The Case for Daily Stand-Ups (Yes, I Mean You)
or… why you should be seeing your team every day
People love to complain about meetings. I get it. Most meetings suck. But this one doesn’t.
I love me a daily stand-up. Ten, maybe fifteen minutes, tops. Same time every day. Everyone on the exec team…or everyone in the company if really early stage.
Cameras on. Standing up.
You go around the horn:
What did you do yesterday?
What are you doing today?
Any blockers?
That’s it. Fast, clear, focused. Nobody pontificating, nobody checking email. It’s called a stand-up for a reason.
Here’s why I love it.
It builds clarity, focus, and urgency. Every single day. You’d be shocked how much drifts when you don’t have that daily rhythm.
It keeps people connected. Especially remote teams. You can feel the energy, the accountability, the small moments of connection that keep teams human.
It gives me eyes on everyone. You can see who’s up, who’s dragging, who’s quietly struggling. You can’t manage what you don’t see.
It reinforces culture. My teams always found ways to make it fun. A quick dad joke. A team mascot in the Zoom window. Something small, but real.
It also gives you a spot to put deliverable dates — “can you get that done by stand-up tomorrow” or an easy way to catch-up with someone on something timely — “Leah, can you stay on for a minute?”
Most people push back at first. “Every day? What are we going to talk about?” Then two weeks in, they get it. The momentum. The alignment. The pulse.
We tried Slack bots. Async updates. Shared docs. None of them work as well as just looking each other in the eye and saying, “Here’s what I’m doing. Here’s what I need.”
Sometimes we’d make Monday’s longer and go over our goals for the week or extend Friday to review our progress towards, goals. You get it, make it your own.
But do it. If you’re the CEO, run one. Don’t delegate it. Don’t let it bloat. Start on time, end on time, and keep it sharp.
It’s not about status updates. It’s about rhythm, connection, and accountability.
Start your day with that, and everything else runs smoother.
If you’re running daily stand-ups (or thinking about it), I’d love to hear how it’s going. I read every reply.
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