❓ Standup prompts
The 3 Daily Scrum Questions — and Better Alternatives
The classic three questions, the trap they can fall into, and sharper prompts that keep your standup focused on the sprint goal. Plus a free timer to keep it tight.
The three classic questions
The traditional daily standup runs on three prompts: What did I accomplish yesterday? What will I work on today? What's blocking me? They give newer teams a dependable scaffold and make sure blockers get said out loud. Used well, they take each person about a minute.
Where the three questions go wrong
The failure mode is the standup becoming a status report aimed at a manager rather than a sync among peers. When that happens, people recite tasks, nobody listens, and the meeting adds no value. The fix is to point the questions at the sprint goal and the board, not at individual to-do lists.
Better prompt 1
“What did we move closer to done since yesterday?” — focuses on flow and the goal, not personal activity.
Better prompt 2
“What's at risk of not finishing this sprint?” — surfaces problems while there's still time to act.
Better prompt 3
“What do we need from each other today?” — turns the standup into coordination instead of reporting.
Keep the answers short
Whatever questions you use, brevity is the discipline that makes them work. A visible per-person timer keeps answers tight without anyone having to nag. Daily Toaster gamifies this — a toast cooks while you speak and burns if you ramble — so the team self-regulates and the standup stays under its 15-minute box.
Frequently asked questions
▸What are the three daily scrum questions?
What did I do yesterday, what will I do today, and what is blocking me. They're a scaffold, not a rule.
▸Are the three questions still recommended?
The current Scrum Guide no longer mandates them, emphasising progress toward the sprint goal instead. Many teams still find them a helpful starting point.
▸How do I stop standups becoming status reports?
Aim the questions at the sprint goal and the board, keep managers out of the driver's seat, and take detailed discussions offline.
▸How long should each person speak?
Roughly a minute. A visible timer like Daily Toaster keeps answers tight without anyone having to police the clock.
Related guides
Run a tighter standup
Ask sharper questions, keep the answers short with a free gamified timer.