Daily stand-up Accounts team
Tuesday 13 October · chair Sarah
Standing up, at the fixed time, and it always goes ahead, even when people are missing.
1Staffing
1 minJames is off, Laura covers the phone until 12:00.
2Announcements
2 minFrom tomorrow new suppliers go through the portal; the instructions are up by the printer.
3Looking back at yesterday
3 minLead time was fine. The error on the two invoices came from a wrong VAT number in the system.
4Looking ahead to today
4 min5Obstacles
3 minThe portal is slow between 9 and 10; Laura is calling IT.
6Improvement actions
2 minSarah · 2026-10-13
James
Worth a second look
- One improvement action has no owner or date. An action on the board without a name and a date does not get done.
Four marks of a good daily stand-up
- Always at the same time. That is how it becomes a habit for everyone.
- Standing up. It keeps the pace high and the creativity in. Ten to fifteen minutes is enough.
- A fixed structure and agenda. Staffing, announcements, looking back, looking ahead, obstacles, improvement actions. The board above follows that order and the timer keeps pace per item.
- It always goes ahead, even when team members are missing.
The board
Fill the board before the stand-up with the latest information: staffing, yesterday's goals and how it went. During the stand-up you judge per goal whether it was achieved, set the goals for today, and obstacles and improvement ideas go on the board. Every idea becomes an action with a name and a date; without those two it does not get done. An action that has been open for more than two weeks is too big for the board: split it up or turn it into an improvement project.
Tips
- Rotate the chair. It increases everyone's involvement.
- Celebrate successes. In the practical example from our e-book that is what gave the energy: it was not only about what could be better.
- Face to face instead of e-mail. What has been discussed in the stand-up no longer needs to be sent round. Anyone who still wants to share it uses "Copy for Teams or e-mail".