How To Run Your Company Huddle

A source of employee dissatisfaction is ALWAYS a lack of communication. It’s in the top three complaints your team has. I guarantee it. Your team wants more info than you give.

Inevitably you’ve tried a weekly team meeting. You put it on the calendar.

The first one was a resounding success. You had so much to say that the meeting ran into overtime.

The second meeting wasn’t bad, but the content dropped.

By the third meeting, you struggled to scrape together enough to fill the time. You shifted to monthly as a compromise.

Within four months the meeting was gone from everyone’s calendar. Or worse yet, it has continued as a painful time waster spent reviewing long to-do lists.

Think about this. For a team of 25, a one hour meeting is costing you at least $1k. That’s $50k a year!

A shoddy company-wide meeting reflects directly on you. It damages your leadership cred. On the flip side, if you’re not bringing the team together and keeping them up-to-date, you’re wearing that too.

Looking for a solution that works? Here’s a PROVEN RECIPE FOR SUCCESS. One of my clients has been using this exact formula religiously, every week, for five years. Their employee satisfaction is off the charts positive.

Freebie: Take a peek at—or feel free to copy—this example meeting template

Use the time to maximum benefit— You can achieve a ton in 25 minutes with a solid schedule.

Here’s a sample to get you started: 

Embrace these four philosophies to rock your weekly meetings.

1. Weekly without fail — Pick a time that works and NEVER move it. Steer clear of Mondays and Fridays to avoid public holidays and personal vacation days. The meeting goes, whether you are there or not (You should be there at least 75% of the time). Set the expectation that everyone needs to schedule around this meeting.
2. Keep it tight — Irrespective of the size of your team, this meeting should run less than 25 minutes. If you can’t keep it on schedule, something’s not working. You will start losing the support of your busy team.
3. Depend on rhythm — This meeting works or fails based on rhythm. Create a template, make sure everyone knows it, and stick to it.
4. Keep it fun — If there isn’t a good dose of laughter every week, be concerned. These meetings should be fun. It’s a time for the team to connect. Keep it light.

That’s the time tested recipe and here are the critical ingredients.

Define a meeting owner

Someone needs to own this meeting. Often it’s an EA, receptionist or office manager. This person has a few critical responsibilities. Two days before the huddle, they send a reminder email to the host and presenting departments.

Before the meeting they collect presentations and compile them into one document. On the day of the meeting, they make sure the space is ready, IT equipment is working, and music is playing.

During the meeting they take notes of what’s said. Within 60 minutes they send those notes and the presentation to the entire company. Anyone who missed the meeting is back in the loop within an hour.

Start time

Set a standard start time for your meeting and be specific. My client starts their meeting at 1:07 SHARP every Wednesday and ends by 1:30. Why 1:07? Meetings scheduled for the top of the hour will start late. Period. Midday is good for spanning time zones. Early morning meetings infringe on your team’s work-life-balance. Late afternoon meetings will be lower in energy. Choose a time that works and stick to it.

Pump the music

About 3 minutes before the start time, pump music through the office. It builds energy and provides a friendly reminder. The meeting host picks the music for the week.

It’s a standing meeting

Any team member capable must stand. This is a quick huddle not a lingering social event.

Rotate the meeting host

There are so many benefits to having someone different host each week. Here are four. The host gets to practice their public speaking and gets some visibility. No two meetings are the same. As the team grows, everyone gets to know everyone else. Most important, the meeting can always run even if you are away.

Remote employees

Everything I’ve shared is perfect when your team is in one place. This is often not the case. Technology is the answer. Buy a portable video camera and microphone and broadcast the meeting using [insert your favorite tool here]. Have someone watch the computer so remote team members can type in questions.

Large vs small teams

If your team is small (under 10), find ways to have everyone take part in every meeting. Keep it short. Have everyone share one good news story or their single biggest priority for the next 5 days. For larger teams, impromptu is better. Everyone has an opportunity to speak but doesn’t need to.

Daily vs weekly meetings

Some companies use short (less than 10 min) daily meetings rather than longer weekly ones. Everything here still applies with two changes. Use the same host for an entire week and break the larger agenda down into smaller, shorter pieces.

Give it a try. I’d love to hear your success stories. If you hit some bumps, contact me and I’ll share more tips to get things on track.

Also worth a read:

1. Productive Meetings: Master class by Dave Kashen
2. 4 Tips for Making Sure Meetings Don’t Get In The Way Of Running A Business
3. A Simple Trick for Less Awkward, More Effective One-on-One Meetings

Also shared on HackerNoon