Daily standup meetings

One of the most important tools you can use to improve the performance of your team is daily stand-ups. Here, team members come together to discuss goals, challenges and achievements. While this is usually done in a in-person fashion (hence the name of the meeting), we've figured out that running async meetings using Check-ins is the way to go for remote and hybrid teams where their members are scattered across several timezones.

Here's how you can implement a daily stand-up into your chat workflow:

• Set goals. Give a focus to the week. This is your "prospective" outline. Use this expectations to set concrete expectations for your team and make sure everyone gathers around them.
• Share results. At the end of each async meeting, say within the hour after starting your shift or so, share the results in a channel. What did you accomplish? What challenges did you face? What results did you expect to achieve, but didn't?
• Follow up. Ask the attendees to follow up on any points they missed or want to continue discussing in the reporting threads. Use this space to loop in teammates that weren't in the first report due to timezone differences or anything of the sort.
• Track results. At the end of the week, gather the results in a weekly log. This will help you track performance over time.
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Best practices for async daily stand-ups

Effective daily stand-ups are critical to keeping remote teams aligned and ensuring everyone is aware of each other's progress. With the rise of remote work, asynchronous daily stand-ups have become increasingly popular, allowing team members to share their progress and plans without the need for everyone to be available at the same time.

However, the quality of the stand-ups is key to their effectiveness. If team members write vague or irrelevant updates, it can lead to confusion and a lack of clarity. Here are some tips for creating effective asynchronous daily stand-ups:

1. Be concise and to the point: Your stand-up should be easy to read and understand. Stick to the key points of what you worked on the previous day, what you're working on today, and if there are any roadblocks. Keep it short and sweet (KISS).
2. Be specific: Vague updates such as "worked on project X" or "had meetings all day" are not helpful. Instead, be specific about what you worked on or what the meetings were about. This will help team members understand what progress has been made and how it impacts the team's overall goals.
3. Include any blockers or challenges: If there are any issues preventing you from making progress on a project, make sure to include them in your update. This will help the team understand what challenges you're facing and how they can support you.
4. But avoid unnecessary details: While it's important to be specific, avoid including unnecessary details that don't add value to your update. Stick to the key points and keep your update focused.
5. Use consistent formatting: To make it easier for team members to read and understand your update, use a consistent formatting style. For example, you could use bullet points or numbered lists to break up your update into easy-to-read sections.

Here are some examples of good and bad asynchronous daily stand-ups:

Don't do this!

Yesterday I worked on project X and had meetings all day. Today I'm going to work on project Y.

This update is too vague and doesn't provide any useful information for the team. It's unclear what progress was made on project X, and there's no indication of what the meetings were about.

Do this instead

Yesterday
‍🎨 I completed the design phase of project X and started working on the development.
🔻 Had a meeting with the marketing team to discuss the project's launch plan.

Today / blockers
‍🧑‍💻 I plan to finish the development of project X, but I'm running into a roadblock with a specific feature. I've reached out to John for help, and we'll be collaborating on a solution.

This update is much more specific and provides valuable information for the team. It's clear what progress was made on project X, and the meeting with the marketing team indicates progress towards the project's launch. The update also includes information about a roadblock and how the team is working to solve it.

In conclusion, effective asynchronous daily stand-ups are critical for remote teams to stay aligned and make progress towards their goals. By following these tips and using good examples as a guide, team members can create stand-ups that are clear, concise, and valuable to the entire team.

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Follow this best practice

Learn how to configure this template here:

Configuring your check-ins and follow-ups with our Templates

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