When you hear about standups, you may think about people who work in a team in a large corporation. Although this is true, this does not mean that business teams are the only ones having regular standups. They might have them daily or weekly, depending on the structure of the team and the goals they need to achieve. However, standups take place outside the business environment too.
Students who have group projects they need to work on are starting to introduce this way of measuring progress in their work too. It is easier to see if anyone has done their part on that research paper. Or if someone has encountered some obstacles other team members can help them with. However, most of the students do not have experience in managing a team. This is the moment when they start polishing their skills. So, what makes a standup successful? How can you and your fellow colleagues make sure you accomplish your goals and that the standup meeting fulfills its scope?
Keep Them Short and Focused
Keeping your meetings short and focused is one of the secrets that make a standup meeting successful. Of course, their length depends on how regularly you organize them too. However, any student that is participating in the meeting should know how to answer the questions concisely, and also update the team on their progress or obstacles they have encountered. Having a timer for each team member and a set of things each has to share could help you keep track of the time each team member is using. The ability to keep your thoughts and ideas short and simple is helpful when you write essays too.
Even though there are many free examples you can find online you can get inspiration, you need to know how to respect the word or page limit you may have. There are essay samples on GradesFixer that give you an insight into what a successful paper looks like, one that got teacher comments for students’ writing excellent. Grading college papers is one part of college life and the student contract for grades. So, both your papers and group projects have to be excellent to progress academically and achieve your goals.
Using Templates
If you think about the business standup meetings, they take place daily and they are pretty short, up to 30 minutes. However, student standup meetings might have a distinct format and length, as you have classes you need to attend and assignments to complete. So, it would be easier if you would have templates that are easy to follow.
For example, you might have a few questions every team member has to answer. They can be added to a template to which each member has access. This helps you to prioritize the topics that need to be discussed within the meeting. This way, you make sure you do not lose time, but also that you touch all the points that you should talk about. It is an effective way to make sure the standup is successful and fulfills its scope.
Introducing Fun Elements
Standup meetings have the role of measuring the progress of the team but also understanding the obstacles other team members have encountered and supporting them. They are the most serious meetings and even though this is indeed helpful, it is also welcome to have some fun. When students work on group projects, they have the ultimate goal in mind. But not only the destination, and in this case the mark is essential.
The journey is crucial too so you can have some fun along the way with your colleagues and get to know them better. Learning more about them, their working style, how they learn and study, or what they like and dislike boosts the cohesiveness of the team. So, you will end up working more efficiently, which will make not only the standup meetings but the whole working process successful. Embracing e-learning as part of the journey can enhance the team’s collaboration and productivity, enabling members to access valuable resources and expand their knowledge in a flexible and accessible manner.
So, introducing fun elements in these meetings will help make the atmosphere within the team more relaxed. Of course, the reason why you are meeting should not be lost in sight. But actually having fun and introducing some ice-breakers and games where you say how you feel that day improves the standup meeting.
Final Thoughts
Not only do teams within businesses and organizations have standup meetings, but teams of students in college too. Standup meetings are helpful as they contribute to the progress of the team. It is the opportunity when team members to discuss the obstacles they have met and ask for help and support they receive from their team members. Well, for these meetings to be successful, they need to be short and focused on the reason for the meeting. Using templates is one of the effective ways you can measure progress and help each team member share their thoughts and personal progress. And even though they should be serious, some fun games are always welcomed. They can actually contribute to the cohesiveness of the team, which improves teamwork.
