Daily Standup
A brief daily team meeting to synchronize work and identify blockers.
Also known as: Daily Scrum, Standup Meeting, Daily Sync, Morning Standup
Category: Techniques
Tags: agile, scrum, meetings, teams, communication, synchronization
Explanation
The Daily Standup (or Daily Scrum) is a time-boxed 15-minute event for the development team to synchronize activities and create a plan for the next 24 hours. It's held at the same time and place each day to reduce complexity.
Traditional format - each team member answers three questions:
1. What did I accomplish yesterday?
2. What will I work on today?
3. What obstacles are blocking my progress?
Modern variations focus on the work rather than individuals:
- Walking the board (discussing each item from right to left)
- Focus on blockers and dependencies first
- Update the sprint burndown
Key characteristics:
1. Time-boxed to 15 minutes - detailed discussions happen afterward
2. Standing (traditionally) to keep it brief
3. Same time, same place daily
4. Development team event (others may observe)
5. Not a status report to management
Benefits:
- Surfaces blockers early for quick resolution
- Improves team communication and collaboration
- Eliminates need for other status meetings
- Promotes accountability and transparency
- Keeps sprint goal front of mind
Common anti-patterns to avoid:
- Reporting to the Scrum Master instead of the team
- Detailed technical discussions (take offline)
- Late starts or running over time
- Treating it as a status meeting for management
- Skipping when things seem fine
For remote teams, video standups, async standups (written updates), or walking-the-board formats often work better than the traditional three-question format.
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