Meetings generally have a bad reputation in almost every organization. Employees hate them because they seem pretty pointless, while managers loathe them because of all the preparation that goes into holding one.
However, one meeting that stands out from the rest is the daily huddle. Also known as pre-shift or stand-up, huddles are short meetings designed to discuss any pressing issues or tasks before the start of the day. Daily huddles are conducted by team leaders who ensure everyone is on the same page.
Why Embrace The Daily Huddle?
As a young entrepreneur, daily huddles may seem like a waste of time that you’d rather spend closing policies. But, huddles are one of the most effective tools for reinforcing your company’s culture.
Whether you’re a team leader or part of a team, huddles provide an effective and consistent communication channel that helps build and nurture a culture of trust and mutual respect. These huddles not only ensure your team is confident and prepared, but it also ensures you’re aware of as much information as possible to maximize healthy, meaningful engagement with clients and prospects.
Without daily huddles, your team may not handle rapid growth, affecting work performance and productivity. Luckily, you can use huddles to keep your team up-to-date with new developments so that they can be more prepared to take on more responsibility.
Unlike weekly meetings, daily huddles ensure you can disseminate information quickly. For instance, if an issue arises in the evening, you can address it the next morning during your huddle, taking control of the problem before it escalates.
Most organizations use daily huddles to share information among team members in place of longer and less frequent team meetings. According to studies, 92% of individuals work on other tasks during regular meetings because they tend to be unnecessarily long. Alternatively, daily huddles are short meetings, usually taking only about 15 meetings.
A daily huddle is also more focused, and most teams have no more than three topics. These include:
• Share critical updates
• Reinforce the company’s culture
• Identify any issues
This makes them more effective than meetings, which normally tend to have no focused agenda.
Huddles and Team Motivation
Your employees benefit significantly from an activity that provides a transition from the mindset they “brought to work” to the mindset your insurance agency would like them to bring to clients and prospects. And the daily huddle gives your team this transition, allowing them to shift their work mentality before talking to customers.
Additionally, since daily huddles are conducted at the start of the day, they provide the perfect opportunity to encourage, appreciate, and motivate your team. This improves their productivity throughout the day.
However, for an effective daily huddle, outline the number of topics you wish to discuss and keep them brief. This can be upcoming events, staff questions, social media activity, and reviews. How often you conduct your daily huddle is up to you and your team. Some organizations hold them daily while others twice or thrice a week.
Ultimately, if you want your team to embrace teamwork, increase efficiency, and succeed, you need to embrace the daily huddle.