How Daily Standups Can Transform Your Marketing Team's Productivity

Marketing teams support a lot of stakeholders and campaigns, so it's really easy to lose sight of how the work is progressing and who on the team is needed to move that work towards completion. When a team's not in sync, it leads to a lot of one-off meetings, which take time away from actually getting work done. A daily standup gets everyone on the same page quickly and easily, reducing meeting time and improving communication and ultimately productivity.

What's a daily standup?

A daily standup is a quick gathering of everyone on a team to synchronize work. It's meant to be rapid (15 minutes or less) to identify any roadblocks to getting work done and to identify any team members who may need to jump in to get a work item completed.

The term daily standup was coined a few decades ago when teams all worked together in a single location. The idea was to stand up to make the meeting fast and focused, avoiding the traditional drawn-out conference room meeting. Scrum Alliance uses the term "daily scrum" as defined in the Scrum Guide, and because these meetings aren't always completed while standing or with everyone in the same room. But regardless of the term you choose, the potential benefits of synchronization are the same.

A daily standup is a simple way to introduce your organization to agile marketing. You'll quickly start seeing the benefits of teamwork and collaboration.

Marketing team benefits

Align on channels and campaigns

Marketing teams often juggle content calendars, paid ads, social media, organic content, events, and more. Daily standups give the team the opportunity to coordinate all efforts, so that not only is timing on point across channels, but each team member knows how to support each other in order to move work forward and stay on track with deliverables and deadlines. Teams that participate in daily standups have better communication, learn to solve problems as a team versus as individual contributors, avoid extra meetings, and overall are more productive.

Surface impediments and blockers to progress

If someone's stuck waiting on design feedback or legal approval for copy, it gets flagged fast. The team can then figure out who they need to talk to that day to keep work progressing forward. This proactive communication prevents delays in campaign launches and keeps workflows moving efficiently.

Improves visibility across marketing functions

From SEO to social to performance marketing, standups give everyone visibility into what's happening across the team. That sparks collaboration, identifies overlap, and can unlock new ideas for campaign optimization. When marketers work collaboratively rather than in silos, they're able to get a better understanding of the value they're bringing to customers and approach marketing campaigns in a customer-centric way.

Supports your ability to focus on results

It's easy to focus on your tasks at hand and lose visibility into how your part of the work impacts the business. Instead of having tunnel vision or being buried in busywork, marketers who have daily standups stay focused on impact, like increasing click-through rates, growing traffic, or improving conversion rates. Sharing daily priorities encourages a goal-oriented mindset, which is imperative in today's competitive landscape.

Helps you pivot based on real-time data

Marketing is data-driven. Whether it's a drop in engagement or a spike in ad costs, standups allow teams to adjust messaging, targeting, or tactics immediately, without waiting for a formal meeting. When every day the team looks at marketing performance, not just tasks needing to be completed, they quickly become a high-performing team.

Strengthens the team's communication and collaboration

Whether remote or in-office, standups build team trust and cohesion. Marketers who work in a team environment often feel more connected to each other, and better working relationships often lead to better work. During the daily standup, marketers can take the time to celebrate wins together or recognize team members' efforts. Having regular facetime is know to foster a more connected and motivated marketing team.

Daily standups are just the tip of the iceberg 

Daily standups are a great way to quickly and easily reap the benefits of agile marketing. If you'd like to recognize even more great benefits, such as higher-performing teams, faster delivery, and more customer-centric approaches, daily standups are just the tip of the iceberg.

While daily standups are one component of scrum or an agile framework, other practices such as sprint planning, visualizing work, and retrospectives can be incorporated to create an agile marketing organization that can keep pace with rapidly changing customer preferences and business challenges. 

Agile for Marketing

To learn more about agile practices and approaches to marketing, check out Scrum Alliance's microcredential course, Agile for Marketing. You'll learn how to build a responsive, innovative team and earn a microcredential to showcase your skills.

Explore the course