Stand up status updates like a Senior DevCreated at: 30 December, 2025

A status update isn’t just a routine it’s an opportunity to build trust with your team manage uncertainty and communicate blockers clearly.

Imagine you’re assigned a task that requires adding a feature to an architecture you’ve never worked on. On the first day you spend time reading all documentation and understanding the product. You barely touch the codebase yet you know a status update will be expected in the morning. Simply saying “I’m working on ticket #123, no blockers” every day doesn’t convey your effort and may leave your manager questioning your productivity.

Status updates are more than routine they’re a chance to demonstrate leadership clarify progress and show how your work contributes to the team.

What to Talk About

1. Yesterday, Today, and Blockers
   The easiest structure is to cover: what you did yesterday, what you plan for today and any blockers.
   Even if no PR or documentation is ready don’t hesitate to share what you’ve done. For example:
   "Spent the day understanding the new architecture and product requirements."

Managers especially want to know if you’re blocked. If your update hasn’t changed since yesterday explain why are you waiting for information a review or a response? The team can often help remove blockers if they’re aware of them.

Examples of Communicating Blockers

If you can’t resolve an issue alone be clear about it and ask for help:

• “I’m blocked testing this feature because staging IPs are denylisted. I submitted a request, but it’s not resolved. Any alternative way to test?”
• “Yesterday, I messaged Team A but haven’t received a reply. If no response today, I’ll follow up or ask Manager B for guidance.”

Sharing blockers shows initiative and invites support while demonstrating how you attempt to resolve issues independently.

4 Tips to Give an Effective Status Update

1. Prepare a short summary
Write down yesterday’s work, today’s plan, and blockers. This organizes your thoughts and ensures you cover key points.

Example:

What I did:

• Researched system X and product Y specifications
• Found that IT approval is needed for system X

What I’ll do:

• Review architecture X codebase; need guidance on where to start

Blockers:

• None so far

2. Speak simply and inclusively
Stand ups aren’t just for developers; product managers and team leads are listening. Avoid overly technical details.

Bad example:
"Yesterday I implemented routing for the payment processor using Free Monad and Priority Queue…"

Good example:
"Yesterday I worked on routing for the payment processor, documented four implementation options and think Priority Queue may be the best. I’ll share the document for review after stand up."

The second example communicates what matters clearly while offering details for those who want them.

3. Include other relevant work
If urgent tasks or personal responsibilities affect your schedule, mention them:
"Yesterday I spent less time on Project X due to a production hotfix."

This helps the team understand your workload and context.

4. Show why your work matters
As you move into senior roles, highlight the impact of your work:
"I noticed tests for Feature X take a long time, so I created a script to speed them up. Today I’ll run the tests using this script."

This explains not only what you did but why it matters to the project or team.

Check if Your Update Works

After stand up, you can ask a colleague what they understood about your work. If they can summarize it accurately you delivered a clear update.

Conclusion

Stand ups can feel intimidating or tedious, but they’re the best environment to build trust and demonstrate impact.

A strong status update:

• Covers yesterday’s work, today’s plan and blockers
• Explains blockers contextually and asks for help if needed
• Highlights other responsibilities or interruptions
• Shows why your work matters to the team, project, or company

If you remember one thing, ask yourself: “What value does my update provide, and why does it matter?” Answer that, and your stand up will leave a strong impression.