Botimum makes it easy to set up and manage daily stand-ups directly within Slack. Follow these steps to create a new stand-up and keep your team aligned and on track.

Before you begin managing a poll, ensure that @Botimum is installed in your Slack workspace. If it’s not installed, visit this link to see how to install it.

1. Create new stand-up

Invite Botimum to Your Channel

Before setting up a stand-up, ensure that Botimum is added to the relevant Slack channel where the stand-up will take place. You can do this by

• Go to the channel that you want to set up your stand-up
• Send @botimum, Slack will ask you to invite Botimum to the channel

For optimal performance, it’s recommended to invite the @botimum bot-user to the relevant channels (both private and public) before starting any workflow.

Launch the Stand-Up Creation Process

To start creating a stand-up, use the following slash command in the desired channel:

/botimum

This command will open your Botimum's dashboard. From the dashboard, click on "Create a stand-up" to start

You’ll have the option to either choose from a pre-built template or create a stand-up from scratch, allowing you to customize it to fit your team’s needs.

If you prefer to start from the web console, simply click the "New Workflow" button and select "Stand-Up" to begin the setup process.

Configure Stand-Up Settings

When setting up your stand-up, you’ll be prompted to configure the following key settings:

• Stand-Up Name: Provide a name for your stand-up (e.g., "Daily Stand-Up"). This helps identify the stand-up in reports and settings.

• Questions: Botimum will automatically prompt participants with the following default questions:

  1. What did you do yesterday?
  2. What will you do today?
  3. Are there any impediments in your way?

            You can customize these questions by editing or adding new ones, with each question on a separate line.

• Report: Choose where the meeting summary will be delivered. Select a Slack channel where Botimum will post the stand-up summary. Ensure that @Botimum is a member of the selected channel.

• Audiences: Select the participants for your stand-up. You must include at least two members. You can quickly add members from the selected report channel or choose specific users manually.

• Schedule: When setting up your stand-up, you can customize the schedule to fit your team's routine using the following options:

  • Report Mode: Choose "Sync" for synchronous stand-ups where a summary will be delivered to the designated report channels at the specified report time (less Slack notification) or "Async" where a summary will be delivered as soon as a participant submits their stand-up.

  • Report Time: Only applicable for "Sync" report mode. Specify the exact time when all stand-up reports should be sent to the report channel (e.g., "10:00 AM").

  • Schedule Type:
    Choose from three scheduling options to determine how frequently the stand-up occurs:

    • Daily: The stand-up will take place every day at the specified time.
    • Weekly: Select specific days of the week for the stand-up (e.g., Monday through Friday).
    • Monthly: The stand-up will occur on a specified day each month.

  • Timezone:
    Set the timezone for the report time to ensure all participants receive reminders and submit their responses at the correct time.

  • Reminders:
    Configure up to two reminders to prompt participants to submit their responses:

    • Reminder 1: Set the first reminder time (e.g., "9:00 AM"). Example prompt: "Hey <member_name>, it's time to start <standup_name> stand-up. Could you please provide answers to the following questions: <first_question>."
    • Reminder 2: Set the second reminder time (optional, e.g., "9:30 AM"). Example prompt: "The stand-up is running. Please answer the questions in time :point_up:."                                            

            These settings provide flexibility in scheduling stand-ups to meet your team’s needs, whether on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

• Settings: Botimum offers several optional settings to customize how your stand-up reports are generated and distributed:

  • Answers are Grouped by Questions:
    Enable this option to organize the stand-up responses by question, making it easier to review all answers to a specific question together.

  • Send Report in Channel (Not Grouped by Thread):
    Choose this setting if you prefer the stand-up report to be posted directly in the channel without grouping responses by thread. This can simplify the report view in channels with high activity.

  • Send Reminders in Stand-up Timezone:
    Ensure that reminders are sent according to the stand-up’s specified timezone, keeping all participants aligned regardless of their local time.

  • Send Anonymous Report:
    Enable this option to send the stand-up report without attaching participant names to their responses, allowing for anonymous contributions.

  • Don't Send Reports with No Answer:
    If no participants submit responses, choose this option to avoid sending an empty report. This helps reduce unnecessary notifications.

        These settings give you control over the format and delivery of your stand-up reports, ensuring they meet your team’s preferences and workflow.

2. How a Stand-Up Runs

Once you've configured and scheduled your stand-up in Botimum, here's what happens during the stand-up process:

• Reminders Sent:
  At the times you specified, @Botimum sends out reminders to all participants. These reminders prompt them to submit their stand-up responses before the scheduled report time. Each reminder includes a customizable prompt to ensure participants know what’s expected of them.

• Participants Submit Responses: Team members have multiple options for submitting their answers to the stand-up questions:

  • Direct Replies:
    Participants can respond directly by replying to the questions posed by @Botimum in the Slack channel. This allows for a straightforward submission process.

  • Answer Form:
    In the reminder message card sent by @Botimum, participants will see an "Answer" button. Clicking this button opens a response form, making it easy to submit answers without cluttering the channel with messages.

  • Submitting Early:
    Participants have the flexibility to submit their stand-up responses before the reminder time by sending a simple "hi" message to @Botimum. This allows team members to contribute their updates at their convenience.

  • Late Responses:
    If a participant misses the scheduled submission time, they can still submit their responses late. @Botimum will immediately forward any late submissions to the designated report channel, ensuring that all updates are captured.

            These submission options provide participants with flexibility and convenience, promoting greater engagement in the stand-up process.

• Report Compilation:
  @Botimum compiles all the submitted responses according to your settings:

  • If you’ve chosen to group answers by questions, responses will be organized under each question.
  • If anonymity is enabled, the report will hide the identities of the respondents.
  • If no responses are submitted, and you've enabled the "Don't send reports with no answer" setting, no report will be generated.

• Report Delivery:
  At the scheduled report time, @Botimum sends the compiled stand-up report to the designated channel(s). Depending on your preferences, the report may be posted in the channel directly, without threads, or with responses grouped by thread.

• Review and Follow-Up:
  The team can review the stand-up report in Slack, allowing everyone to stay informed about each other's progress and potential blockers. This transparent sharing facilitates daily coordination and helps the team identify issues that need attention.

• Accessing Historical Data:
  For a more comprehensive understanding of team dynamics, you can access historical stand-up data through the Botimum web console. This feature provides insights into past stand-ups, allowing you to analyze trends, participation rates, and recurring issues over time. Such data can be invaluable for assessing team performance and improving future stand-ups.

3. Managing a Stand-Up

After setting up a stand-up, you may need to make adjustments or delete it entirely. Here’s how to manage your stand-up effectively:

Use the /botimum slash command in Slack to access the Botimum dashboard. From there, you can select the stand-up you want to manage and make necessary changes, including:

• Edit Stand-Up Questions
• Adjust Schedule
• Modify Reminders
• Change Settings

Alternatively, you can log into the Botimum web console to access the management features, providing a comprehensive view of your stand-up settings and allowing for easy modifications.

These management options ensure that you can adapt your stand-up process as your team evolves, fostering a more effective and engaging environment.

Pause a Stand-Up:

If you need to temporarily halt a stand-up, you can select the option to pause it. This will suspend all reminders and reporting until you resume the stand-up.

Delete a Stand-Up

If you need to remove a stand-up, you can select the option to delete it from the management interface. This will stop all future reports and reminders associated with that stand-up. 

Warning: Deleting a stand-up will remove all associated data, including past responses and reports.

4. Common Issues and Solutions

While using Botimum, you may encounter some common issues. Here are a few scenarios and their solutions:

Channel Not Found:

If you receive a message indicating that a channel cannot be found, it could be due to one of the following reasons:

• Channel Deletion: The channel may have been deleted. In this case, you will need to recreate the channel or select a different active channel for your stand-up or poll.

• Channel Archived: The channel may have been archived. You can unarchive the channel or choose an alternative active channel to continue using Botimum.

• Bot Removed from Channel: If @Botimum has been removed from the channel accidentally, you will need to invite the bot back into the channel using the /invite @Botimum command.

Tips for Effective Stand-Ups

• Keep It Short: Stand-ups should be brief and focused. Aim for each participant to spend no more than a minute on their update.
• Encourage Consistency: Regular stand-ups help maintain team alignment. Encourage your team to participate consistently.
• Use the Web Console: The Botimum web console offers advanced features and analytics that can help you track team progress over time.