Recently, I commented on Steve Smith’s article Rethinking Stand-Up Meetings. Steve wrote me to clear the air: it’s the standing up part he takes issue with, and not the meeting. To clarify his position, he has said more, and for whatever it’s worth, I believe his argument is spot-on.

Even so, if you’re new to this kind of meeting, you should try standing up first, to interrupt the usual meeting patterns of straying off topic, monopolizing the time, and goofing off. If, after you’ve held true Stand-Up meetings, you find that standing up has outlived its usefulness, you should consider sitting down; however, if the old habits return, try standing up again. If it didn’t work, no-one would have called them “Stand-Up”s.