Work Check Podcast - Is it time to ditch the remote daily standup?

[Jimmy Seddon]

Happy Thursday Everyone!

The latest episode of the Work Check Podcast dropped on Tuesday.  If you haven't listened to it, go check it out!

First, I love these debates and I really hope this series continues to cover more topics into the future.

Let's start talking about this episode in particular.  Christine started without actually laying much in the way of ground rules for this debate which meant that my gut reaction didn't need to change too much going into the debate.

My gut reaction was: "I work in a remote team, and our standup has evolved over time, and it's actually a really important part of the day."

Let's unpack this a bit more.  I 100% agree with the "against" remote standup when everything is about people "justifying their job".  I'm very lucky to work at a company that doesn't require everyone to feel the need to do this (in fact, for status updates we're using Atlas to get them out of the standup meeting).

Has my team always had an efficient standup? No.  But, we have worked to improve the content of what we share to make sure that everything is relevant and we leave everything that isn't relevant to everyone at the end of the meeting or side conversations after the stand up meeting.

Things that become important.  The third question in the standup is the most critical one for us.  Are you blocked by anything and who/what do you need to become unblocked.

After listening to this episode, I'm 100% on board with the "Pro"-side of the stand up argument.

I'd love to hear your own thoughts in the comments below.

[David Cian]

Pretty tough question. I personally see dynamic communication as a more mature team practice, but daily standups are a convenient stopgap if dynamic communication isn't being performed well.

[Jimmy Seddon]

Very good point!  If everyone is already communicating well this meeting may seem unnecessary.

[Paul Wiggers]

It can be a great tool, especially when things are stuck and you need a quick hand from someone. 

We try to go through the previous day (any trends in the issues coming in? customers that need extra attention, etc), make sure that appointments that can interfere with work are being communicated timely, and any additional information that needs immediate action. 

Sometimes the meeting takes 15 minutes, at other times, we are done in 5. 

The dailies are great to get immediate responses and action on what is important. Bigger things are saved for the weekly meetings. For the rest, we have Teams.

[Jimmy Seddon]

Couldn't agree with you more @Paul Wiggers!

[Sanjog Sigdel]

Totally agree with your answer.

[Carlotta Kuhn]

We are a remote team and do daily stand ups. I find them really helpful to understand what everyone is working on and how schedules are looking that particular day. It's also good to know if there are any blockers that would interfere with work. Our stand-ups last anywhere from 10-30 minutes. It's nice to also have the time blocked off in case you have a specific question to ask certain people because your team is already in the call.

[Jimmy Seddon]

Agreed!  Though you don't want to get in the habit of "saving" questions until the meeting, especially blockers.

[Dan Breyen]

It can have its validity, but like any meeting, if there's no value in it, then either its purpose needs to change, or else it should be cancelled.  We have a weekly status meeting.

[Andy Gladstone]

Finally got around to listening to the episode this past week. I was 100% PRO for in-person standups. However, I have experienced more of the negative than the positive with remote standups devolving into a process that is tedious and does not actually help solve any issues the way a standup is meant to. I am now in the CON corner and would prefer to move to some more asynchronous form of standup like a working Confluence page/space (or Atlas which we do not currently have in our install base). I know it violates some of the Agile principles, but those were mostly written for on-prem teams, not the reality we currently live in.

[Jimmy Seddon]

@Andy Gladstone you and I should chat more about Atlas.  I have found there are things Atlas does by default that you need to "workaround" to have a similar experience in Confluence.

[Andy Gladstone]

We've got plenty of chances over the next few days to discuss Atlas. Looking forward to it.

[Summer Hogan]

I just finished the last episode and I am also 100% on the "Pro" side of this debate. While some days I feel the stand up could have been done in a chat on MS Teams, most days that is not the case. Sometimes, we discuss updates that are important and could not have gotten the message across in a chat. Other days, or stand up's are 5 minutes long. Our record is 3 minutes! So, in short I am a big advocate of stand ups and when there is not much to report, the meeting is short and sweet! We also have ours first thing in the morning as to not disrupt the flow of the rest of the day. 

[Prem]

Good to know.!!

[Markku Miettunen]

We are using a hybrid model: team members can choose freely between remote or office. However, Thursday is our team's lunch day, and this usually attracts all of us to the office. 

[Danny]

I think daily scrums are a great tool for catching unexpected issues or assumptions in the team before they become a problem. The 15mins are there to provide an opportunity to align to the sprint goals, or work item goals as a team. If everyone is on top form then it is 15 mins to get to socialise and get to know your team more as people, build relationships, and understand different points of view. 

[Polina-DevAcrobats-]

I'm definitely on the "keep" side of the argument too! I think that if executed effectively, remote daily standups can actually alleviate burdens within a team rather than adding to them. So how you conduct and facilitate the meeting is the key.

[Dinesh Babu]

Grt info.!!