In today’s fast-paced hybrid world, it can be challenging to keep track of everything that needs to be done in a day. Whether it’s work-related tasks or personal responsibilities, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of things that need to be accomplished. More so, when you’re working with a team. Daily huddles are an essential part of many organizations’ agile operations.
What a Typical Daily Huddle Looks Like
Agile has caught up beyond software development and has been adopted in other industries. A daily huddle (or daily scrum) is a short meeting that usually lasts between 10 and 15 minutes, where team members come together to discuss their priorities, progress, and any potential roadblocks. While the exact format of a daily huddle may vary depending on the team and its goals, a team leader utilizes the daily huddle to achieve the following:
Building a sense of accountability
Agile teams are self-organizing and it is up to the lead to support the team with focus and execution. By understanding what each team member is working on (and is about to work on), the team leader can ensure that everyone is aligned with the team’s goals and objectives.
Understanding the capacity of their team
Team leaders can get a better understanding of their team’s workload and help distribute tasks more evenly. This can help prevent stress and ensure that each team member has the time and resources they need to succeed.
Brainstorming and helping each other with blockers
During the huddle, team members can discuss any potential roadblocks or challenges they are facing and work together to find solutions.
Cons of a Typical Huddle
While daily huddles can be a valuable tool for improving team productivity and collaboration, there are common issues that can arise and hinder the effectiveness of these meetings:
Trying to do multiple things at once within a short period of time
It can be challenging to cover all of the necessary topics and address any concerns or issues within the limited time frame of a daily huddle. As a result, team members may feel rushed, and important details may be overlooked or forgotten.
Lack of preparation by some team members
If team members are not adequately prepared for the meeting, they may not be able to contribute fully to the discussion, or they may not be aware of their priorities for the day. This can lead to confusion and a lack of focus, which can ultimately hinder the overall team’s productivity.
Introverted members getting dominated by others
This can be a problem since everyone’s input is important, and the team should be working together to solve problems and prioritize tasks. It is important for the team to ensure that all members have an opportunity to speak and contribute to the discussion.
How to make Daily Huddles awesome
In our team, we have made our daily huddles effective by enabling us to prepare and share our plans each day, thereby switching our huddles from a boring talkfest to thoughtful interactions that actually help each other and add value.
Use a shared schedule with the team
The sharing feature in #stratapp allows multiple users to view teammates’ capacity, to-dos and priorities simultaneously, ensuring that everyone is on the same page when it comes to focusing. This takes care of cons 1 and 2 above. Although #stratapp allows you to manage your work and personal priorities and to-do’s in one app, it removes the personal stuff when you share your day with your team.
Jump straight to the value-adding aspectÂ
The best use of a leader’s time is by supporting their team with blockers. While it is useful to celebrate small wins and what the team has done from the previous days, longer time must be dedicated to brainstorming.
With stratappsaas.com, organizations can reimagine their daily huddles by increasing accountability, transparency and collaboration. By using Stratappsaas.com in daily huddles, teams can have more meaningful discussions, identify issues more quickly, and make decisions more effectively.
