In our fast-paced world, teams are moving at top speed to achieve results. Daily communication can get lost as individuals rush to complete endless to-do lists. As a result there is a huge decline of daily syncs and regular updates with each other. When this happens, it is impossible to expect 100% participation for a team’s daily standups.
For any manager or team leader, a decline in communication can lead to irreparable disasters such as missed deadlines, irate customers, unfinished projects…the list goes on and on. Team standups offer more than just routine updates; they serve as a secret weapon for success when executed effectively. They offer insights, allow planning, and manage confidence levels for all those involved. The key to combating communication loss lies in maintaining high motivation levels to ensure that daily communication flows seamlessly, and fostering an environment where magic truly happens. There are many ways to get a team back on track and heading in the same direction. How do we do this?
Let’s explore various strategies to keep team motivation soaring, and some tricks to get you ahead in the standup game.
1. Recognition and Appreciation: Fueling the Flames of Motivation
One of the fundamental pillars of maintaining high team motivation is recognizing and appreciating the efforts of consistent contributors. A simple ‘thank you’ or a public shoutout during meetings can go a long way in boosting morale and reinforcing a positive team culture.
Countless studies have proven the psychological positive impact of acknowledgment, and its contribution to team cohesion and overall productivity. Feeling seen is a game changer for someone’s emotional and social needs, so this strategy is easily number one on our list. It also costs nothing to do this, and doesn’t take any additional time to implement. All it requires is the willingness to execute.
If this seems easy, why not take it one step further and provide team leaders or key personnel practical tips and reminders to replicate this behavior, for recognizing their own members on a regular basis. A few guidelines and suggestions that align with your corporate values should be enough to get anyone going. Another step further is offering rewards or prizes for consistent performance. There are many employees who will put their hand up for a free lunch!
2. Purpose-Driven Standups: Turning Routine Updates into Strategic Discussions
Daily standups become exponentially more effective when team members understand the purpose behind them. Creating purpose-driven standups will emphasize their role in propelling organizational goals forward.
Use this specific standup to encourage open discussion and feedback: whether it be about the specific information being collected by predetermined questions, or how the information will ultimately be utilized. This strategy can require more than the usual 2-minute standup routine that everyone is used to, but these discussions can lead to greater insight into an individual’s thoughts, concerns and ultimately offer a team opportunities for improvement and growth. Tagging certain discussions as sidebars may also help streamline the standup to table new ideas and concerns for bigger meetings scheduled at a later time.
Ultimately the goal with this strategy is to transform these meetings into spaces where every team member’s voice is not only heard but also valued. When there is trust and understanding, there is team buy-in and ultimately there are results towards better communication.
3. Rotating Leadership: Fostering Ownership and Accountability
Standups are a daily requirement, and by their design are repetitive in nature. This can be dulling for certain individuals. Rotating leadership can have multiple effects beyond simply growing participation in your daily standups.
Empowering different team members to lead standup meetings not only fosters a sense of ownership but also enhances overall engagement and accountability. Switching up something as simple as the owner of each day’s answers can surely resurrect lost energy. This rotation can contribute to the development of leadership skills within the team by allowing a low-stress environment for people to practice these skills. It can show the entire team what opportunities there are to standout from the crowd. When a team is aware that there will be new eyes on them, especially those of a teammate or another leader, it naturally causes a shift in focus. Individuals are conscious of how they may be perceived by that individual, resulting in a higher chance they will prepare well for that day’s meeting.
4. Themed Standups: Injecting Variety and Freshness into Daily Meetings
To keep team members actively engaged, injecting variety into standup meetings is another key strategy. Themed standups provide an innovative solution by introducing weekly topics or themes, ranging from quick successes to non-work elements.
Here are 5 examples of general theme ideas to kickstart your new themed standup:
- Highlight one success story from the week.
- What is the biggest customer obstacle you have overcome this week?
- This week’s theme is “consistency” – what daily habit do you have to drive results?
- What is your favorite breakfast food?
- Log how many cups of coffee you drink this week.
