How To Run Daily OKR Standup Meetings

After reading this post, you should know:

1. How to do daily standup meetings when working with OKRs

2. The benefits of doing them

3. Key things to avoid during the meetings

4. How to improve the meetings over time

Let's get into it!

How to do daily standup meetings in OKR

Before your first standup meeting, make sure that you've done your preliminary work of making sure everyone knows what the current OKR cycle is about. It's important, as it will put everyone on the same page before attending the first standup.

If you haven't already started a new OKR cycle, make sure that you're doing the necessary preparations before the cycle and that you're aware of how the team should formulate their OKRs. If not, then look over different OKR examples for inspiration.

When it comes to using daily standup meetings in OKR, there are a few key things to keep in mind.

First, make sure everyone participating knows what OKRs they're working on and how they're progressing. This will help keep everyone aligned and on track.

Second, the meetings should be short and focused. Ideally, they should last no more than 10-15 minutes. This keeps people from getting bogged down in details and allows them to stay focused on their goals.

Third, avoid letting the meetings turn into status update sessions. The goal of a daily standup meeting is to check in on progress, not to go over every detail of each individual's work. If people need to give a status update, they can do so in the chat after the meeting.

Finally, end each meeting with a plan for the next day. This will help everyone stay focused and on track.

Now that you know how to do daily standup meetings in OKR, let's discuss some of the benefits.

The benefits of doing OKR standup meetings

There are several benefits to using daily standup meetings in OKR.

First, they help keep everyone aligned and on the same page. This is because everyone knows what everyone else is working on and how they're progressing. You'd be surprised to know how many companies I've seen where employees don't know what they'll be working on the next day.

Second, they help ensure that everyone is making progress. This is because people are accountable for their goals and objectives.

Third, they keep the team focused. This is because daily standup meetings are short and to the point. People don't have time to get sidetracked during these meetings.

Fourth, they improve communication within the team. This is because people are able to share what they're working on, ask questions, and give feedback. This is the perfect time to raise questions about things you're working on and quickly solve them or arrange for short meetings afterward.

Now that we've discussed the benefits of doing daily standup meetings in OKR, let's talk about some key things to avoid during these meetings.

Key things to avoid during daily OKR meetings

There are a few key things to avoid during daily standup meetings.

First, avoid going over every detail of each individual's work. The goal of these meetings is to check in on progress, not to go over every detail. If people need to give a status update, they can do so in the chat after the meeting.

That's also why it's called a stand-up meeting and people usually stand up during these sessions. It gets tiresome to stand up still and listen to long presentations from teammates.

Second, avoid letting the meeting turn into a gripe session. These meetings are meant to be positive and focused on progress. If people have complaints, they can raise them in the chat after the meeting.

Third, avoid getting sidetracked. These meetings should be short and to the point. If people start to get sidetracked, they can always raise the issue in the chat after the meeting.

Fourth, avoid giving presentations during these meetings. The goal of a daily standup meeting is to check in on progress, not to listen to long presentations. If people need to give a presentation, they can do so in a separate meeting. In general, it's a good idea to initially have an "OKR master" observing the meeting, ready to jump in and push discussions to separate meetings in case there's a need for that.

Finally, end each meeting with a plan for the next day. This will help everyone stay focused and on track.

How to improve OKR stand up over time

Before you've held your first OKR meeting, make sure that you're preparing the attendees for what to expect and what you expect from them.

The meeting should be presented as a core benefit for the team and not only for the team lead. In the recurring calendar invites, add a fixed agenda of the things you're going over. This makes it easy for everyone to remember what they should prepare and for attendees to refer to the agenda if things get out of hand.

Some of the things you can track about the daily standups are:

• How long are the meetings?

• How often do we need to stop people who start going deep on their tasks?

• How well can members describe the issues they experience?

In the beginning, it would also make great sense to ask for individual feedback from team members about the meeting format. All teams are different and there might be small adjustments that would make everyone love it more.

Now that you know how to use daily standup meetings in OKR, put them into practice and see how they can benefit your team!

I hope you found this post valuable and that your daily OKR standups become a great success!