[paulie_a]

Am I the only one that thinks stand-ups are pretty much worthless? We have two versions, in person once a week. Then a daily slack version. Recently I asked in a real stand-up "does anyone actually read them", 2 out of 25 hands went up. I was surprised by people being so candid that they don't. I don't, it's generally irrelevant. It's a waste of time.

Interpersonal direct communication and making sure the appropriate people are kept in the loop is far more efficient. Otherwise it becomes a bunch of meaningless chatter.

[nilkn]

The Slack versions are probably for the manager more than the individual engineers on the team. If you can't even give your manager a quick update on what you're working on, I think there's a problem. And there's no reason to hide that information from your teammates, so you might as well share it. Boom -- standup.

[paulie_a]

The manager isn't doing their job if they depend on slack updates. And if they don't already know what you are working on, they are not a manager. Teammates are usually not hiding info, if they the manager has completely failed and so has that. Effective communication is important with the appropriate people. Broadcasting what I'm working on is a complete waste of time, shows lack of leadership in the company and direction. Its only use is to make yourself look, it's bragging right. But it's still a waste of everyone else's time.

[acct1771]

How, exactly, do I already know (yknow, if I'm a good manager) what an engineer is working on if he's remote, and has 4 cards assigned to himself in Doing?

[z6]

They are working on the stuff they are assigned to. If you need to know exactly what they do each minute of the day you could ask them directly. If there are cards they shouldn’t work, then find a better way to prioritize cards that engineers can pick up. Don’t waste other people’s time.

I also think that stand ups are a terrible idea. It feels like extreme micromanagement. With everyone using slack it’s silly to wait a day for this specific meeting to say what they’re blocked on or raise other issues.

[acct1771]

Note that I don't want to/don't think I should have to.

[fjsolwmv]

Updating status is beneficial for the individual and the senior engineers.

[paulie_a]

I have never seen that in action. The seniors don't care, don't read the status updates, are not listening to actual stand-ups. We just pretend to. When something needs to be communicated or worked out with team members efficiently it's with the relevant people directly.

Stand-ups are a waste of time.

[wikibob]

Why precisely?

Maybe for very new people who need high levels of guidance it could be helpful. But it’s a practice that has no basis in evidence to be so widespread.