The solution to the problem lies in The Death of Daily Standups: Why Smart Teams Are DONE and TRUST
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It’s 9: 30 A M. D espite being asleep and having coffee, you still log in to Zoom. The daily standup begins. Your teammates, one by one, go through a circle and provide an overview of their past activities, plans for today, and potential obstacles
The call has already exceeded 15 minutes by the time it’s your turn. You mutter about debugging an issue and continuing today while your manager nods absently, barely paying attention. A developer in a different time zone is forced to wake up at an impractical time to declare, “No blockers.”. ”
The call ends. Nothing changed. You get back to work, realizing this meeting didn’t help you at all
A history of daily standups
Originally, daily standups were a brilliant idea. Borrowed from the Agile and Scrum playbook, they were supposed to be a short, snappy sync-up where teams collaborated to remove blockers. The idea was simple:
But the concept of a Standup-style meeting isn’t new — it has been around in different forms throughout history
In fact, in early societies, merchants, artisans, and craftsmen in bustling marketplaces would have informal morning huddles, sharing updates on trade conditions, resource availability, and potential threats (like an approaching storm or an unpredictable tax collector). These were Quick, need-based conversations Rather than structured meetings
During the Industrial Revolution , factory supervisors held “production briefings” — daily or shift-based meetings where workers were given updates on quotas, machinery maintenance, and safety concerns. However, these meetings were often One-way directives from management , with little room for worker input
By the Mid-20th century , the military had perfected the concept of daily check-ins. WWII-era generals and officers Conducted standup briefings Before battle, ensuring quick alignment without wasting time. These meetings were Fast, decisive, and focused entirely on problem-solving
In the Corporate world , morning status meetings gained traction in manufacturing and operations-heavy businesses, helping teams coordinate efforts without needing constant supervision. Toyota’s Lean manufacturing System in the 1980s introduced “Gemba Walks” , where managers and frontline workers engaged in structured yet informal problem-solving discussions to improve efficiency
Fast forward to the 1990s , and Agile and Scrum Teams officially adopted the daily standup as a way to mimic these efficient, focused discussions. It was never meant to be A rigid, robotic status update — rather, it was supposed to be a Lightweight, collaborative session To ensure work moved forward smoothly
But when did we lose our way
But somewhere along the way, they got hijacked by Scrum managers, Agile consultants, and control-obsessed leaders Who turned them into micromanagement sessions
Suddenly, instead of being about teamwork, standups became a Daily interrogation ritual :
At some point, standups stopped being about the Team And became about Visibility for managers — a convenient way for them to check if people were working without actually adding value
Today the need for standups is like a fever — it is a symptom that shows a deep rooted problem
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Imagine you have a fever. You take a paracetamol, and your temperature drops. But the fever wasn’t the Real problem — it was just a Symptom Of an underlying illness
Daily standups are the fever of a dysfunctional team. If a team Needs Daily meetings just to stay aligned, then the Real problems Are:
🚨 Lack of Trust — Do you really need a meeting every day to make sure people are working?
🚨 Poor Asynchronous Communication — If Slack or Notion updates aren’t enough, maybe your team is drowning in information overload
🚨 Lack of Clear Goals — If you need a meeting just to “know what’s happening, ” then something is fundamentally wrong with how work is being planned
Take Basecamp As an example. They don’t do daily standups. They Work in six-week cycles, set clear goals, and let people execute Without micromanagement. No Jira obsession. No daily check-ins. Just Clear work expectations and trust
Netflix Is another example. Instead of obsessing over structured meetings, they focus on their famous “Freedom & Responsibility” culture — trusting employees to self-organize without unnecessary check-ins. The result? A work environment that prioritizes outcomes over rigid processes
Then there’s Shopify They made headlines when they Canceled recurring meetings across the company — including daily standups — because they realized that most of them were distractions. Instead, they let teams decide when they actually need to meet, leading to fewer but more productive discussions
Now, compare these approaches to most Agile transformations — where teams implement Daily standups but still struggle with deadlines, clarity, and trust issues
The problem isn’t standups. The problem is the Underlying culture
The Rise of A IW ill Kill Standup Meetings (And That’s a Good Thing)
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Think about it — why do we have standups? To get updates, to track blockers, and to ensure work is moving. But what if AI could do all of that?
AI-driven project management tools are already automating progress tracking, identifying bottlenecks, and even suggesting solutions based on past data. Soon, AI will replace the need for humans to spend 15 minutes talking about what Jira already knows
But here’s the catch — AI needs data to work effectively
If you still run standups, start Collecting insights from these meetings now Track blockers, dependencies, and collaboration patterns. This data will be invaluable when transitioning to an AI-powered system
The future isn’t standups. The future is AI-driven, real-time collaboration where updates happen automatically, blockers are flagged instantly, and teams focus on work — not reporting on work
Fixing Standups: The TRUS TF ramework
If you absolutely Must Have daily standups, they need to be useful. Use the TRUST Framework to ensure they’re not a waste of time
T — Time-bound (15 Minutes Max, No Exceptions)
If your standup takes longer than 15 minutes, it’s broken No exceptions
At Amazon, Jeff Bezos introduced the “two-pizza rule” — meetings should be small enough that two pizzas could feed the whole group. The same applies to standups If you have too many people, split into smaller groups
R — Real Conversations, Not Status Updates
Nobody should be reading off Jira tickets like it’s an audiobook. If people are just reporting tasks, that’s not a standup — it’s a Robotic status update
Standups should focus on Solving problems :
U — Unblock, Don’t Blame
Many standups turn into Blame sessions Where people justify why something isn’t done
A good standup is about Removing roadblocks, not explaining delays If a blocker comes up, the discussion should shift to “How do we fix this? ” , not “Why did this happen? ”
S — Self-Sufficient Teams
A great team shouldn’t Need Daily standups to function. They should be a Tool , not a Crutch
If your team falls apart without a standup, the issue isn’t the standup — it’s the Lack of ownership and structure
T — Trust Before Scrutiny
Scrutiny leads to micromanagement. Trust leads to better work
If managers feel the Need To check in daily, they should ask themselves: ❌ “Do I not trust my team? ” ❌ “Am I adding value, or just checking if work is happening? ”
If there’s No trust No number of standups will fix the problem
Final Thought: Do You Even Need Standups?
Before setting up a daily standup, ask: Why do we need this?
If the answer is:
Standups are Not The solution to every problem. Often, they’re just a Band-aid covering deeper issues
Some managers argue that standups are necessary because their team is Too large If that’s the case, then the real issue isn’t the standup — it’s the Team structure
If your team is too big for an effective standup: ✅ Break it into smaller teams — Smaller, focused teams collaborate better. ✅ Use pseudo-teams — Keep the large team structure but divide them into logical working groups that only sync when necessary
Because let’s be honest — forcing 15+ people into a call every morning just to go through the motions isn’t collaboration. It’s Corporate theater
The best teams don’t meet just to meet. They meet with purpose
So before adding another meeting to the calendar, ask yourself — Do we really need this?
Because if the answer isn’t a Resounding YES , then it’s just another Corporate ritual wasting your time