A daily standup meeting is a common happening in the corporate world. From the name, you can make out that it is a meeting where the attendees are going to be standing. Since standing and attending a meeting is uncomfortable, such a meeting is very short. It is mostly organized by team leaders to have daily communication with the team members so that everyone stays on of the same page. Therefore, it can be a status update meeting and a general short discussion meeting. Since it is short and there are no hard and fast rules and regulations about it, there are many who consider it a waste of time and more of a gossip meeting. Today, we are going to find out whether companies get rid of it or improve it for betterment.
All You Need To Know About Daily Standup Meeting –
A daily standup meeting is generally held somewhere between 5 and 15 minutes. That is why no sitting arrangement or formality is done. Generally, all the members of the team must be present in such a meeting. However, if one or two members are not present, the meeting is not postponed. Therefore, there are serious doubts about the importance of the meeting.
Purpose – It is important to understand and be clear about the purpose of standup meetings to get an idea about its relevance. The main purpose of a daily standup meeting is to promote communication among the team members. Another purpose of the meeting is to identify the issues before they become big problems. The working relationships get better, the rate of knowledge transfer increases and team members can clarify their doubts.
Format – The general format is that the team members take turns and speak one by one in a circular pattern. In case of status reporting, a team member talks about the progress of work last day, the work he is doing today, and addresses the issues he has in his mind that is hindering his progress. Sometimes, this regular pattern can be broken if there is any particular issue to discuss where every member can give his/her opinion. Such a daily standup meeting is issued by the team leader based on a topic he wants the discussion on based on the interest and progress of the team and teamwork.
Is A Really A Waste Of Time?
Even though the purpose of the daily standup meeting is progressive, it can sometimes be a waste of time.
Signs Of Waste Of Time –
It can be a waste of time if the daily standup meeting turns out to be a gossip meeting. If the team is not progressing every day from the inputs and outputs of the daily meeting, it is a waste of time. If it turns out to be too long without any meaningful discussion, it can be a waste of time. However, if it is short and productive and somewhat professional such that it does not affect the working time or mindset of the team members significantly, it is a must-have.
Besides these, if the team members are showing reluctance and do not show up in time for the meeting, it is never going to be effective or productive. Besides, if the members are blanking out after their speech and do not listen carefully to what others are saying and not participating actively, there is no reason why the meeting should be held. It must have become a formality for them and they want to get rid of their responsibility in the meeting and get back to their own zone. Moreover, if the meeting becomes too long very often and there are irrelevant things discussed that are not contributing to the progress of the teamwork, it is seriously a waste of time.
When is it fruitful?
The daily standup meeting can be really useful for new teams with new team members and the leader. This meeting helps them to gel well and develop a better work relationship through meetings. Making the meeting take place at the start of the day is more useful as there is not literally any loss of time as most employees are unsettled by that time. It should be short and progressive. There should not be any personal chats and conversations and it must be totally interactive.
Apart from that, the team leader has to be the most active person in such a meeting to check out the daily progress and addresses the issues and take opinions. He/she needs to get everyone involved and make one interact with the others and let them transfer knowledge. One can also shake up the format to make it more interesting. Get a flipchart, set a timer and make it more fun for people to speak up naturally and one can also do online daily standup meeting to mix it all up.
Therefore, it is safe to say the daily standup meeting is not a total waste of time and it depends on the team to make it fruitful rather than taking it like a general meeting.