SAFe Knowledge Base » Team Sync
Team Sync
The Morning Question, What Good shall I do this Day? Evening Question, What Good have I done to day?
—The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Summary
The Team Sync (or Daily Standup) is a brief, daily event (typically 15 minutes or less) where the Agile Team inspects progress toward the iteration goal and collaboratively adjusts the plan for the immediate future. Focused primarily on forward-looking coordination rather than status reporting, the members of the Agile Team use this time to establish mutual accountability for the day's work and identify opportunities to help one another. By proactively raising and planning to resolve impediments, the Team Sync ensures a predictable flow of value, which is essential for reliably securing iteration goals.
Note: For more on Agile Team events, please see the Framework articles in the series: Iteration Planning, Iteration Review, Team Sync, Team Backlog Refinement, and Iteration Retrospective. Each event can be utilized for Agile Teams that use SAFe Scrum or SAFe Team Kanban.
What is the Team Sync?
The Team Sync is a quick event (usually 15 minutes or less), typically held daily, to inspect progress toward the iteration goal, communicate, and adjust upcoming planned work. The team can use any structure or technique for the Team Sync to create an action plan for the next workday. Though the Team Sync is not the only time team members can make adjustments, it is a dedicated time. The team should also collaborate and discuss adapting or re-planning work when needed throughout the day. The discussion in the Team Sync should maintain a forward focus on adapting the plan for the immediate future. It does not serve as a status report of completed work. This daily coordination helps the team maintain a shared understanding of dependencies. Together, they develop a plan to use the workday's capacity effectively, supporting progress toward the iteration goals.
High-performing teams use the Team Sync to identify opportunities to help one another succeed in delivering their committed iteration goals. The Scrum Master/Team Coach writes down topics that need further discussion on a ‘meet after’ board. Only the involved parties stay during the meet after to discuss these topics in more detail. Ineffective Team Syncs may be a symptom of deeper problems that require a systemic approach for resolution, which often becomes the responsibility of the Scrum Master/Team Coach.
What is the purpose of the Team Sync?
The purpose of the Team Sync for the business is to ensure each Agile Team meets its iteration goals, enabling the ART to achieve its PI Objectives. For the Agile Team, the purpose is to maintain alignment, adapt plans as needed, and proactively resolve impediments to ensure a consistent flow of value and reliably meet iteration goals.
Read more about the Agile Team and the Scrum Master:
How does the Team Sync connect with the SAFe Principles?
SAFe Principle #1: Take an economic view - Agile Teams should focus on the most valuable work to do next, ignoring sunk costs. This daily focus ensures plans are updated to reflect new realities. This is crucial when early work creates new insights or when the nature of the work is emergent.
SAFe Principle #3: Assume variability; preserve options - The Agile Team should adjust the stories brought into the iteration during Iteration Planning, if necessary, to achieve the iteration goals. The commitment is to the Iteration Goals, not the stories, allowing the underlying plan to evolve during the Iteration.
Read more about SAFe Principle #1 and SAFe Principle #3:
What is the outcome of the Team Sync?
The Agile Team achieves immediate alignment, resulting in a collaboratively defined tactical plan for the coming day. They have clear mutual accountability for the upcoming work and an explicit agreement on the immediate next steps for all identified impediments.
Last Update: 18 March 2026