According to Verne Harnish in his bestselling book, “Mastering the Rockefeller Habits” regular daily meetings is crucial to a company’s success.
Team Huddles are short 15-minute meetings where each team member shares their number one priority of the day and important updates. These meetings keep team members informed of important information, help hold people accountable, and allow for sharing of collective intelligence. This is not the time to solve problems, however sharing issues or priorities with the team will lead to sharing of ideas and solutions by others once the meeting is over.
The benefits of team huddles is clear, however there are additional side benefits. By holding huddles on a regular basis, it will create a sense of unity and create a positive culture with open communication.
Here are a few Team Huddle tips:
1. Facilitator. It is important to have a meeting facilitator (not necessarily the team leader) that can keep the meeting on track and on time.
2. Timing. Huddles should start and end at the same time every day, and should not exceed 15 minutes. First thing in the morning often works best as it gives members a chance to share their priority for that day.
3. Clarity. Allows team members to understand who is doing what and how it fits in with the vision of the organization. This also helps to clarify expectations of team members.
4. Be present. It is very important for all team members to be present (either physically present or by phone). Also, each team member should speak each day.
5. Standing. To help keep these huddles quick, all team members should stand throughout the meeting.
6. Vision. This is a great opportunity each day to speak to the vision even if it is just using the language of the vision throughout the huddle.
When huddles are used correctly they can help create a sense of cohesion, drive accountability, and lead to superior results.