Have Long & Unproductive Meetings? Try a Stand-Up Instead

We've all been in meetings that were about 30 minutes too long.

We laugh at"this could've been an email"GIFs, sigh, and continue with our days.

Yet, the truth is, unnecessary meetings are costing us way more than just time. Doodle's2019年会议州报告estimated that poorly organized meetings are costing U.S. companies $399 billion.

One to two unnecessary meetings a week might seem insignificant, but when you consider a whole year's worth of meetings, the impact is considerable.

随着更多公司迈向的remote work, the number of meetings are also increasing. So, how can teams ensure their meetings stay productive? Stand-ups are one way to solve that.

To understand why stand-ups exist, you first have to understand theagile methodology.

For a long time, many companies were using a waterfall model for projects. This meant that teams would tackle projects one stage at a time and assume that requirements would stay the same through development. The issue with the waterfall approach is that:

• 队are not always aligned.
• Unclear requirements often delay progress.
• 测试只在开发完成后开始。

Agile是在迭代开发中建立的，这使得团队更参与该项目的进展。队work in sprintsand through stand-ups, issues are addressed quickly and efficiently.

站起来通常每天。但是，有些团队的频率不足。为了保持过程的好处，一周不应该不到一次的站立会议。主要原因是，它使得追踪每个人的进度和地址障碍时更难。

We also know that business priorities can change quickly. Having stand-ups too far apart can create information gaps between teams and slow delivery timelines.

站立会议格式

During a stand-up meeting, each team member should answer the following questions:

• What have you worked on since the last meeting?
• What are you working on now?
• Are there any blockers impeding your progress?

定期更新帮助团队成员和领导人跟踪每个人的进度，并评估满足Sprint目标的需要做些什么。

让我们将我的角色用作博客团队的作家作为一个例子。

During a stand-up, here's what I would say:"Yesterday, I finished writing X article and completed my second draft for Y article. Today, I will work on uploading Y article to the content management system (CMS) and will draft two outlines for new articles. My current obstacle is that I lost access to the CMS and need to connect with someone from IT to regain access."

From there, my manager could suggest connecting me with a specific engineer on the IT side and follow up with me after the stand-up. Following this format gives everyone involved in the meeting a clear overview of what you're working on and how that will affect the sprint.

Stand-Up Meeting Best Practices

1. Keep the meeting short.

If your stand-up meeting is an hour, you're doing it wrong. This type of meeting is meant to keep all team members synced up. It is not a meeting to plan, problem-solve, or brainstorm.

理想情况下，您的立场将在五到15分钟之间。虽然这可能很短，但是当每个人都保持任务时，它会很好地工作。这就是为什么每个人都应该准备他们之前会说什么并坚持脚本。

To keep the meetings productive, have your scrum master or team lead keep track of time and step in whenever necessary to move things along.

2. Follow-up after the meeting.

如前所述，站立会议具有非常统治的目标：了解每个人的主要焦点并确定可能影响冲刺的障碍。

Once issues have been identified, follow-up meetings with smaller team members can be scheduled to address them, whether it's to brainstorm solutions or resolve them.

例如,假设在你的站,你team's UX designer says they have a roadblock with the app design requirements and need more instruction from the product owner. While it's great to mention the issue, the stand-up is not the time to get into the details. Skip the problem solving and save that for a follow-up meeting with said product owner.

3. Keep it consistent.

想象一下，每天参加会议，不知道想什么。它充其量令人不安，混乱最差。对于站立会议，三件事必须保持不变：

• The agenda– There are only three main areas a stand-up should cover: yesterday's outcomes, today's priorities, and current obstacles.
• 会议的频率- 如果会议不规范，团队成员将如何留在同一页面？当您跳过会议日时，事情会落下裂缝并导致冲刺的更多问题。
• The time length- 十五分钟是站立的神奇号码。让他们变得更长时间，使它们变成可能不会像富有成效一样的东西。

Stand-Up Meeting Ideas

1. Actually stand up.

你有没有在第一次坐下来开会叹息？不是因为你害怕它，但因为你知道这将是一个漫长的人，你会变得舒服。

嗯，这正是在站立会议期间要避开的。它们被称为站立的原因是他们意味着快速。这么快，事实上，你可以站起来。如果您的团队遇到困难，请采取无椅的方法。

每个人都在展示的时候让每个人站起来。这将有助于确保每个人都达到目的，并且不会偏离主题。

2.使用道具。

Instead of following the go-around-the-table order, have someone start with a prop, like a ball or squeaky toy. Once they've presented, they'll throw it to someone else. It will continue going around the room until everyone has gone.

Props can be very useful during meetings, as they help attendees stay engaged. The anticipation of receiving the prop next can keep everyone on their toes. It's easy to drift off when you know your turn isn't for another 10 minutes. This strategy encourages focus while making things fun.

3. Incorporate an icebreaker.

大多数立场都是每天发生的。但是，如果您的团队更少开展它们，可能会有所帮助use an icebreaker放松每个人。

它可以是一个笑话，谜语，问题或gif。在Hubspot的博客团队中，我们有一个旋转的团队成员要求一个问题开始开会。过去的问题是，“你的梦想假期是什么？”“以六个字是你的回忆录的名字是什么？”

在进入Nitty-Gritty工作细节之前，它开始每次会议。

4.使用用于异步站立的消息系统。

If you have team members in different time zones, you may not be able to find a time that works for everyone. That's where消息软件雷竞技苹果下载官方版likeSlackorMicrosoft Teamscome in handy.

To set it up, build a bot or purchase an external bot tool (likeGeekBot) that allows you to:

• Send daily prompts to your team based on their working hours.
• Collect their answers and send them to the team channel.

图像源码

这方面的伟大是什么，它在他们的时间表内工作时会让每个人都在同一页面上。自动化也是一个巨大的节省时间和简化过程。

基于文本的脱口秀也帮助每个人留在助教sk. Face-to-face meetings, whether in person or virtual, can easily stray off-topic and be huge time wasters. By limiting the number of questions members get, it helps stick to the point and get the key information needed for the stand-up.

在同一个备注上，他们阻止可以偏离曲目的侧面讨论。团队成员可以互相指导或启动不会破坏信息流的线程。

遵循站立格式可能不会删除需要更长的会议。但是，它可以改善团队之间的沟通，并使每个人都以项目的目标对齐。