Huddle Up! Daily Team Huddles Improve Communication, Culture

Jan 29, 2015

One of the most effective and efficient things any team can do to improve their communication is to commit to daily huddles. Yes, daily. I’m not talking about formal meetings in the BORED-room, but quick, standing huddles that allow everyone to check in.

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts are legendary for their daily huddles, where VPs review how to fix the previous day’s fumbles and look at how they can offer special service to returning guests or VIPs.

Nurses Next Door hold 7-minute huddles every day at 10:54 a.m., where they review stats, goals and issues. And an afternoon huddle reviews how the day went.

1-800-Got-Junk? daily huddles involving up to 200 employees are motivational and operational in focus. Their 7-minute huddles are built in a room designed specifically for huddling. The huddles are lead on a rotating basis by trained “huddle masters.” They begin each huddle with a good news item, they announce three critical operation numbers, review one department’s activities, identify one thing the company could do better, and end by giving a positive shout out to one employee. The huddles help everyone stay informed and strengthen their culture.

The IT consulting company Citizant holds daily huddles where everyone presents their top priority for the day in 8-15 seconds. The fast-paced huddles cut down on e-mails and help people commit to their goals.

Four quick huddle tips: No chairs allowed; stick to a regular time so they become a tradition; start at an unusual time so people understand that every minute matters; commit to a certain (short) length.

Michael Kerr is recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on the topics of humor in the workplace and workplace culture. www.MikeKerr.com

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Huddle Up! Daily Team Huddles Improve Communication, Culture

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