Daily stand-up meetings

At Eclipse we hold daily stand-up meetings at 9:30am every morning.

It came about because of lockdowns and working from home. Having brief online meetings each day gave everyone a chance to share their successes, discuss roadblocks and their focus for the day. Holding these daily meetings created a well-connected team. On returning to the office, we recognised the value, and the team were keen to maintain them.

The basic premise is that daily stand up meetings are held at the same time, in the same place every day for around 15 minutes. We hold ours in the communal part of the office around the team activity board. Each person gives a quick update on their focus for the day ahead, they briefly discuss any problems they’ve encountered and whether they need suggestions or support from other team members.

The key is in keeping the stand-up brief and sticking to the allocated time frame. If any topics come up that are outside the scope of the meeting, we’ll cover those separately later.

Here are the main benefits we’ve enjoyed since implementing this approach:

1. Daily stand-up meetings keep people focused

The daily stand-up primarily focuses on tasks and output. This means team members must be specific about their contribution. Each team member knows that they’re expected to provide a brief update on work in progress which keeps the emphasis on their immediate activities. A manager ensures that things don’t go off topic and that the focus remains solely on the tasks at hand.

2. They promote effective communication

Because you need to be clear and succinct, daily stand-ups encourage good communication, which in turn produces good outcomes. Despite the everyday in-office communication, these stand-up meetings keep everyone factually informed. We all get the same story, and therefore it’s less likely that something gets lost in translation.

3. Strong teams

As mentioned earlier one key advantage of daily stand-ups is they help build strong teams. Having daily check in taps into our need for social engagement; it fosters a sense of belonging, purpose, commitment, and a willingness to support others. We find our employees are more motivated and productive because they feel like they’re part of the team, and that we are all moving towards a mutual goal.

4. Roadblocks are identified early on

Using the meeting for specific daily tasks allows people to identify potential roadblocks earlier rather than later. The stand ups ensure any issues are addressed immediately and support and guidance are provided that help ensure roadblocks can be overcome.

5. Knowledge sharing

Daily stand-up meetings are an excellent way to share knowledge. The conversations in daily stand-ups are informative and educational. They enable everyone to be exposed to information and ideas they might otherwise not have known.

Because our daily stand-ups are scheduled first thing in the morning each member walks away with a clear view on their focus for that day. What they need to do, calls that need to be made, issues that now have a resolution and are more easily managed. In summary building teams who communicate well, work together, and share knowledge are all great reasons to consider implementing a daily stand-up meeting in your business.