The Art of the Huddle

How to run a prompt, productive, and painless morning meeting.

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Every weekday at 9:30 a.m. sharp, the executive team at Bishop-Wisecarver, a Pittsburg, California, manufacturing company, files into the boardroom. They stand around the table; no sitting allowed. Then rat-a-tat-tat--each fires off a brief synopsis of the items on his or her frontmost burner. If the controller reports trouble with a vendor, president Pamela Kan promises to intercede. If the sales director says a client has requested a custom product, the team quickly decides whether it's worth pursuing. Ten minutes later all are back in the office armed with the information necessary to barrel efficiently through their days.

Bishop-Wisecarver is one of many companies embracing daily micromeetings--affectionately called "huddles" or "check-ins"--as a way to keep everyone moving in sync. A vintage business tool practiced everywhere from Capital One (NYSE:COF) to the Ritz-Carlton, huddles got a boost in the small-business community from Verne Harnish, who proclaimed them a must-do for growth companies in his 2002 book Mastering the Rockefeller Habits. Short daily meetings, in Harnish's view, keep companies focused on the same strategic goals, ensure timely answers to pressing questions, and enforce accountability because everyone knows what everyone else is up to.

Despite the popular conflation of "meeting" and "hell," daily huddles are too streamlined to irk even hard-core meeting grouches. They last no more than 15 minutes. They start on time. And problem solving is forbidden. Beyond those ground rules, however, huddles are endlessly customizable. Some companies huddle first thing in the morning; others right before lunch. Some invite a handful of top leaders; others the entire staff. Some follow a formula; others make it up every time. No matter the format, the huddle has become an essential tool for some CEOs, particularly those at growth companies trying to maintain an entrepreneurial culture. "If you're a small organization, not doing this is crazy," says Patrick Lencioni, president of the Lafayette, California-based consultancy the Table Group and author of Death by Meetings. "When you're small, you can develop connections among staff that make you more nimble. Daily check-ins help you build a culture of unity and sustain it as you grow."

Here's how five CEOs use a meeting a day to keep chaos away.

1. The team builder

The Company: Bishop-Wisecarver, a $20 million maker of machine components

The Purpose: Pamela Kan started the meetings two years ago to improve communication. "Even though we're a small company, people had put up silos," says Kan. "There wasn't a lot of trust and respect between them as peers. Things were going wrong solely because people didn't talk to each other."

How It Works: Kan says teamwork improved greatly once information-sharing became routine. Numerous snafus have been averted; for example, if the plant superintendent reports trouble with a machine, the sales director can adjust his delivery schedule. And by reviewing her executives' to-do lists, Kan has been able to identify micromanagers and nip their do-it-myself propensities. Finally, the meetings have weeded out executives who didn't communicate openly with their peers; Kan says failure to participate was a factor in one or two dismissals.

Huddle Hint: No one notifies participants that the meeting is starting. Regular, prompt attendance is "another cultural flusher," says Kan. "If someone consistently doesn't show up, the group sees him as not wanting to be part of the process."

2. The coordinator

The Company: Healthcareseeker.com, a $5 million nurse staffing agency in Boontown, New Jersey

The Purpose: The eight-person company manages as many as 900 contracts at a time, and new orders arrive daily. CEO Stephen Halasnik wanted a way to help his small staff establish priorities and coordinate its efforts.

How It Works: Everyone on staff comes to the morning huddle at Healthcareseeker.com. Employees quickly review information on new jobs and new nurses who have signed on, then adjust their schedules to focus on the most important accounts of the moment. A salesperson, for example, might mention a new job from a very profitable customer that he now considers a top priority; a recruiter will then plan to spend his afternoon finding the best nurse for that position; and the HR director will move background checks on likely candidates to the top of her to-do list. Anyone else with relevant information tosses it into the ring. "It organizes both individuals and the organization," says Halasnik. And the meetings dispatch nitty-gritty issues that once bogged down weekly strategy meetings, allowing Halasnik to reserve those hourlong gatherings for big issues.

Huddle Hint: Halasnik holds his 15-minute meetings at 11:45 a.m. "People are always hungry then so they won't let me drag things out," he says.

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