How_to_use_this_template
📖 How to use this template
A standup is a 15-minute team check-in, not a status report. This project holds the recurring meeting, the work you go through during it, and somewhere for blockers to land.
- Duplicate this project into your own organization (dropdown next to the project name, then
Duplicate) - Open Daily standup (15 min) and confirm the repeat rule survived the copy: Mon to Fri
- Replace the samples in Current work with your team's real work. They're from a small product launch, so rename them to whatever your team is actually shipping.
- Keep Async updates only if your team spans time zones. Assign one update task per person and delete the spares.
- Read the Standup playbook below for the agenda, the async format, and the one rule that keeps Current work and Parking lot from duplicating each other
Two sublists do the reporting for you. Critical Blockers collects anything tagged Blocker. Daily Standups collects every instance of the meeting, which turns the week into a record nobody had to write.
Standup playbook
The agenda
Fifteen minutes maximum. Ten to twelve is normal for a team of fewer than ten people.
| Part | Time | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Open | 30 sec | "Board's up. We're going task by task. Blockers get parked." |
| Updates | 8 to 10 min | Go through Current work one task at a time. Three lines per person. |
| Parking lot | as they come up | Write down the blocker and who will clear it. Don't fix it now. |
| Close | 60 sec | Confirm who is pairing with whom after the call, then end it. |
One habit matters more than the rest: go through the board task by task, not around the room person by person.
The three lines
Each person gives three short lines. No more.
| Line | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Done since yesterday | Shows progress without anyone having to ask for it. |
| Focus today | Catches two people about to work on the same thing. |
| Blockers & asks | Says what you need, who can give it to you, and by when. |
Current work or Parking lot?
One rule keeps the two lists from turning into duplicates of each other.
| Goes in Current work | Goes in Parking lot | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Your team's own work | Things you're waiting on from outside the team, plus follow-ups |
| Who can finish it | Someone in the standup | Someone who isn't in the standup |
| Example | "Pricing section update" | "Q3 figures from finance" |
If a card in Current work is stuck on something external, tag it At risk and put the external thing in Parking lot. Two cards, two different jobs, no overlap.
Every Parking lot item needs an assignee and a Blocked since date. A due date tells you when someone hoped to finish. Blocked since tells you how long it has actually been stuck. More than two or three days means stop chasing and escalate.
Live or async?
| Live standup | Async standup | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | One office, one time zone | Team spread across time zones |
| When | One fixed 10 to 15 minute slot | Written by a set time each day |
| Speed | Fast back-and-forth | Slower, so agree one rule for urgent blockers |
| What you get | Unblocking in the moment | A written record of the week |
| Where updates go | The board you go through together | Comments on the task cards |
The live standup is the default here. You can also run both: written updates daily, one live call a week.
Example of a good async update
Moved: landing page design is finished and in review. Next: starting the pricing section layout. Blocked: waiting on Q3 figures from [name] in finance before pricing can be final, ideally by Thursday.
The last line is the one that matters. It says what is needed (the Q3 figures), who can provide it, and when. That person reads it when they start their day, sends the figures, and posts them on the task.
Compare "a bit stuck on pricing." Nobody can act on that.