones or have differing start times, other times of day may suit them better.

Capture action items and track them

This may take several shapes. For instance, it may be clear that an impediment will open the door to corrective actions. However, discussions among team members may be as well. Possibilities to collaborate, but also tensions within the squad can be spotted during a daily stand-up, so make sure to observe and take public (agreed with the squad) as well as more private (based on observations on the squad collaboration) actions.

Want to switch it up? Try a reverse stand-up!

A reverse stand-up takes the same three questions as the classic stand-up and flips the order. This results in the most important questions being tackled first:

1. What impediments or blockers are in my way?

2. What am I doing today?

3. What did I do yesterday?

Reverse stand-ups are useful when blockers or impediments are not being called out as often as they should or if stand-ups are turning into status updates.

A reverse stand-up can also be useful to change things around periodically to re-energize the squad.