By David Henzel, co-founder of TaskDrive—We support sales and marketing teams with personalized lead research and outbound campaigns.
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When it’s crunch time and you need to get something accomplished fast, whether it be a new start-up or accelerating on a long-haul project, there is one easy method that both creates momentum and consistently motivates the team, and that is the 15-minute stand-up meeting. Held each workday at a specifically designated time, all team members drop whatever they are doing and connect either in person or online for 15 minutes to discuss completed and ongoing tasks and potential pain points and blockers.
This way the entire team is on board with what everyone is doing for the day and whatever obstacles can be overcome are done so early in the game. This method is a great option to motivate your team to perform at their peak performance.
How It Works
The 15-minute stand-up is a regularly scheduled meeting held among a team of ideally half a dozen members. Generally, the term “stand-up” implies that participants literally stand on their feet throughout the meeting; however in this context, what I refer to is simply a regular daily quarter-hour meeting held either in person, via video conferencing or both.
It doesn’t matter if participants are in the office or not; what is important is that they show up regularly, which is made possible by the short timeframe and the lack of restrictions as to where team members take part in the meeting from.
Top Tips For The Ideal 15-Minute Meeting
If you want to make milestones on any task or project, then meeting up with your team consistently is key. Whether the meeting is held in person or via video conferencing, the most important factor is selecting a time slot that can become part of every team member’s regular work schedule. Simply put, the stand-up meeting should take place at the same time each work day with the exception of days in which longer team meetings take place, such as weekly Level 10 meetings.
Like any team meeting, the stand-up meeting should have a clear agenda, starting with each participant announcing their wins for the week, work or otherwise, and then sharing what they are working on at the moment. This practice brings everyone up to speed with what to expect from their coworkers and when.
The meeting should end with a discussion of any challenges or obstacles any participant might face, which can trickle into an open discussion of potential solutions. While pain points and blockers should take precedence during the stand-up, if the problem is not one that can be solved in a matter of minutes, then a road map should be quickly created to get started on seeking solutions. To keep participants’ energy levels high, it is important to stick to the schedule and not exceed the time slot allotted, so get the ball rolling on alternatives to overcoming blockers or reserve the issue for discussion during a longer weekly meeting.
Tackle obstacles by either delegating the task at hand to those more equipped to deal with it or scheduling an additional meeting among the respective team members. If possible, said meeting could even take place immediately following the stand-up, especially if the problem at hand is something that can be solved right then and there. It can be admittedly hard to secure attendance for every stand-up meeting, but it is easy to set up a group chat where any team members can provide a written update if for some reason they are unable to attend.
How It Helps
The benefits of holding regular short meetings with your team are multifold. Not only does it create accountability—since all tasks, deadlines and hang-ups are openly discussed—the consistent connection among your staff creates transparency and strengthens teamwork. Problems become an expected part of the process, which makes admitting that they exist easier.
Furthermore, by meeting every day, your staff gets to establish strong personal bonds no matter how close or far they are physically—and better yet, the joy of sharing their daily ups and downs with others. It’s hard to believe that designating just 15 minutes of your day to meet with your team is actually the key to driving your employees to gain momentum on any task that needs to be delivered.
