How to run daily catch up meeting effectively?

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase "daily catchup meeting"? I know, I know, most of us regard it as a waste of time.

I can also see where it's coming from. Assume the team consists of 15 people, all of whom are present at the meeting. The agenda for that meeting is for everyone to explain what they did yesterday, what they will do today, and whether or not there are any roadblocks.

But do you think the fifteenth person will pay attention when the first person talks about his or her update? Some of them might be, but not all. Trust me, the next time you hear "sorry, can you please repeat the question," the person is either on the phone, watching TV or otherwise not paying attention.

In this blog, we'll discuss the drawbacks of having a daily catch up meeting and how we can change that with a fantastic standup bot called Sup.

Disadvantages of holding a synchronous daily catch up meeting, and how to overcome them using Sup, an asynchronous standup bot.

#1 Catch up meetings must occur as scheduled.

Problem

Nobody can wait for catchup meetings. Everyone must be present virtually or physically at the scheduled time, which can sometimes be detrimental to the mood.

Take this blog, for example. I'm in the middle of writing this blog and I'm really excited to finish it, but if I were to go to a daily standup meeting, I would now have to forgo some of my work and attend a 15-minute meeting, which can be a mood changer. It can sometimes distract me from what I intend to write on this blog.

Sup as a solution

As I type this blog on Notion. I have the Sup alert message on Slack, and the progress update from my end can wait until I finish writing this blog. The nicest part is that I'm not making anyone wait for me or disrespecting their time in any other way.

I can asynchronously add my progress update to Slack.

Not bad, huh?

#2 In the catch up meetings, you cannot address the blockers.

Problem

Participants cannot address the obstacles in the meeting because the daily catchup meetings should not last more than 15 minutes. Participants can obviously bring it up to the leader, but because time is limited, no one can really address it right away. This does not happen very often by the way.

Consider a scenario in which a tester is the fifth person in a standup meeting discussing progress and mentioning an issue in which the login page of the app (not a production one, duh) is broken and the tester is unable to test other features until the developer fixes it.

And the discussion continues for at least 5 minutes before they reach a decision to resolve the issue. Consider the people after the fifth who have nothing to do with this part of the project and are waiting for their turn.

Sup as a solution

The tester can include the blocker in the Sup, standup bot response and tag the appropriate person and team. The team involved in the bug can then communicate via the Slack thread or via a "quick call" to resolve the issue without holding up the rest of the team.

#3 If you choose daily catch up meetings, filling out timesheets is a pain.

Problem

I used to do freelance work before taking a full-time job at my current company. When it comes to freelancing, you know how important it is to keep track of your time. There were days when I forgot to add the tasks I was working on, and it was difficult to remember what I did that day later. Because of this, I would add random hours and tasks on that day that were not accurate, and I am pretty sure my employer would have noticed.

I wish I had a standup bot back then.

Sup as a solution

You will have the ability to view the tasks you worked on as well as download the answers as you submit your daily answers to Sup. All you have to do is go to that specific date if you have missed it or download the responses by selecting the date range in the filter.

#4 Catch up meetings can be difficult due to different time zones.

Problem

If one of your team members is based in Spain and another in the United States. There is a 6-hour time difference. When your Spain team finishes at 6 p.m., the USA team will be halfway through their work. I mean, it's nearly impossible to get everyone's availability for a daily standup meeting. One is about to log off, while the other is looking forward to a delicious meal.

This is only one example of a time zone difference. Additionally, a corporation could employ teams that are spread across more than two time zones. How could you encourage everyone to excitedly attend the meeting?

Sup as a solution

If you choose Sup, it is quite simple. You only need to add follow-ups and specify when and on what days you want the participants to respond. Everyone is happy and productive as a result.

#5 No obvious indication of the team's spirits on any given day.

Problem

When one teammate asks another about their mood, the person has a high chance of telling the truth. But imagine someone in a management position asking.

Why do you need to know the mood of your team as an organisation?

Simply put, happy employees outperform unhappy employees.

If your team members are feeling good about themselves and their work, they will bring that positive energy into everything they do. That is why it is critical to monitor your overall team morale.

Sup as a solution

You can enable mood tracking on Sup for every follow-up, and participants don't have to worry about the managers knowing what they answered because what the manager sees is an anonymous result.

In fact, the standup bot anonymously monitors people's moods and presents them with powerful analytics. Why analytics, you may ask? Because graphs allow you to visualize data or the behaviour of something quickly, and in this case, it will help resolve conflicts before it becomes a crisis.