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Async Stand-ups: Status Updates People Can Act On – the future perfect and be due to for ETAs

The future perfect and be due to in status updates are what this C1 English for IT lesson plan teaches.

Grammar
The future continuous (Will you be joining the merchant call?), the future perfect for work done by a deadline, and be due to, be set to and on track to for what's scheduled or on plan.
Topic
Async standups across three time zones at a fictional payments startup, with words such as ETA, blocker, heads-up and ship behind a flag.
Activities
A morning of standup posts to read, a call about an ETA, self-checking drills, a chat and a wheel of updates, then an update to write and a standup to record.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: The Stand-up That Never Meets

    • PictureUnlock
    • Open a box and discussOpen the boxUnlock
    • Study the words for async teamworkVocabularyTry it
    • Match the beginnings and endings of the messagesMatchUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Reading: #dashboard-standup

    • Read about the people at Kestrel CloudNotesUnlock
    • Read the #dashboard-standup channelReal-life documentTry it
    • True or false? Check the stand-up updatesTrue or falseUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: read between the linesQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Listening: Can I Promise Thursday?

    • Listen to Sofia and Daniel's callListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer about the callQuizUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: In Progress, Done or Scheduled?

    • Study the scheme: future forms for status updatesGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct option: deadlines and plansChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with the future continuous or the future perfectFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Fill in the table: in progress or done?Fill in the tableTry it
    • Drag the words into the gaps: small words, big differenceDrag and dropUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: what does it really mean?QuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Speaking: ETAs People Can Act On

    • Choose Sofia's best replies to DanielChatTry it
    • Spin the wheel and give your updateSpin the wheelUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework: Tomorrow's Update, Today

    • Choose the correct option: Sofia's launch-day updateChoose the optionUnlock
    • Find the matching pairs: phrases and meaningsMemory gameUnlock
    • Write your async update for tomorrowWriting, checked by the teacherUnlock
    • Record a stand-up for a colleague in another time zoneSpeaking, checked by the teacherUnlock

23 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Vocabulary

10 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+7 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • dependency
  • heads-up
  • slip
  • ship behind a flag
  • roll back
  • loop someone in
  • ping someone

Grammar: future forms for status updates

A status update is only as useful as its future forms: readers need to know what will be under way, what will be finished and what is scheduled. Learners pick the form that tells people what to plan around, from I'll be pushing the fix to I'll have pushed the fix and The beta is due to go live on Thursday.

In progress, done, or scheduled?

Pick the future form that tells people exactly what they can plan around.

Push, be pushing or have pushed?

Take one moment: a colleague logs on in San Francisco. I'll push the fix means you log on first; I'll be pushing the fix means I'm in the middle of it; I'll have pushed the fix means it's done before you arrive.

…I'll push the fix.

  • will + verb
  • You log on first. Then I push the fix.

…I'll be pushing the fix.

  • will be + -ing
  • I'm in the middle of it when you log on.

…I'll have pushed the fix.

  • will have + past participle
  • It's already done when you log on.

Future continuous: in progress at a future time

Will be + -ing shows an action in progress at a future moment: At 9:00 tomorrow, Tom will be watching the canary. As a question, it asks about plans without sounding like a request: Will you be joining the merchant call?

willbeverb + -ing

I'll be pairing with Rui all afternoon, so expect slow replies.

At 9:00 tomorrow, Tom will be watching the canary.

Will you be joining the merchant call? (a polite question about plans)

Future perfect: done before a deadline

Will have + past participle promises work finished by a future point: By Friday, we'll have migrated 80% of the dashboards. Its continuous form, which learners only need to recognize, measures time up to that point: By March, I'll have been working on this for a year.

Future perfect: done before a deadline

willhavepast participle

By Friday, we'll have migrated 80% of the dashboards.

By the time you log on, I'll have pushed the fix.

Just to recognize: future perfect continuous

will have been + -ing says how long something will have been going on at a future point: By March, I'll have been working on this for a year.

Due to, set to, on track to, about to

Four phrases say where a plan stands: be due to (scheduled), be set to (arranged and ready), be on track to (on plan) and be about to (very soon). Each takes the base verb, but on track for takes a noun: We're on track for Thursday.

PhraseMeaningExample
be due to + verbit's scheduled or expectedThe beta is due to go live on Thursday.
be set to + verbit's arranged and ready to happenThe flag is set to flip at 9 a.m. Chicago time.
be on track to + verbprogress matches the planWe're on track to ship on Thursday.
be on track for + nounprogress matches the planWe're on track for Thursday.
be about to + verbit will happen very soonI'm about to merge. Give me two minutes.
be likely / unlikely to + verbit probably will / won't happenRefunds are unlikely to make it into the beta.

By the time you log on: present, not will

After by the time, when, once, as soon as and until, the future takes the present: Ping me as soon as the PR is merged. And by marks a deadline, until a duration: Tom is on call until Sunday.

Time clauses: present, not will

After by the time, when, once, as soon as and until, use the present simple (or the present perfect) for the future: By the time you log on, I'll have pushed the fix. Ping me as soon as the PR is merged.

by or until?

by = no later than (a deadline)

  • I'll have finished the refunds view by Wednesday.
  • Send me your ETA by 2 p.m.

until = all the time up to then (a duration)

  • Tom is on call until Sunday.
  • Priya won't be online until 11 a.m. Chicago time.

Typical mistakes

  • The beta is due going live on Thursday.

    The beta is due to go live on Thursday.

    be due to + base verb

  • By the time you will log on, I'll have pushed the fix.

    By the time you log on, I'll have pushed the fix.

    No will after by the time, when, once, as soon as or until.

  • I'll have finished the migration until Friday.

    I'll have finished the migration by Friday.

    A deadline takes by; until is for a duration.

  • We're on track to delivery on Thursday.

    We're on track to deliver on Thursday.

    on track to + verb, but on track for + noun: on track for delivery.

More lessons on this grammar: Future tenses lessons and exercises

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What's in the lesson

  • 11 auto-checked exercises
  • 3 games
  • 2 teacher-checked tasks
  • 1 real-life document
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 1 audio clip
  • 1 picture
  • 1 note
  • 1 transcript

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • write an async standup update with what's done, what's next, blockers and an ETA: ETA for the merge: noon Wednesday, Chicago time.
  • describe work in progress at a future moment: At 9:00 tomorrow, Tom will be watching the canary.
  • promise finished work with the future perfect and by: By Friday, we'll have migrated 80% of the dashboards.
  • say where a plan stands with be due to, be set to and be about to: The flag is set to flip at 9 a.m. Chicago time.

Lesson 1 of English for IT C1 · Across the Company opens the unit Talking to the team, which covers async updates, code review and explaining tech to people outside IT. It revisits the future continuous and future perfect of English for IT B2 lesson 2 and adds be due to, be set to and be on track to; the next lesson moves on to hedging in code review. With no daily call across three time zones, the written update is the meeting, so every future form has to be exact.

The warm-up starts with a box of questions about standups and ETAs, then ten words for async teamwork, from heads-up and blocker to loop someone in, with pictures and audio, and messages to match. Students read the team's standup channel, where one vague post (should be done soon) sits among precise ones, and hear Sofia tell Daniel what he can promise merchants, in an AI-voiced call. After the scheme come five self-checking drills, among them a table that splits in progress from done. In the speaking chapter, students answer Daniel as Sofia in a chat, then spin a wheel and give updates aloud.

Homework pairs two self-checking exercises, Sofia's launch-day update with forms to choose and a memory game of phrases and their meanings, with two tasks the teacher reviews: tomorrow's async update for a teammate eight hours behind, and a spoken standup for a colleague in another time zone.

Grammar:
future continuous · future perfect · be due to / be set to / be on track to
Topic:
async stand-ups · status updates · remote teams · time zones

Teaching tips

  • Rewrite the vague post together: turn still working on stuff, should be done soon into an update with a time, a time zone and one future perfect, such as By 3 p.m. Chicago time, I'll have…
  • Put three clocks on the board, for San Francisco, Chicago and New York, and have students restate each ETA in the reader's time, as the chat does: 9 a.m. Chicago, so 7 a.m. for you.
  • Mark one moment on a timeline, a colleague logging on, and ask where will push, will be pushing and will have pushed fall: after it, across it or before it.
  • One-to-one, play the product manager: ask What will you have finished by Thursday morning? about the learner's real project, and keep asking until the answer has a time, a time zone and one risk.

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The whole course: English for IT C1 · Across the Company

15 lessons at C1 for people who build software, in American English, with definitions instead of translations. The people of Kestrel Cloud, a fictional payments startup, write updates, reviews, RFCs and postmortems, explain tech to non-tech colleagues and negotiate scope. Real cases include the CrowdStrike outage and the xz backdoor.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Talking to the team

    async updates, code review and plain explanations: the future perfect, hedging, cleft sentences

    1. Lesson 1 · you're hereAsync Stand-ups: Status Updates People Can Act OnFuture forms for status updates
    2. Lesson 2Code Review Without the DramaHedging in code review
    3. Lesson 3Explaining Tech to Non-Tech PeopleIt-clefts and wh-clefts

  2. Unit 2 Shipping and incidents

    estimates, releases and outages: conditionals without if, phrasal verbs, modal perfects

    1. Lesson 4Estimates, Deadlines and Saying No (Politely)Conditionals without if and mixed conditionals
    2. Lesson 5Release Day: Rolling Out and Rolling BackPhrasal verbs and their noun forms
    3. Lesson 6Incident! Learning from the CrowdStrike OutageModal perfects and narrative tenses

  3. Unit 3 Security and design

    advisories, trade-offs and RFCs: passive reporting structures, concession and contrast, nominalization

    1. Lesson 7Security Advisory: The xz BackdoorPassive reporting structures
    2. Lesson 8System Design: Every Choice Has a CostConcession, contrast and modified comparatives
    3. Lesson 9Writing an RFC That Gets ApprovedNominalization and formal register

  4. Unit 4 Docs, metrics and meetings

    READMEs, dashboards and follow-ups: participle clauses, describing trends, reporting verbs

    1. Lesson 10Docs People Actually ReadReduced relative clauses and participle clauses
    2. Lesson 11Metrics, Dashboards and SLOsPrepositions with numbers, trends and approximation
    3. Lesson 12Meeting Notes and Follow-upsReporting verbs and their patterns

  5. Unit 5 Retros, interviews and AI

    looking back and ahead: wish and would rather, inversion, formal obligation and permission

    1. Lesson 13The Retro: What Went Wrong This QuarterWish, would rather and it's high time
    2. Lesson 14The Interview: Selling Your AchievementsInversion for emphasis
    3. Lesson 15AI at Work: Writing the Team's RulesObligation and permission in formal rules

Questions about this lesson

How do you use the future perfect in a status update?
In a status update, the future perfect promises work that will be finished by a deadline: will have + past participle, usually with by. By the end of this sprint, Rui will have closed all twelve of his tickets. I'll have finished the refunds view by 6 p.m. Wednesday, Chicago time. It tells readers what will already be done when they look, which is what they plan around. Across time zones, add the zone to every deadline.
What does "be due to" mean?
Be due to + a base verb means something is scheduled or expected to happen: The beta is due to go live on Thursday. The CSV export for refunds is due to follow next week. It's firmer than might but softer than a promise. Keep the base verb: is due to go, never is due going. In Async Stand-ups: Status Updates People Can Act On, a C1 lesson on edio.ai, it gives a teammate's merge time on a call.
What does "be set to" mean?
Be set to + a verb means something is arranged and ready to happen: The flag is set to flip at 9 a.m. Chicago time. The old dashboard is set to shut down at the end of the quarter. Next to be due to, which points at the schedule, it suggests everything is already in place. For something only minutes away, use be about to: I'm about to merge. Give me two minutes.
Is "due to" the same as "because of"?
Before a noun, mostly: due to and because of both give a cause, as in The ETA slipped due to a dependency. Careful writers often keep due to after be (The delay was due to a dependency) and use because of after other verbs. Followed by a verb, though, be due to means scheduled: Rui's change is due to land on main tomorrow at noon. One gives a reason, the other a plan.
Is it "I'll have finished by Friday" or "until Friday"?
It's by Friday, because a deadline takes by: by means no later than, while until means all the time up to then. I'll have finished the refunds view by Wednesday. Tom is on call until Sunday. So the future perfect pairs with by, never until. A negative often takes until, though: Priya won't be online until 11 a.m. A homework drill in Async Stand-ups: Status Updates People Can Act On on edio.ai makes students choose between the two.
Is it "By the time you log on" or "By the time you will log on"?
Say By the time you log on, with the present: time clauses use the present for the future, after by the time, when, once, as soon as and until. By the time you log on, I'll have pushed the fix. I'll ping you as soon as the PR is merged. The will stays in the main clause. Two wrong replies in the chat of Async Stand-ups: Status Updates People Can Act On on edio.ai make exactly this slip.
Is it "on track to" or "on track for"?
Both are right: to takes a verb, for takes a noun. We're on track to ship on Thursday. We're on track for Thursday. Mixing them gives on track to delivery, which is wrong: say on track to deliver or on track for delivery. Both mean progress matches the plan, so they suit an update with no bad news; when a date is at risk, say what it depends on instead.
What does ETA mean?
ETA stands for estimated time of arrival; at work, it means when something is expected to be ready: ETA for the merge: noon Wednesday, Chicago time. When work runs late, the ETA slips: Sorry, team: my ETA has slipped by two days. A useful ETA gives a time, a time zone and any condition, such as if Rui's change is merged by Wednesday noon.
What is an async standup?
An async standup is a standup without the meeting: each person posts an update, usually in writing, and teammates read it in their own time. A useful update covers what's done, what's next, blockers and an ETA: Done: staging is on the new cluster. Next: canary config for the beta, ready by 6 p.m. Wednesday, New York time. Blockers: none. Vague posts such as should be done soon defeat the point.
How do you practice future forms for status updates with an in-company group?
Start from the team's real tickets: each learner writes tomorrow's update with one future continuous, one future perfect and one of be due to, be set to or be on track to. Colleagues then ask follow-ups such as Will you be watching the release? A wheel of prompts adds pressure: Your ETA has just slipped by two days. Announce it to your product manager.
What's good homework for practicing ETAs?
An update for a reader who is asleep makes every future form count: what you'll be doing while they sleep, what you'll have finished by the time they log on, and what's due next. Async Stand-ups: Status Updates People Can Act On, a C1 lesson on edio.ai, has a choice drill and a memory game that check themselves, while the written async update and a recorded standup for a colleague in another time zone go to the teacher.
Are there interactive exercises for "be due to" and status updates?
Yes: self-checking tables and chats show at once whether a form fits. Without an account, this page plays four parts of Async Stand-ups: Status Updates People Can Act On, a C1 English for IT lesson on edio.ai: the team's standup channel, Sofia and Daniel's call about the beta, a table of six verbs to fill in as in progress or done, and a chat in which students reply to Daniel as Sofia. The rest of the lesson is locked.
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