Business Tips: The 7 S's of Incredible Morning Huddles

The 7 S’s of Incredible Morning Huddles

Successful managers know how to set the stage each day to prepare their teams to meet their goals. That begins with the morning huddle. 

Follow these seven essential steps and you’ll get your team prepared for the day with the right mindset.

Strategise

1  Effective huddles should last no more than 5-7 minutes – but they still require preparation and planning. Don’t wing it. Take a few minutes the night before or in the morning to outline your objectives and meet with other managers to make sure you’re on the same page.

2 Consider using a prop or visual aid. Example:  Bring a horseshoe. Ask, “What do you think of when you see this horseshoe?” Who’s had some good luck lately? What strategy did you use to make luck happen?”

3 Vary the format and responsibilities. Some days break into teams, some days ask for individual responses. Assign leadership to different people, in part or in whole, as huddle captains.

Set the tone

1  Start the meeting with music and get the blood pumping. Literally! Physical activity influences the mental and emotional approach for the day.

2 Consider starting with a great quote (e.g. Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. – Charles Swindoll). You might like to send a quote out the night before to get your staff thinking.

Spotlight individual and team successes

1  Recognize winners from the day before and celebrate their achievements with their peers in the room.

2 Consider asking what led to that success to uncover instant best practices.

Support and provide encouragement

1  This is an opportunity to feature the right behaviour/activity.

2 Share values in action. Have people nominate someone else who demonstrated or embodied that value (e.g. success, integrity, caring). 

3 Consider sharing positive comments/emails from customers and other praise that encourages the right behaviours.

Strengthen by overcoming biggest challenges

1  Recognise problems (“What are you hearing on the phones?”). Identify solutions.

2 Use feedback to develop a plan of attack to common objections or hurdles in the sales process.

3 Demonstrate that you personally care for them. Great leaders earn respect by showing they care – why not show this on a daily basis? 

State the focus and goals for the day

1  This is when you get to hit “Reset” and draw up your play for the day.

2 Go around the room asking for a unique response to the question of the day (“What do you want to achieve today?”).

3  Create accountability and buy-in by getting staff to express their personal goal for the day.

Stimulate emotions with celebration & inspiration

1  Target at least one thing to get into people’s hearts.

2 Challenge them with a question like “What will you do today to get better?”

3 How we feel that day influences what we think and do.

4 Gathering for the huddle is a way for the staff to get into their starting blocks. Staff know that when the huddle is dismissed – it’s time to seize the day.

What are your essentials for a morning huddle?

Another Thought: Why should YOU lead team huddles?

• Gather: It’s important to bring the group together; to build community.
• Game plan: Your team needs to identify issues and strategies to overcome.
• Motivate: Sales is a motivation game.
• Play it.

Blindingly Obvious (BO): The Problem is RARELY the Problem

The problem is RARELY the problem.

The response to the problem invariably ends up being the real problem.

Or more correctly, the lacklustre RESPONSE to the problem is invariably the real problem.

More often than not the underlying problem is not much of a problem.

Perception is all there is!!

Answer? Slavishly adhere to these two response commandments:        

   OVERKILL THE RESPONSE

   PROVIDE UNEQUIVOCAL APOLOGY

Blindingly Obvious: An adjective describing something that is so plain to see that it is easily overlooked.

Note: Not to be confused with someone who's obviously blind!

Motivational Monday: Focus On Getting Better, Rather Than Being Good

Focus On Getting Better, Rather Than Being Good

Believing you have the ability to reach your goals is important, but so is believing you can get the ability. Many of us believe that our intelligence, our personality, and our physical aptitudes are fixed — that no matter what we do, we won’t improve. As a result, we focus on goals that are all about proving ourselves, rather than developing and acquiring new skills.

Fortunately, decades of research suggest that the belief in fixed ability is completely wrong — abilities of all kinds are profoundly malleable. Embracing the fact that you can change will allow you to make better choices, and reach your fullest potential.

People whose goals are about getting better, rather than being good, take difficulty in stride, and appreciate the journey as much as the destination.

Time to Give Your Brain a Workout

Think of your brain as a muscle: It gets stronger with exercise. 

Your everyday mental tasks are like walking, but how about a real workout? 

Try this simple exercise to boost your brain power and clear away the fog of forgetfulness.

Stimulate brain acuity with self-massage!

To improve concentration and memory try this self-massage that stimulates two easy-to-find acupressure points on your neck at the base of the skull. 

• Cross your hands behind you with the palms cradling the back of your head, your thumbs in the grooves on each side of your neck, and your index fingers crossing one another below the skull, just above the thumbs.
• Sit in a chair, lean your head back, and let it rest against the pressure of your thumbs and index fingers. 
• Slowly inhale deeply through your nose and exhale through your mouth, letting your whole body relax.
• Do this for three to five minutes. 

You'll increase blood flow to the brain and at the same time relax the neck muscles, which often tense up in response to stress, constricting blood vessels in the area.

Blindingly Obvious (BO): To Succeed Sooner You Need To Fail Faster

Fail Faster

Fail faster to succeed sooner.


Fail. Fail again. Fail better.

Too often ideas just stay as ideas. Thinking or talking about an idea doesn't make it into a real thing.

Showing people a rough working model gives them permission to give you honest, sometimes brutal, feedback. They don't think you have spent hours labouring so they don't worry that they might hurt your feelings. In most cases people find it vey easy to tell you what is wrong with something.

If you show them a seemingly perfect solution straight off they will just say a cursory, "Yeah, that is good" and what will you have learned?

By giving ourselves permission to not get it right the first time, to fail, and being unafraid to ask for feedback we can start on the path to success.


REWARD excellent failures. IGNORE mediocre successes. PUNISH passivity.

Blindingly Obvious: An adjective describing something that is so plain to see that it is easily overlooked.

Note: Not to be confused with someone who's obviously blind!