slack standup template

How to Run A Standup In Slack Using a Free Template

 As the saying goes, your standups are as good as your standup templates. Using a poorly designed template can result in repetitive, unproductive meetings that fail to achieve their intended purpose. 

Therefore, in this article, we’ll explore the key considerations for setting up a standup template that promotes collaboration, progress, and success.

1. Install Slack Bot With Standup Template

The easiest and fastest way to use standup templates in Slack is to install a Slack standup bot. 

There are several bots you can use, and for this example, we’ll use Geekbot because it’s free forever for small teams and can be easily customized to your particular needs. 

Go to the Slack App Directory and search for “Geekbot” or “Geekbot standups”.

There are several Slack standup bots. Geekbot is currently the best-reviewed on the market, used in teams like Shopify, Github, and Gitlab!

Click “Geekbot Workflows” and on the opened page, click “Add to Slack”:

On the following page, click “Add to Slack” and go through the installation process by granting Geekbot all the necessary permissions.

2. Select Daily Standup Template

After Geekbot is installed, it will pop up in your Slack workspace and automatically launch the configuration by prompting you to open its Dashboard where you can set up your very first daily standup.

In the Geekbot dashboard, the first thing you need to do is to select a “Daily Standup” template:

After selecting the template, click “Start with template”:

Now let’s customize this template for your team needs. 

3. Customize Daily Standup Template

As you will see, the daily standup template consists of several steps that can be customized to your needs.

By default, the template will send three standup questions at 10:00 AM and every team member will receive these questions in their own timezone.

If that works for you, simply click “Publish” in the right upper corner and the template will start working right away. 

The bot will send questions to your team members, wait for their answers, and then gather all the answers in the same broadcast channel.

Note: you can broadcast daily standup template answers into any Slack channel, private or public. Make sure to specify one broadcast channel at the end of the template’s customization.

But here’s a cool trick that Geekbot allows: you can customize any part of your daily standup template:

You can change how often you want to run standups using this template

You can choose who will receive standup questions (for example, only developers)

You can customize standup questions, add new ones or delete any

You can add numerical and multiple-choice questions (e.g. Ask your teammates to rate their productivity today on a scale from 1 to 10 or make a quick poll to vote on tomorrow’s format of meetings)

You can even add random questions! Simply upload the list of questions and the bot will choose random questions from that pool (perfect for team icebreakers!)

When you’re done with customizations, hit the “Publish” button and you’re ready to go.

  1. Analyze Team Responses

After you configure and launch your standup template in Slack, it will automatically gather responses from your team members and publish them in a designated Slack channel:

There are multiple things you can do from here on:

  • Follow up on your teammate’s responses using Slack threads
  • Use Slack search to quickly find responses relevant to a specific project, keyword, or a participant
  • (For managers) analyze team morale, team productivity, and collaboration over time

Specific Geekbot features that can help you take your Slack standups to the next level: (still available for free for teams with up to 10 members)

  • AI analysis of all team members’ responses to determine team morale 
  • Interactive dashboards with data on team morale and level of responsiveness
  • Geekbot library of templates for launching retrospectives, team polls, anonymous surveys, 1-on-1 sessions, and team building sessions quizzes directly from your Slack

Slack standups are a productivity gem for teams that want to save hours on repetitive long-winded meetings.

We hope this article helped you understand how to run standups in Slack using templates. Make sure to adjust the template to your own needs and you’ll dramatically improve the efficiency of your daily standups.

Frequently asked questions

What is the benefit of using a free template for running standups in Slack?

Using a free template for running standups in Slack can help ensure that your team stays on track and focused during their daily meetings. The template provides a structured format for team members to share updates on their progress and identify any obstacles that may be impeding their work.

What are some key features of a good standup template for Slack?

A good standup template for Slack should include sections for each team member to share their progress, any obstacles they've encountered, and what they plan to work on next. It should also have a section for team members to ask questions or provide feedback to their colleagues. Additionally, the template should be easy to use and customizable to meet the needs of your team.

How can you customize a standup template in Slack to meet the unique needs of your team?

To customize a standup template in Slack, you can add or remove sections based on the needs of your team. You can adjust the questions or prompts used in the template to better align with the goals and priorities of your team. Additionally, you can customize when team members receive standup questions, who receives them, and where to store team responses.

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