When I was an IC on a team I didn't care too much about my colleagues daily updates, but I cared about the interaction we got from being able to meet and talk. This was pre-pandemic so it was nice to get together in the morning for 15 mins.

When I was a TL for a team I did care about what other people were working on, and I appreciated being able get that interaction.

As an EM I do care about what you're working on but I have many ways of knowing that...mostly I appreciate everybody getting a chance to interact with team mates for 15 mins. I've gotten a much wider view of what people's need with respect to cohesiveness and interaction are, particularly in a remote first world, and people do benefit from having these interactions. Cohesiveness has increased, people reach out more, and for my new grad hires its given some structure and opportunity to get to know others.

Like anything else, it may not work for your team, or the process may be too heavy handed to be useful. I didn't always have stand ups for my team, and like many other ceremonies its dependent on the teams constitution and lifecycle

Yes. I like to know what you’re up to so I can understand what’s broadly going on in the team in case it’s interesting or if I can help you somehow.

They’re useful for team building but they’re not operationally useful.

We are fully remote and have to work hard to make our check ins less repetitive and more valuable.

It’s incredibly easy to just be waiting for your turn to speak.

It’s important we practice being concise and only updating relevant information (threats/blockers/risks)

Agreed. I was working as an engineering manager and found that after we started doing stand ups, the team became more cohesive as a group and people started reaching out to each other for help/advice. It really improved our efficiency, but not because it was necessary to know what everyone did everyday, but because it builds trust to tell people around you what you’re doing and what you’re struggling with

>It’s incredibly easy to just be waiting for your turn to speak.

The best solution I ever saw to that was having the meeting runner randomize everyone's order to speak

It's like working from home. Standups are inefficient, but I do miss them when they're gone. It's really an excuse to hear each other's voices 15 minutes a day.

Keep the standup, but insist that everyone stands up, especially the remoters; it keeps them short.

Maybe I'm being too sensitive here, but I'd rather not be treated as if I'm in 2nd grade.

Fair enough, but then let's rename it to a slouch-on-the-sofa-meeting

No we can not