By Paul Binsfeld, president and founder of Company Nurse, LLC
I can’t start the day without my morning coffee. It’s been vital to my routine since I can remember. Recently, I added something new to my everyday schedule—huddles.
Daily huddles are quick, informative meetings that keep team members on the same page.
Take it from me, they’re even more important than coffee.
Petra Coach, our strategic partner, has developed a successful daily huddle method. Together, we introduced the huddle to Company Nurse.
Our organization quickly adopted daily huddles for both the executive team and for smaller breakouts between departments. It allows for leadership to stay informed about what is happening across the organization and for employees to understand what their priorities are for the day.
At Company Nurse, we all keep busy. And I’m sure the same goes for your own organization. So, taking the time for a meeting, no matter how quick, may seem like it would hinder productivity.
In fact, it’s just the opposite. Because these meetings give everyone in the organization a clear and consistent path, there’s less overlap, fewer mistakes, better direction, and a focus on priorities.
Sounds productive to me.
We hit the following key points each time to ensure our meetings are quick and effective:
What’s Up?
What did you learn yesterday that could benefit your team? Did you hear something about a client or vendor that is relevant to the team? Do any team members deserve recognition for something they did yesterday? Is something happening today that has an impact on your team members? It’s also a great chance for everyone to ask their team members any quick questions they may have—saving them from several back-and-forth emails.
Review Progress
At this point, we take the time to go over our performance indicators to make sure we are on track to fulfill our priorities. This also allows us to look through any unusual trends and analyze their causes.
Discussing our performance with the appropriate teams means we are more likely to get quick and accurate answers about our progress.
Identify Bottlenecks
Considered the most important part of daily huddles, identifying bottlenecks is the chance for team members to let everyone know where they are stuck. This may be an opportunity for a fellow team member to reach out with a solution or explanation of how they might actually be causing this bottleneck and how they can resolve it.
“Identify bottlenecks” also refers to any future roadblocks that may occur. Are we updating our process and suspect adoption time to slow us down for a while? Perhaps we have just hired new team members and we’ll need to set aside time for training them.
If everyone is aware of obstacles—current or future—it becomes much easier to overcome them as a whole.
Top Priority
What is the one, most important thing that you will commit to the team to accomplish today? (May have alignment with Quarterly Priority.) Review your task list, pick the ‘one’ most important thing that must get done and is impactful on the outcome you desire. “Today I will…”
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Since using the “daily huddle” method, I’ve noticed an amazing change throughout our organization. People feel heard and know that they are getting the information they need. The best part of this meeting is that it only lasts 15 minutes. The return on this time investment is priceless.
What methods are you using to communicate with your team?