I'll give a +1 to the coffee morning idea! I'm on a team that has been doing this for a few months now, and I think it really helps. We have half an hour at 9am

I'll give a +1 to the coffee morning idea! I'm on a team that has been doing this for a few months now, and I think it really helps. We have half an hour at 9am which people can drop into and out of (or not attend), and just chat. In practice, I think that after 15mins or so of random chat, people find it easier to use that "meeting" to voice the problems they're currently experiencing than they do in our official standups; it's more natural.