When somebody mentions “daily standup meetings,” one of two things comes to mind – one is efficiency, and the other is a waste of time. Some teams see this agile routine as a roadblock to progress, but it is exactly the opposite. When done right, these meetings can skyrocket productivity.
In our endless pursuit of efficiency, we cannot but ask – what makes a standup meeting productive, and how can it help increase team communications, transparency, and motivation?
In our years-long experience as a company, one answer stood out – a template.
Here’s what we’ve learned using this simple aid and how having an out-of-the-box daily standup meeting template can help you save time, increase focus, and unlock superefficiency.
What is a daily standup meeting template?
On the off chance that you don’t know this, daily standup meetings are quick standup meetings where team members update each other on yesterday’s progress and today’s priorities. The Scrum Guide defines them as 15-minute daily scrum meetings that help plan the next 24 hours.
As you might have guessed, the daily standup meeting template is a tool that scrum masters, meeting facilitators, and team leaders can use to organize and coordinate daily standups. In addition to daily standups, business teams also practice other meeting formats, such as a skip-level meeting that facilitates appointments between superiors and employees.
To be helpful, the daily meeting template must reflect team goals and streamline the exchange of information. Its primary purpose is to keep the meeting on track and give it a clear structure. If you’ve been wondering how to keep your daily meetings brief and on-point, that’s how.
Benefits of using a daily standup template
Increased morale, streamlined communication, and across-the-board efficiency – these are just some of the obvious benefits enjoyed by agile teams that use daily standup meeting templates. For example, a kanban daily standup is an ideal meeting template for visualizing project progress and addressing past, present, and upcoming tasks.
Let’s take a good look at how having a standup meeting agenda improves teamwork:
You’ll see in a minute that each standup meeting template includes 3-4 daily standup questions. These cornerstone questions help bring critical issues to everyone’s attention and brainstorm solutions to problems that would otherwise remain undefined and overlooked.
Teams often deal with recurring roadblocks that hinder progress. And we’re not talking about crippling obstacles. By this, we mean all those little setbacks that chip away at everyone’s productivity. Standup meetings are an excellent opportunity to bring them up and discuss them.
Structured daily meetups are of great value when you can’t see the forest for the trees – usually when working on a complex project for a long time. A template can help keep all eyes on the board and direct everyone’s agenda items toward company goals.
Whether you run a team of 5 or 50, everybody’s daily tasks, responsibilities, and goals must fit into a broader company perspective. Having a standup meeting template can help you go through sprint goals with better focus and ensure everyone’s tasks will be completed in time.
Concise status meetings are critical for today’s hybrid team, especially when you have people working on the same project across different time zones. Team members can report to each other through so-called asynchronous standup meetings, causing no bottlenecks and delays.
A daily standup meeting is not only for problems and setbacks. It’s also the place and time where team members can share their accomplishments and tap each other on the back. It can create a productive environment where people are inspired and motivated to push on.
We’ve talked to many teams that don’t like standup meetings. When asked why, they’ve always had the same complaint – their meetings tend to linger on due to the lack of structure and guidance. That’s what a daily standup meeting agenda is for – to eliminate lengthy meetings.
How to use the daily stand-up template
There are many different ways to use the daily standup meeting template. Smaller teams can still take the old-fashioned approach and distribute daily status report questions on a piece of paper and then gather around the office water cooler for a quick standup session.
Compared to a regular meeting, a quick status report among team members should save time, increase efficiency, and improve collaboration. That’s how it should be. In reality, a daily standup meeting agenda can get derailed instantly. All you need is one chatty team member.
But instead of giving up on Agile meetings altogether, smart team managers are moving them away from the proverbial watercooler and setting them up with online tools. Teamwork and productivity are easier to maintain in the online environment, with fewer distractions.
Below, you’ll find several ideas for implementing your daily standup meeting templates online using your team’s preferred means of communication.
Daily standup meeting Ayanza template
Ayanza is one of the best project management tools for Agile teams. In addition to collaborative projects, team chats, notes, wikis, and AI, Ayanza offers another valuable feature – a customizable template gallery with agendas and questions for many different types of tactical meetings.
Is there a customizable standup meeting template in Ayanza? Of course!
What’s inside the daily standup meeting Ayanza template?
How Do You Feel Today?
What Are Your Victories?
What Are Your Priorities?
Is Anything Blocking You?
What Are You Grateful For?
Daily standup meeting Excel template
If your team is already used to Excel spreadsheets, you can copy-paste this template and turn it into a DIY online daily standup tool.
What’s inside the daily standup meeting Excel template?
Team Member Name:
What did you accomplish yesterday?
What are your priorities for today?
Are there any blockers or challenges you need help with?
Daily standup meeting email template
More suitable for small teams, email is a trusty communication tool that could be used for regular status meetings. Is it the most efficient? Probably not. However, in the absence of other collaboration platforms, email could help you gather valuable progress notes over time.
What’s inside the daily standup meeting email template?
Subject: Daily Standup Meeting Update – [Date]
Hi Everyone,
I hope you had a great and productive day. It’s time for our daily standup, so be sure to respond to this email as soon as possible and provide answers to the following questions:
What did I accomplish yesterday?
What is my main task for today?
Is there anything slowing my progress?
Any additional notes or announcements?
The rest of the team is looking forward to your update (don’t forget to click “reply all” so that everyone can be on the same page). Let’s continue to support each other’s goals!
Wishing you all the best,
[Your Name]
Agile daily standup template
If you’re at the helm of an Agile team, you know what the Agile scrum meeting should look like. This template can help you keep your Agile meetings goal-oriented and concise with the essential agile daily standup questions.
What’s unside the agile daily standup template
What have you completed since the last standup?
What will you work on until the next standup?
Is there anything stopping you from completing your tasks?
Can the rest of the team help you achieve your goals in some way?
Don’t forget to keep your answers brief so we can focus on key questions and critical issues. Let’s have a successful standup meeting, everyone!
Daily standup meeting templates for teams
In larger companies with many employees and more than one team, daily standup meetings are usually carried out by department heads. It would be a waste of everyone’s time to ask all teams to gather around for a 15-minute meeting when separate meetings make more sense.
With that in mind, we’ve prepared daily standup meeting templates for teams you can use for your software/product developers, marketers, salespeople, designers, and more.
Software development team standup
You can put this template on a sticky note and apply it to any Agile software development process.
What’s inside a software development team standup?
What progress did you make yesterday?
What tasks do you have planned for today?
Are there any roadblocks hindering your progress?
Is there anything you require assistance with or dependencies on other team members?
Marketing team standup
A daily progress update can put a marketing campaign back on track.
What’s inside a marketing team standup?
What marketing initiatives were carried out yesterday?
What marketing strategies or campaigns will be implemented today?
What do our current KPIs indicate in terms of progress and outcomes?
Do you need any resources or support from other team members?
Sales team standup
This short template can help you get a valuable daily update during your sales team standup meeting.
What’s inside a sales team standup?
What were the sales figures and achievements yesterday?
What are the sales targets or prospects for today?
Are there any potential deals or challenges in the pipeline?
Is there any assistance needed from other team members or departments?
Project management team standup
You need two things for a successful collaborative project – a tight project communication plan and a daily project update meeting template.
What’s inside a project management team standup?
What project milestones did you reach yesterday?
What tasks and deliverables will you be working on today?
Are there any potential risks or issues that need attention?
Are there any dependencies from other team members that you need to be delivered today?
Remote/distributed team standup
While synchronous standup meetings are more suitable for in-house teams that work closely together, most hybrid teams benefit more from asynchronous standup meetings. This template ensures regular interaction between remote team members that work at separate times.
What’s inside a remote/distributed team standup?
What were your accomplishments from yesterday?
What is your agenda and priorities for today?
As a remote worker, have you faced any challenges that the team should be aware of?
Is there anything you’d like to share or discuss with the team?
Design team standup
The following questions can help you stay on track with the current progress in the design process at every team meeting, even when you’re running on a tight schedule.
What’s inside a design team standup?
What design tasks did you manage to tackle yesterday?
What are your goals for today?
Do you need another team member’s input to achieve today’s milestone?
Is there any obstacle that is getting in the way of your daily goals?
Customer support team standup
If you’re not sure how to debrief your customer service reps without spending hours of the company’s time, here’s a template you can use for your next daily standup team meeting:
What’s inside a customer support team standup?
How many customer inquiries or issues were resolved yesterday?
What customer support tasks will be your priority today?
Are there any urgent, recurring, or problematic customer concerns to address?
Do you need assistance from your teammates or other departments?
Finance team standup
These standard standup questions for the daily financial team meeting can help you reveal and eliminate real issues behind accounting discrepancies and delays:
What’s inside a finance team standup?
What financial tasks or reports were completed yesterday?
What financial objectives or challenges are on your agenda today?
Are there any financial issues that require collaboration with other teams or departments?
Do you have any updates on budgets or expenses?
Human resources team standup
If you want to know what a well-structured human resource team standup meeting template should include, you need to take a look at the following questions:
What’s inside a human resources team standup?
What HR-related matters were managed yesterday (e.g., hiring, onboarding, etc.)?
What HR tasks or objectives are scheduled for today?
Are there any HR-related roadblocks or requests for assistance?
Do you need any help with the interview process or follow-up questions for potential hires?
Content creation team standup
Content is consumed faster than ever, so you must work double shifts to keep it fresh. When your team’s plate is overflowing with new tasks and projects, this standup meeting template can serve you both as a daily reminder and a roadmap for dealing with unexpected issues.
What’s inside a content creation team standup?
What content pieces were produced or published yesterday?
What content projects or tasks will be worked on today?
Are there any content-related challenges you need help with?
Do you have any updates on content performance or audience feedback?
Research and development team standup
It’s not easy keeping the entire project team and the product owner on the same page. Managers behind busy product teams are welcome to use this template as a meeting note and a product backlog.
What’s inside a research and development team standup?
What research activities or findings were accomplished yesterday?
What R&D tasks or investigations are on the agenda for today?
Are there any obstacles or complexities in your research that need collective problem-solving?
Do you have any new discoveries or insights to share with the team?
Get out most of the daily standup templates with Ayanza
If your team is struggling to find the discipline needed for developing and maintaining the daily standup meeting routine, perhaps all you need is some help. A consistent tool can assist you in bringing the entire team to the same page and establishing strong communication practices.
With Ayanza, your team gets everything it needs in one place. Ayanza is a single source of templates but also a collaborative environment where you can have an actual meeting.
Daily standup meetings with Ayanza can completely transform how each team member approaches their workload. Whichever way you choose to use it – and that’s entirely up to your team’s productivity habits – it will help everyone feel heard, competent, and ready to tackle another day.
FAQ
Why do teams use a daily standup meeting template?
Goal-oriented teams use daily standup meeting templates to increase team communication and boost productivity. Templates give them the structure they need to keep daily status report meetings brief and on point without losing time or focus. A standard daily standup meeting template consists of 3-4 questions that help celebrate accomplishments, set priorities, and eliminate roadblocks.
Are daily standup meeting templates customizable?
Ayanza offers an extensive catalog of fully customizable standup meeting templates. They are designed as a click-and-use solution for busy team managers, but they can also be easily customized to fit your team’s habits and reflect your company culture.
What tools or software can you use to facilitate the daily standup meeting template?
You can distribute the daily standup meeting template questions to your team using different tools and software solutions, some more intuitive than others. For example, some teams use Excel spreadsheets and email. The best way to facilitate daily standup meetings is with a collaborative tool like Ayanza.
