Huddle Up To Drive Team Success

The powerful tools in the HR toolbox

High-performance teams use positive practices to build strong collaborative cultures and high-quality connections among team members. HR leaders aid this process by introducing team tools that produce results.

The huddle is one of these tools. It comes in three forms: impromptu huddles, formal huddles, and the daily standup. Each one is an opportunity to tap collec¬tive resources for new perspectives, ideas, and solutions. Huddles create psychologically safe spaces to ask for help—and as a result, they improve productivity, problem-solving, and both individual and organizational learning.

The impromptu huddle is an informal gathering, called spontaneously when you’re on a tight deadline and need something quickly, or when you’re ¬stuck on a problem or need to move a stalled project forward. For example, when a designer at IDEO gets stuck or needs to brainstorm, the designer will quickly gather a group of fellow designers for an impromptu huddle, asking for input, advice, ideas, and so on. Impromptu huddles should be short, typically no more than 15 minutes, so that the session doesn’t impose on everyone’s schedule and work commitments. 

A formal huddle is similar to an impromptu one, but it is regularly scheduled session, normally once a week on the same day and time. Participants are expected to bring urgent problems and questions, asking for help and advice. For example, department leaders at one large manufacturing company implemented a daily leader¬ship huddle that always covers safety, recognition, urgent issues, as well as an open round table in which people make and grant requests. Formal huddles are typically longer in duration than impromptu huddles but should not be longer than one hour.

The daily standup is a regular gathering every day at the same time. For example, at software development firm Menlo Innovations, programmers and managers hold a standup everyday day at 10 AM. Menlonians (and clients or visitors, if they are there) assemble in a circle, and each person describes what they worked on yesterday, what they are working on today, and what help they need. Help is given after the standup is over. Standups are quick. Menlo completes each one in less than thirteen minutes—even with a group of 50 to 60 participants.

Impromptu huddles, formal huddles, and standups are powerful tools in the HR toolbox. Encourage your teams to run the experiment: Select a tool and use it for at least 30 – 45 days. The results will inevitably prove the value of these tools, and teams will continue to use them after the experiment is over.
 
(Adapted from All You Have to Do Is Ask)