The Daily (Virtual) “Huddle”

Virtual Team Huddles – Falguni Desai

As employees get used to working from for the next few weeks/months, a daily “huddle” at the start of the day sets them up. Listen to this Vlog to hear how one of my professional services client has implemented this.

The Desai Despatch – Episode 1

Speaker – Jez Kay (JK)
Speaker – Falguni Desai (FD)

(JK) There is a lot that business owners and CEOs and bosses of people have got to think about at the moment.

One of the things is how to manage homeworkers.

That is what they are now, their staff are at home, and so are they, most likely. So, what do they do about that? Can you think of any examples recently where you’ve actually been in that situation with a client advising them? Or listening to their stories, even about something that’s happened to them maybe recently as a result of their staff going home?

(FD) Yes so, I’ve got a professional services client who I’ve been working with for over a year now. Of course, they were all in an office and then suddenly they find themselves working remotely.

Virtual Team Huddles – Falguni Desai: How does their boss make sure that they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing during the working hours of the week?

I suggested that he have a daily huddle with his employees, by which I mean they should just connect with each other first thing in the morning at the same time every morning so that they can, each one of them, go through what they’re going to do that day, what their work-related tasks are going to be. That way, they all feel connected and motivated and they can start the day thinking, OK, I have spoken to everybody and I feel much better I am not just stuck at home in my room.

At the end of the day, what they’ll do is they’ll send a short email to their boss to say “this is what I’ve achieved today“ so that he knows where they’re at with each of their tasks and also, it gives them accountability to say that actually they’re working productively from home.

(JK) And you put all this in place for them. The daily huddle and the accountability email at the end of the day.

(FD) Yes. That is what I suggested. It is working well because, in the beginning, they were trying to find their feet and really thinking “I’ve never worked from home like this before” and “you know how long this is going to go on for“.

Everyone is anxious at the moment, so people just need that reassurance. They need that guidance from their boss, from CEOs just to say, look, I’m here. We can have this huddle in the morning and then if there is anything during the day as well, just drop me an email. It’s making sure that the communication lines are open and they’re open frequently.

(JK) So what do you think we can all learn from this?

(FD) It’s really about keeping employees engaged and feeling motivated as much as possible. And so making sure that they plan what they’re going to do the night before, for the following day.

Read more: Episode 2 – Do you manage a warehouse team?

So that they are working as much as possible as they would in an office environment. You’re just trying to recreate this. It is a little bit artificial, of course, but, have that structure. It’s all about planning and structure. Because otherwise each day is going to blur into the next and the weeks will go by.

What challenges are you having or have you experienced with remote working and how have you kept in regular communication with your employees?

Does this resonate with you? If you would like to book a complimentary, no-obligation, coaching session to discuss this further, please email me at falgunidesai@actioncoach.com