Daily standup meeting template (with example)
In short: A daily standup template has three questions for each person: what did you finish since yesterday, what will you work on today, and what is blocking you. Add a short list of blockers to solve after the meeting, any announcements, and a parking lot for topics that need their own conversation.
The template
Daily standup
- Team:
- Date:
- Facilitator:
- Absent:
- Name:
- Done since yesterday:
- Today:
- Blocked by:
- Blocker / Who helps / By when
- -
- Topic / People needed / When
Daily standup Details - Team: - Date: - Facilitator: - Absent: Updates (one block per person) - Name: - Done since yesterday: - Today: - Blocked by: Blockers to solve after standup - Blocker / Who helps / By when Decisions and announcements - - Parking lot - Topic / People needed / When
When to use it
Use this template for the short daily check-in that software, product, operations and project teams hold to stay in sync. It works in person around a board or on a quick video call.
One person facilitates and keeps time; the role can rotate each week. You do not need minutes for every standup. Most teams only write down blockers, decisions and parked topics, because those are what someone needs to act on later. Keep the updates short and move any detailed discussion to the parking lot, with the two or three people who need it. If teammates in another time zone or on leave rely on a recording, agree on that as a team first and tell anyone who joins. For notes in mixed Arabic and English, see taking meeting notes in Arabic.
Filled-in example
Delivery app team standup, 20 October
- Team: Delivery app
- Date: Tuesday 20 October
- Facilitator: Mariam
- Absent: Sara (on leave)
- Omar / Done: fixed the order-status crash / Today: release notes for version 2.4 / Blocked by: nothing
- Noor / Done: new Arabic copy on onboarding screen 2 / Today: dark mode check on all screens / Blocked by: waiting for the final icon set
- Khalid / Done: grouped last week’s support tickets by topic / Today: call two customers about search problems / Blocked by: nothing
- Mariam / Done: updated the sprint board / Today: plan Thursday’s demo / Blocked by: demo room not booked
- Final icon set for Noor / Mariam to chase the design agency / today
- Book the demo room / Mariam / today
- - Code freeze for version 2.4 is Thursday 22 October at 14:00.
- - Release stays on 27 October.
- Arabic search: fix in 2.4 or 2.5? / Omar, Khalid, Layla / after standup today
Tips
- Keep it short; many teams time-box the standup to 15 minutes and stop when the time is up.
- Talk about progress towards the team’s goal, not a list of every task you touched.
- Say blockers out loud even when they feel small, because someone in the room can often clear them in minutes.
- Move any discussion longer than a minute to the parking lot and name who will meet about it.
- Write down only blockers, decisions and parked topics, and post them in the team channel straight after.
- If you record standups for absent teammates, agree on it as a team first and tell anyone who joins.
Frequently asked questions
What are the three standup questions?
The classic three are: what did I complete since the last standup, what will I work on until the next one, and is anything blocking me. Some teams reframe them around the sprint goal, for example asking what moved the goal forward. Use whichever wording keeps updates short and focused on outcomes.
Do you need notes for a daily standup?
Not full minutes. A daily record of blockers, decisions and parked topics is usually enough, and it helps anyone who was absent catch up. Some teams paste these few lines into their team channel each morning so there is a searchable history without extra effort.
Can a standup be done asynchronously?
Yes. Teams spread across time zones often post the three answers in a shared channel at the start of their day instead of meeting. It saves time but loses quick problem solving, so many teams mix the two, meeting live on some days and posting written updates on others.
Can Echo help with standup notes?
Echo records on iPhone or Android, or on Mac from the menu bar during a video call without a bot joining, and writes a transcript, a summary and a to-do list. That suits standups where people mix Arabic and English. On iPhone and Android, the Echo keyboard also lets you dictate your written update in any app. Echo is free for 30 minutes of recording a month.
Echo writes these notes for you from a recording. Free for 30 minutes a month.
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