Standups Are Outdated. Do This Instead…

When I ask people about their experience with daily standups, the most common answers are:

“I just give my update, then zone out. Feels like a total waste of time.”

“There’s always that one person that talks forever and puts us over the allotted time.”

“I’m not getting any value out of them 99% of the time, but I’m still forced to attend for the 1% chance something useful comes out of it.”

When the majority negatively respond to such a prevalent activity, it’s no longer possible to look past the dust and decay. What was once a useful tool has now become just another dreaded meeting. The standard daily standup is outdated and ineffective, but where do we go from here?

History

Daily standups started in 1993 and were popularized via the Agile Manifesto in 2001. In the last 30 years, the technology sector exploded, the workforce globalized, and remote work took off like a rocket ship. Yet, despite so many changes, daily standups have remained stubbornly the same.

This has caused what was once a useful mechanism to turn into a hated tool that regularly goes on too long, occurs too frequently, and includes people who shouldn’t be there. It’s become something that wastes everyone’s time with no benefit.