How to run async weekly standups in Layer UI

Estimated time: 15 minutes per person per week · 6 steps

Synchronous all-hands standups are expensive and rarely useful — most attendees aren't speaking and aren't paying attention. Async standups cost less time, scale across timezones, and produce a written record. This guide sets one up in Layer UI.

1. Step 1

   Create a #standups channel

   In Layer UI Chat, create #standups and set the topic to 'Async standups every Monday — 3 questions: wins, focus, blockers'.

2. Step 2

   Pin the standup template

   Pin a template message: '**Wins:** ... | **This week's focus:** ... | **Blockers:** ... | (optional) **Personal:** ...'

3. Step 3

   Set a Monday-morning reminder

   Use Layer UI's recurring reminders to ping the channel every Monday at 9am with the template.

4. Step 4

   Enable AI weekly digest

   From the channel settings, turn on 'AI weekly digest'. Layer UI generates a one-paragraph rollup of all standups every Friday — readable in under 60 seconds.

5. Step 5

   Triage blockers

   Anything posted under 'Blockers' should be picked up by the manager within 24 hours. Convert blockers to tasks with one click for tracking.

6. Step 6

   Retire the live standup

   After 2 weeks of confident async use, remove the synchronous standup from the calendar. Use the freed time for fewer, deeper, smaller meetings.