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Best practices for Standup

Standup​

Our remote-first synchronous daily stand-up is a ritual to keep us aligned and focused in the same direction. Please show respect and be on time to stand-up. The duration of stand-up is 15-20 minutes. Below are tips to follow to make your stand-up successful:

Getting Started​

  • Literally stand up when reporting your stand-up
  • Reduce rambling and keep it simple
  • Report goals and crucial information
  • Be direct and to the point

Come Prepared for the Standup​

To start your day, you should prep for stand-up by utilizing Slack stand-up bot "Status Hero' to answer the three questions above. When you get in the habit of using this tool prior to stand-up you will be more effective and efficient with time.

Come prepared to stand-up to answer 3 questions using an "I" statement to describe your goals.

  1. What goals I completed yesterday
  2. What goals I have today
  3. What blockers I have

Center your focus on the three questions to keep the meeting productive on how your building and supporting the company. Make sure to keep your goals in a window of 48-hours of work (yesterday and today).

Be mindful in keeping your details minimal because they may not apply to all Team Members. Rambling can distract and prolong the stand-up. For instance, don't include general activities of your day, such as "I am going to work on tickets".  If you are going to be working on tickets, be specific and brief on your project goals. Please make your goals you deliver in stand-up valuable to all Team Members.

If a particular Team Member is rambling on irrelevant details, kindly remind them that 'We just need the headline right now, not the whole story" or "perhaps set up a time to review these details later" and this will be a cue to move on.

Standup Guidelines​

Please be respectful and patient listening to others stand-ups. Don't use stand-up to introduce new ideas to the team. You should present new ideas, topics, or planning with the appropriate ops team via our communication channels: Slack, Jira, Confluence, or Google Meet to discuss. You will not be punished if your stand-up veers, especially presenting a blocker. Team Members can help formulate creative solutions to contribute.

Below are **do and don't goals **to be most efficient and effective during stand-up

Please do in stand-up:

  • Do put all of your attention into ONLY stand-up
  • Do describe your blocker and what Team Member you think can help you unblock you
  • Do address questions to a Team Member when it is your turn in stand-up
  • Do give positive feedback to Team Members
  • Do Slack Team Members questions that aren't time sensitive and don't need to be included in stand-up
  • Do be patient, await your turn and try not to interruption Team Members in stand-up

Please don't do in stand-up:

  • Don't use stand-up to: read emails, Slack messages, or work on projects
  • Don't put your Team Members on the spot
  • Don't give your performance results to whomever's in charge in the room (executive, manager, lead, etc.).
  • Don't express negative opinions or judgment. Negative feedback can harm a Team Member's reputation, morale, and self-confidence
  • Don't turn stand-up into a status report meeting (stand-up is not a meeting)
  • Don't ask Team Members questions that become a status report meeting on their work

Asynchronous Standup​

Asynchronous stand-up takes place in our tool Steady. You will be notified daily in Slack to update the following questions in your Steady report:

  • What goals did I completed yesterday
  • What goals do I have today
  • What blockers do I have

Asynchronous stand-up is beneficial for our global remote team to deliver their daily goals. Time zones can make it virtually impossible to perform synchronous stand-ups; therefore, Steady is key in delivering working goals to your team. Also, you can view your Team Members daily goals and blockers in Slack’s stand-up notifications channel.