A trend I’ve been hearing more about is the daily huddle. It became prevalent during the pandemic when everyone was remote. Managers found this to be a good way to help their employees stay connected with one another and the company, and for the manager to gain a sense of what each employee was working on. Today, five years post-pandemic, many of you continue to run daily huddles, whether your company remains fully remote, hybrid, or fully in the office.
Many of the employees I’ve spoken to find these meetings to be a colossal waste of time. The two primary reasons they offer for this point of view are: first, their work does not intersect substantially with others on their team. Consequently, they typically tune out when their co-workers are speaking as what the person is sharing has no bearing on their work. And, second, their work does not change appreciably from day to day. As one person put it, “my report out might as well be, ‘ditto to what I said yesterday.’”
However, there are some managers who have cracked the code to make these meetings more productive and engaging. Here are the themes that contribute to their success:
- Clearly defined purpose — one manager has titled this calendar invitation “updates from the flight deck.” In his morning huddles, he wants to hear about headwinds and tailwinds. In other words, what successes are contributing to your being ahead of schedule/goal? And, what obstacles are impeding your progress? In framing the meeting this way, he uses it to crowdsource across his team. Could someone learn from a headwind and apply it to their work? Does anyone have ideas on how this person might navigate the tailwind they are facing?
- Brevity — each person on the team gets 3–5 minutes, including the crowdsourcing. That requires everyone to be succinct. It also offers the opportunity for conversations to continue beyond the meeting. For example, if, as the day goes on, I think of an approach that may help a co-worker, I can reach out directly to share it with them. And, if there are no headwinds or tailwinds to report, the person can simply say, “all’s steady from the flight deck.”
- Leverage internal systems — Shared platforms such as Teams, Monday.com, Basecamp, Asana, and the like, allow managers to dive deeper into the project plans and status of any individual’s work and, if appropriate, engage them one-on-one to talk through these details.
One of the most prevalent complaints I hear from managers and employees alike is that there are too many meetings. And, beyond the sheer volume of meetings, there is a frustration with the lack of perceived value to the participants in the meeting. By getting clear about the purpose of the meeting, keeping the meeting as short as possible, and employing systems and processes for more comprehensive dialogues, you can shift these daily meetings from monotonous to momentum-building.
