The Power of Daily Team Huddles

Today I want to discuss something I'm deeply passionate about—a topic that consistently emerges in my coaching sessions: the transformative impact of team huddles.

Note: If you are not having daily huddles with your team, you are missing out on some very powerful time to connect with your team.? there is no better way to make sure your team is on pace throughout the day. It allows you to make corrections when necessary and keep everyone’s energy and spirits up all day long.?

Rather than trying to convince you to start implementing team huddles, I am going to give you ideas on how to take your team huddles to the next level. Whether you are doing team huddles on a weekly or daily basis, these tips are going to make that time really powerful and super effective.?

Now, you know me- I’m not a big sports person, but I love using sports analogies. When you see your sports team come out onto the field, you’ll notice they all come together. They don’t arrive at the stadium with just enough time to get dressed up. No- they arrive hours before so that they have plenty of time to get themselves situated and ready to be fully present for and fully participate in the pre-game huddle.?

So let’s start there: THE MORNING HUDDLE

The Morning Huddle: Setting the Day's Trajectory

The morning huddle is your baseline requirement. These morning gatherings establish the day's tone, so ensure they're positive, energetic, and encouraging. Focus exclusively on your strategy for "winning" the day. This isn't the occasion for addressing problems or discussing challenges. Just as professional athletes arrive well before game time, your team members should arrive early enough to fully participate in the huddle.

Another important note is to make sure that your morning huddle has structure. If you haven’t read the book “Meetings Suck” by Cameron Herold, I highly recommend it. It talks about the reason people hate meetings most is when the meeting has no structure. Some ideas to add to your meetings: What’s happening in the schedule today. What are today’s goals

And let’s be clear- the morning huddle is not for you or your team. It is for your clients! They will feel the difference when they walk into the room and feel the positive energy flowing.?

The Afternoon Huddle: Your Strategic Mid-Day Reset

The afternoon (post-lunch) huddle functions as your half-time strategy session. Whether you're behind schedule or exceeding expectations, this huddle allows you to analyze the morning's performance and course-correct to finish strong. Sometimes all it takes to turn a rough day around is a few minutes to regroup, reconnect and adjust as necessary. Oftentimes when things aren’t going well, frustrations and stress mount and build on each other. Breaking that all up with a team huddle can allow your team members to put a stop to that buildup and start fresh with the kind of positive energy we all want.?

The Evening Huddle: Reflection and Forward Planning

The end-of-day huddle might be my favorite. I love this time at the end of the day when you and the team can get together to talk about the day. How did it go? Bring out the scoreboard and see how many wins you got during the day. You cannot grow if you don’t measure your progress. This is your opportunity to point out the great things you saw. Get everyone jazzed about coming in the next day. Make plans for tomorrow- who may be out of the office?? How will you compensate for the missing team member? This is a great opportunity to plan ahead so surprises don’t throw off your team’s groove. Make assignments that coincide with your core values.?

Returning to our sports analogy—professional athletes don't leave before the game concludes simply because they're tired. No! They wait for the game to finish and check out the score. They take time to look at who won. They leave the field as a team. If you need to make adjustments to the schedule so everyone is done at the same time, do it!

Hold up- am I saying you should have three different team huddles every day? YES! Yes, I am. Am I crazy? Maybe. But I have seen the results with my clients time and again and believe me when I tell you, you want those kinds of results!?

I know what you’re thinking. Without fail, when I teach a new office about this principle I always get some pushback. Maybe you are thinking some of these things too: I don’t want to pay overtime. I have people who need to get to their families. People don’t want to get stuck in the traffic.?

?None of these excuses trump the importance of you holding team huddles.? I promise if you make the effort to make this an office habit, it will become easier and easier. If you need to work up to 3 huddles a day, do that. Start with one and move on from there. But start! I guarantee this practice will be something that will help everyone win.