Our standup was 45 minutes today. Help.
I'm at my wit's end. Our daily standup has ballooned to 45 minutes with a 7-person team. People are going deep into problem-solving mode and I can't seem to rein it in.
Things I've tried:
- The classic 3 questions format
- Walking the board
- A physical timer
- Standing up (we're remote now so this doesn't work)
The devs say the long standups are 'valuable' but I can see half the team zoning out. What am I doing wrong?
5 Comments
Walk the board, not the people. Focus on the work items, not individual updates. This single change cut our standup from 30 to 12 minutes.
@mike_agile Walking the board is the way. We use a kanban board and literally go column by column, right to left. Forces focus on finishing over starting.
Try a "parking lot" — any discussion that takes more than 30 seconds goes on the parking lot board for after standup. Only people involved stay.
Have you tried the "focus question" approach? Instead of 3 questions, ask ONE question that changes daily. Monday: What's your sprint goal focus? Tuesday: What's your biggest risk? etc.
This happened to me too. Radical suggestion: try canceling the standup for a week. If the team truly finds it valuable, they'll ask for it back. If not, you've learned something.