Field Notes
When stand-ups become status theatre
Signs your daily has turned into reporting, and facilitation moves that return it to coordination.
Service teams often inherit a daily that exists because the contract mentioned Scrum. People speak to the Scrum Master, not to each other. Dependencies stay polite. The board stays ornamental.
What status theatre looks like
Each person narrates yesterday in chronological order. Nobody asks for help until the end, if at all. The PO learns about a blocked client API three days late. Account managers leave the call early because “it is an engineering thing.”
Moves that restore coordination
Shorten updates to focus on work that needs someone else today. Walk the board right-to-left so finishing items get airtime before new starts. Park longer design debates for a huddle with only the people involved. If an engineer repeatedly has “no blockers,” ask what would have to be true for the story to move to Done by tomorrow.
Coaching angle
In our delivery coaching engagements we rarely ban the daily — we change who it serves. When the ceremony protects WIP limits and surfaces client-side waits, attendance improves without mandatory cheerleading.