A Framework for Running Successful Startup Standups
Ask any staff member about meetings, and it's almost guaranteed that hands will go up, saying there are far too many and not enough time to work. Daily standups, or daily scrums, aren’t like regular meetings, and experienced leaders know the value of holding one.
As you tiptoe through the first few months of your startup, it’s important to take on board as much advice as you can and this newsletter has plenty of advice for the startup on how to get your business off the ground. Once you begin to recruit staff, building a cohesive team that undertakes projects effectively and efficiently can make the difference between a successful business and a failed one.
What is a Standup Meeting?
A standup meeting is a very short, usually around 15 minutes, meeting held at some time during the day, but first thing in the morning is generally best. Encourage team members to bring their favorite beverage and stand in a comfortable place to have a quick chat.
The meeting is designed to be a quick roundup of progress and if need be, a place to make adjustments to meet a goal. These meetings promote collaboration between team members and encourage shared responsibility and ownership of the tasks. It’s almost the same as a huddle on a sports field where team members get a chance to encourage and motivate each other and shift priorities if need be.
What to Cover In a Standup Meeting
There are three traditional questions that are asked at these meetings. Each team member should cover the previous day’s work, what today’s workload will be, and if there are any obstacles to them completing today's task. The crucial part of this is to identify and remove the obstacles.
Good Practices for Standup Meetings
Let's look at how to run effective daily standup meetings.
Choose a place where there’s no furniture, nowhere to put belongings, and nowhere to sit down. It’s no surprise that if you allow people to sit comfortably with laptops, beverages, and notebooks, they’ll settle in for a long haul, and you don't want that. Choose a place where they can stand, see a task board, and that’s it!
Set a time. This is very important. Set a time to start and stick to it religiously. Don’t stop and start for any latecomers. Just carry on. They must catch up and get to the meeting on time.
If your team works remotely, you may need to adjust the start time, but these meetings work just as well in a remote environment. Virtual standup meetings can be every bit as successful as face-to-face meetings.
Plan for the meeting. These meetings are supposed to be short and to the point. It’s a good idea to rotate the timing of the meeting around the team members. This will foster the feeling of inclusivity. The timekeeper is the owner of the meeting, so this practice will encourage ownership and see the value of keeping the meeting short.
Stick to the agenda. This meeting is designed to be a task update and to realign priorities if need be. If someone goes off-topic, have a fun way for the rest of the team to show that this is off-topic. For example, people can raise an elbow, tap a toe, or rub their hands together. In the virtual environment, choose a fun emoji that the team members can use when someone drifts off the topic. The offender will then get the message that they must stop talking.
Poor Practices That Should Be Avoided
Keep it fresh. Don’t always start and end with the same team member. Ask the owner to start with different people. Use fun props such as a talking stick, or try different questions to keep it interesting. If it becomes rote, people will lose interest, and it becomes boring. Also, don’t permit people to give ambiguous answers. For example, if they asked what they worked on yesterday, don’t permit an answer like, “Same as the day before.” It’s not conducive to making the team cohesive. Ask them to describe the tasks. They must give more information to keep everyone’s interest.
Poor preparation by team members. This will quickly kill the purpose of this meeting. If team members are not well prepared and ready to ask or offer assistance, knowing their own workloads, it will eventually become a review meeting instead of fostering a sense of unity, support, and encouragement.
Allowing poor timekeeping. If a team member is consistently late, take it up offline with them. It’s very disruptive, and all team members must get to this meeting on time.
Lengthy discussions must be avoided. This isn’t a problem-solving meeting. If a discussion looks as if it’s going to overtake the meeting, halt it immediately, and place the issue into the parking lot.
A Framework for Running Successful Startup Standups
Ask any staff member about meetings, and it's almost guaranteed that hands will go up, saying there are far too many and not enough time to work. Daily standups, or daily scrums, aren’t like regular meetings, and experienced leaders know the value of holding one.
As you tiptoe through the first few months of your startup, it’s important to take on board as much advice as you can and this newsletter has plenty of advice for the startup on how to get your business off the ground. Once you begin to recruit staff, building a cohesive team that undertakes projects effectively and efficiently can make the difference between a successful business and a failed one.
What is a Standup Meeting?
A standup meeting is a very short, usually around 15 minutes, meeting held at some time during the day, but first thing in the morning is generally best. Encourage team members to bring their favorite beverage and stand in a comfortable place to have a quick chat.
The meeting is designed to be a quick roundup of progress and if need be, a place to make adjustments to meet a goal. These meetings promote collaboration between team members and encourage shared responsibility and ownership of the tasks. It’s almost the same as a huddle on a sports field where team members get a chance to encourage and motivate each other and shift priorities if need be.
What to Cover In a Standup Meeting
There are three traditional questions that are asked at these meetings. Each team member should cover the previous day’s work, what today’s workload will be, and if there are any obstacles to them completing today's task. The crucial part of this is to identify and remove the obstacles.
Good Practices for Standup Meetings
Let's look at how to run effective daily standup meetings.
Choose a place where there’s no furniture, nowhere to put belongings, and nowhere to sit down. It’s no surprise that if you allow people to sit comfortably with laptops, beverages, and notebooks, they’ll settle in for a long haul, and you don't want that. Choose a place where they can stand, see a task board, and that’s it!
Set a time. This is very important. Set a time to start and stick to it religiously. Don’t stop and start for any latecomers. Just carry on. They must catch up and get to the meeting on time.
If your team works remotely, you may need to adjust the start time, but these meetings work just as well in a remote environment. Virtual standup meetings can be every bit as successful as face-to-face meetings.
Plan for the meeting. These meetings are supposed to be short and to the point. It’s a good idea to rotate the timing of the meeting around the team members. This will foster the feeling of inclusivity. The timekeeper is the owner of the meeting, so this practice will encourage ownership and see the value of keeping the meeting short.
Stick to the agenda. This meeting is designed to be a task update and to realign priorities if need be. If someone goes off-topic, have a fun way for the rest of the team to show that this is off-topic. For example, people can raise an elbow, tap a toe, or rub their hands together. In the virtual environment, choose a fun emoji that the team members can use when someone drifts off the topic. The offender will then get the message that they must stop talking.
Poor Practices That Should Be Avoided
Keep it fresh. Don’t always start and end with the same team member. Ask the owner to start with different people. Use fun props such as a talking stick, or try different questions to keep it interesting. If it becomes rote, people will lose interest, and it becomes boring. Also, don’t permit people to give ambiguous answers. For example, if they asked what they worked on yesterday, don’t permit an answer like, “Same as the day before.” It’s not conducive to making the team cohesive. Ask them to describe the tasks. They must give more information to keep everyone’s interest.
Poor preparation by team members. This will quickly kill the purpose of this meeting. If team members are not well prepared and ready to ask or offer assistance, knowing their own workloads, it will eventually become a review meeting instead of fostering a sense of unity, support, and encouragement.
Allowing poor timekeeping. If a team member is consistently late, take it up offline with them. It’s very disruptive, and all team members must get to this meeting on time.
Lengthy discussions must be avoided. This isn’t a problem-solving meeting. If a discussion looks as if it’s going to overtake the meeting, halt it immediately, and place the issue into the parking lot.