“Just picked up”, “is going well” and “no blockers” are the most common words we hear during a stand-up meeting. While it can be true, we can't notice any difference between this stand-up and one from our previous project. After some years and a thousand stand up meetings later, I have learned that, although they can be very similar in different projects, if we learn a way to provide great insights during these meetings, everything can change.
In this blog, I will tell you 5 things I have learned that can make the way you give your insights more effective.
Use your Acceptance Criteria to provide context
“Just picked up” is too broad and doesn't give your teammates enough context. Instead, you can use the Acceptance Criteria you are working on and provide context about your progress. The main difference is that you are now focusing on the business value. Finally your team members can associate you with the functionality that you are developing. Example: “I’m currently working on the search functionality, filling the autocomplete feature with data coming from the search api”
Talk about your current solution
Do you remember that "No-blockers" card that took an entire iteration to finish? We have been educated in a way that there is only one solution for a given problem. That could give us the illusion that we are making progress while not. If we provide more insights about our solution we can leverage from other team members' points of view and experience. Even getting it out of our mind will help us to organize our ideas.
Don't provide an Estimated Time of Arrival
Sometimes I feel like a fortune teller when it comes to estimating something. Phrases like "I hope to finish this today" can add unnecessary pressure to yourself and you can feel like you are lying if you give the same update day after day. Instead of that, try to mention what steps are missing to finish your work. Example: “Yesterday, I was able to retrieve the search api. I’ll be working on processing the response and displaying the result link”
Ask for help
This can feel like a vulnerable moment during the stand-up, but instead of trying to overcome the issue by yourself, think about what you can win after bringing someone to the conversation. A new keyboard shortcut, a good plugin or extension, more confidence or even knowing what's trending on Netflix can be something that you can get if you overcome your vulnerability and raise your hand.'
Say thanks
Let's say you are struggling in setting up your dev environment and someone offers their help during the stand-up. In tomorrow's stand-up take 20 seconds to say thanks and create some synergy between giving and receiving help. This will not only make the person feel good about helping you, but it can also open doors for other people to ask for help or provide it in other instances.
15 minutes can be a short time if you are not focused enough but remember that most of the best Ted-talks take almost the same time. Enjoy your stand-ups!
Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Thoughtworks.
