Standups Are for Teams, Not Surveillance
Why turning daily syncs into status reports kills trust and speed
Standups Aren’t Surveillance
What’s wrong:
When standups become status briefings for leadership, they stop serving the team. The meeting turns into theater, blockers stay buried, and collaboration flatlines.
What’s actually true:
Standups are for team alignment, not management inspection.
It’s about shared context and quick course corrections.
Format should flex—rigid routines kill usefulness.
Why it matters:
When people treat standups like daily performance reviews, they self-censor. Psychological safety drops, risks hide, and momentum dies.
Force multiplier:
Scrum Masters who reframe standup as a team-owned sync unlock real-time coordination and faster, smarter decisions.
Bottom line:
If your standup feels like surveillance, the problem isn’t the format—it’s the culture. Fix that first.