What, You want us to meet DAILY???
“I don’t have time for another meeting!!”
“What? Why would we meet every day? We are already talking all the time!”
“It’s boring.”
“The team won’t like it.”
“We already have scrum meetings.”
These, and many others are the usual first responses (excuses) when introducing the idea of the daily huddle.
Yet, I (and as far as I know, all Metronomics coaches) will not compromise on this one. Why? There are a couple of reasons, with various degree of importance, but immense cumulative impact:
Team cohesion
Especially in remote teams, but not only those, having that daily anchor point helps to cement the knowledge we are here together, before we run away to our own screens (or, God forbid, cubicles).
Communication efficiency
Instead of potentially wondering what someone is doing that day, you know what their plan is. It cuts down on ad-hoc communication during the day.
Reaction time
The huddle is a dedicated time to ask for help, which allows the team to react quickly. Much better than trying to get someone’s attention during their normal work day.
Accountability
You say what you will do, then you do what you said you would. If you don’t, especially repeatedly, the patterns will emerge very quickly. The strongest huddle detractors and complainers are often those who hate transparency.
What does an ideal Daily Huddle look like? While some companies successfully implemented a whole team huddle, I believe one of the keys to success is having the right altitude. Every leader huddles with their team first, then the Leadership Team (LT) huddles together. This approach ensures everyone’s contribution is relevant to everyone else in the group. Keeping the huddles smaller also keeps the time short – I recommend 7 minutes. Schedule it for an odd time, ideally preserving the top of the hour afterwards in everyone’s calendars.
The agenda is simple. Quick round robin, and just four points:
- Good News
- What got done yesterday
- My plan for today (top thing to accomplish)
- Any stucks/need for help
Problems don’t get solved during the huddle, but flagged asks for help will get follow up. (“OK, I can help, let’s you and I talk at 10:00 and figure it out”)
Do you have a daily check-in with your immediate team? If not, which of those excuses is stopping YOU?
