Data on Workplace Productivity Shows Stand-ups Are Not only For Developers

While there are several perks of working with a full-fledge performance-oriented team, we often find ourselves apprehended by the qualms of falling behind on completing certain assigned tasks. Even worst, we can end up completing the task for others and overlook our own commitments along the way.

Often times, when we muse over the hours we spent on a particular task, it triggers a sinking feeling in our chests as we realize that we have ended up wasting a handful of hours. I, for one, don’t relish the feeling at all. Even though we equip ourselves with the latest technologies and track our performance round the clock, we still face hindrances in achieving our set goals and it is nobody’s fault but inadvertently our own.

Fortunately, productivity can yet be saved. All you have to do is to follow a simple method we know as performing a “stand-up.” Now, if you have previously worked in a software house or a digital agency, I am sure you are pretty familiar with the term. Most developers conduct a short 5–10-minute meeting before they start with their daily tasks. They deem it their daily stand-up. It’s been more than a decade since the method took off, and till today, famous developers religiously follow the protocol.

Most of these short meetings revolve around this single statement:

“Where do we come from, and where are we going?”

Teammates update others on the tasks they have achieved so far, and what they are planning to achieve in the coming days. It not only helps other team members hop onboard the same ship, it also helps them realize which tasks have been completed to avoid redundancy.

Here’s What Data Tells Us About Workplace Productivity

There is no denying the fact that communication and coordination between employees are directly proportional to productivity. However, it can truly become a cumbersome task to make them work coherently.

Do you know that more than 86% of employees, executives, and educators blame ineffective communication as the leading cause of the demise of productivity in workplaces?

Here, read all about it at Fierceinc

According to the Linchpin Learning Manchester Companies, miscommunication can cost organizations almost 25–40 percent of their annual budget. Siemens also published a business case for effective internal communications in the year 2014 which puts the average downtime for a business with 100 working employees per week for 17 hours. It creates a demise of the annual cost up to $528,443.

So, here’s a solution that most organizations come up with: why not strengthen our email communication tactic? Workers spend an average of 13 hours each week on emails and almost 96% of employees believe that these hours could be put to better use. Instead of whiling away their precious time in performing routine tasks, they usually find themselves engaged in typing out emails and sending them.

Well, poor communication and wasted hours can result in curtailing your real work hours, but on the other hand, stand-ups can enhance engagements between employees and get most of the tasks done on time.

Here are some Dos and Don’ts of conducting a daily stand-up with your teammates.

The Dos and Don’ts of Daily Stand-Ups

Here are some important things to keep in mind when managing daily stand-ups:

• For most organizations, daily stand-ups are a traditional morning thing. Since you need to follow up on the progress of different tasks assigned to others so you can perform your own, most employees like to discuss such important things during the early hours of the day. However, there is no limit to when you can conduct your daily stand-ups. Choose anytime that suits all your colleagues.
• If you are working with remote teams, you can include them in your daily stand-ups using the video chat feature. While videos are your first-hand requirement, you can always resort to other alternatives like audio using speakerphones, if video conversations are not an option.
• Don’t, and I repeat… don’t make stand-ups a pretext for gleaning daily reports. Try to encourage employees to share their ideas and talk freely about their tasks. You can also choose to go through members in a random order. Take a ball and toss it around, giving each person an opportunity to speak their mind and then put their ideas on the table for scrutiny by the rest.
• Discuss any obstacle that you are facing in completing a project. Perhaps if you are finding yourself in a rut when it comes to solving a challenge or breaking down an intricate problem, a teammate can readily help you come up with something better. Make sure that this process is vice versa, and your employees can do the same, let them open up and share their obstacles with you so you can help them cope up.

Just like everything good, there are some don’ts which are essential to keep in mind:

• Never try to find a place to lean against or sit down during a stand-up. First of all, such actions can promote an atmosphere of indolence and discourage individuals who are enthusiastic to start their day with vigor. Secondly, these are fast-paced short meetings so it is better if you can discuss matters quickly and get back to your work zones.
• Try to engage with individuals on the go and make sure that your discussions don’t travel down the rabbit hole. Keep the discussion alive among teammates by keeping it on the move. Let other people chime in and pick massive discussions from the top. Let your employees engage and project on it later.
• Location is not of relevance here… You can move around and settle wherever your heart desires and it can greatly help you free yourself from all forms of constraints. Let’s say your team isn’t comfortable ambling around your foyer, you can take them down to the park and have a small stand-up discussion.

Read Full at Original Source: https://blog.taskque.com/workplace-productivity-shows-stand-ups-for-everyone/