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Comment by hnrodey | Hacker News Reader

I'm in a software leadership role.

I'm currently involved in several, what I like to call, "dead standups". Zombie's could give an update and no one would bat an eyelash.

Stand up can be useful if there is an effective leader. I'm actively trying to identify these characteristics and implement on the teams for where I am involved with the goal to cultivate/develop/train people to make these stand up meetings useful. Because we all know a dead standup is where productivity goes to die.

I'll have to share my results. Tomorrow, I hope someone asks me for an update on my progress ; )

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If the teams themselves don't want a standup, you're probably gonna get a "dead standup". The actually-useful-to-the-team part of the standup is something a team that's been exposed to such will probably self-organize without some not-on-the-team leader or manager telling them to, if they feel they need it for their situation/project. I'd say imposed standups are only useful for teams that aren't already familiar with them (the done-right version of them, that is) so may need an introduction to understand that it might be something they want to do, or as a simple micromanaging status meeting under a trendier name.

In my experience, if a team doesn't _want_ a standup (or some status update from their team members), they probably need rotated to something new. No process, or person, or tool can make a team member care about their project or peers.

Or maybe as part of their normal interactions they already get all the status updates they could possibly need? Or maybe these updates are tracked in some other way (tickets and the like)?

That's not the same as "not caring about their project". I care about my project, but I don't want to hear 30+ status updates for tasks which are progressing nominally.

I do not agree with this sentiment but that's okay. As I said, in my experience, what you're saying is absolutely untrue, but I'm speaking purely from my own experience.

> I'm in a software leadership role.

> Tomorrow, I hope someone asks me for an update on my progress ; )

Suggestion to take or leave - instead of being asked, volunteer your status and set the tone for how you'd like others to make use of standup (format, brevity) :).

I appreciate the suggestion. Unfortunately, regardless of my leadership clout - standups are a requirement for our teams.

> regardless of my leadership clout - standups are a requirement for our teams

You are not a leader; you are an enforcer.

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