What is the difference between a blocker and a dependency in stand ups?

• A. A blocker prevents progress; a dependency is a task that must be completed by another party before you can proceed.
• B. A blocker is a completed task; a dependency is always internal to the team.
• C. A blocker is optional to report; a dependency is mandatory to report.
• D. Blockers and dependencies are the same thing in stand-ups.

Answer: (A)

In a stand-up, the key distinction is that a blocker is something that prevents you from making progress right now, while a dependency is a task that must be completed by someone else before you can proceed. This means blockers are impediments you’re facing that stop your work, whereas dependencies are external needs or handoffs you’re waiting on to start or continue.

For example, if the API you depend on isn’t ready, that can block you from testing or integrating your feature. If you’re waiting on the design team to finalize mocks before you can proceed with UI work, that’s a dependency you’re awaiting from another party.

The other options aren’t correct because a blocker isn’t necessarily a completed task, blockers aren’t optional to report (they should be raised so the team can help), and blockers and dependencies aren’t the same thing since one is an impediment and the other is a required input from someone else.