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Where I've seen standups work effectively is when an engineer has a bit of context on a problem that someone is dealing with, or an insight that might unblock s

Where I've seen standups work effectively is when an engineer has a bit of context on a problem that someone is dealing with, or an insight that might unblock someone. I've had many times I've mentioned in an (async, written in slack) standup status update, and someone's chimed in with something like "Oh, I've dealt with that before - let's pair for 10 minutes so I can walk you through some gotchas". Another plus for me personally is that it has a focusing effect on myself as a developer - if I say I'm going to get something done in standup, I'm going to force myself to focus on that task, and not get distracted by something else unless it's really important. I can see how that's a totally personal thing though - I need to have some sort of external "deadline", even if it's self-imposed and soft, to keep me focused. All of the above can be solved with async updates in Slack though, and that's probably actually a better medium. Having folks get in the same room seems a little pointless to me, especially when you have remote folks and timezones are an issue.

Sean1708 7y ago
The problem I've had with async updates is that they often get ignored because everyone that could help is busy at the time, so you still need the actual standup to just remind them about it. How do you get around this?
- ryanbrunner 7y ago
  I don't have a great solution for that, really, other than ensuring that updates are highly visible in a room where people are likely to read them and have a good culture around helping folks. I've been in environments like the one you describe, and I think at the end of the day it's more of a cultural issue than something that can be solved using a tool.
  - latchkey 7y ago
    this ^^^^^^^^^^^
- koreth1 7y ago
  I get around it by pinging people directly (usually I reply to my question as a thread in Slack and @-mention them, so the main channel doesn't get cluttered with my reminder) if a couple hours go by without a response. Still usually faster than waiting until the next day to ask at standup.

Sean1708 7y ago

The problem I've had with async updates is that they often get ignored because everyone that could help is busy at the time, so you still need the actual standup to just remind them about it. How do you get around this?

ryanbrunner 7y ago
I don't have a great solution for that, really, other than ensuring that updates are highly visible in a room where people are likely to read them and have a good culture around helping folks. I've been in environments like the one you describe, and I think at the end of the day it's more of a cultural issue than something that can be solved using a tool.
- latchkey 7y ago
  this ^^^^^^^^^^^
koreth1 7y ago
I get around it by pinging people directly (usually I reply to my question as a thread in Slack and @-mention them, so the main channel doesn't get cluttered with my reminder) if a couple hours go by without a response. Still usually faster than waiting until the next day to ask at standup.