One of the tools we use at Think Productive UK is Verne Harnish’s Daily Huddle, from his excellent book ‘Mastering the Rockefeller Habits’. The Daily Huddle is a 15 minute meeting that can happen either face to face or by conference call. Ours takes place every day at 1.10 and is compulsory for everyone. So even if I’m running a workshop all day, I still make the 15 minutes available to get on the call. We’ve been doing this for well over six months and I could count on one hand the number of times any of us have missed it. The purpose of the Daily Huddle is alignment: to focus everyone on the bigger picture priority and remind us of what’s going well… or needs improvement.
The questions we use are:
– What’s your good news?
– What are you working on?
– Where are we up to with the numbers and targets in the business?
– What are we stuck on?
– Are we OK for tomorrow’s call, is anyone not here tomorrow?
These questions will be broadly the same, whatever it is your team does. So whether you’re a small team in a charity or a multinational corporation, the focus is the same – it just means you need to filter who says what and hears what in the communication loop!
It’s great for bringing everyone together, reminding us what’s most important and encouraging good communication. Try it with your team for a week and let us know how you get on!
You can find more resources on Verne’s website:
Hi Graham
I used this technique a few years ago when leading a Change Support team. The team had a very diverse range of skills and experience and tended to work fairly independently and out and about with the project teams. However, it was critical that we worked to the same goals and targets, knew what each other was achieving or struggling with and, crucially, felt that we were a cohesive unit.
We used to have 10 minutes at 9.15 every day, very similar structure of questions to yours regarding achievements, current / next activities, areas where help was needed. We did quickly become known as ‘the noisy team in the corner’ but we all felt that it was fundamental to our individual and team success and to our sense of wellbeing. Like yourselves we hardly ever missed attendance because it added so much value and our colleagues soon learned to respect that time as ‘sacred’.
I’ve used variations on this in a number of organisations and environments since and would recommend everyone to give it a go.
Kind Regards
Bev Maxted
Open to Change Ltd
Graham – very refreshing to hear the similarities and alignment both or our organizations get from the Daily Huddle. We run ours from 8:03 to 8:18 and it makes for a tremendous start to the day, especially from a rhythm perspective.
We’re able to touch on all three of the core principles right out of the gate – Data (we share full financial numbers and goals); Rhythm (we stand up and roll through our what’s up highlights from yesterday and today for 22 people!); Priorities (progress on our 3 rocks and top priority of the day).
Thanks for sharing and “rock” on! David
Great video – thanks for sharing!
We implemented a Daily Huddle at the start of the year, and have found it hugely beneficial for keeping everybody on track.
The simple question “What are you working on?” helps focus people’s minds on whether they’re prioritising what is important, or simple working on whatever they find lands on their desk – very important to identify.