Keep projects on schedule with 'huddles'

Recently I was working with a couple of new young managers whose challenge was to keep a group of people on schedule to produce the company's high-ticket research reports. Information for the reports had to be received by certain pre-set dates, and other action items had to be done by certain dates. If these interim deadlines weren't met, there was a domino effect, with other deadlines being pushed back, projects threatened with not being ready, and everyone generally working in constant crisis mode. They were relucant to "nag" individuals who tended to be late, but needed a way to keep everything running on schedule.

After some discussion, we came up with an idea we called "huddles". Each time an interim deadline was approaching, they sent out an instant message that appeared on the computer screens of each team member (usually about six to eight people), saying something like this: "Huddle on project X, 10 a.m. outside Jennifer's office." (Jennifer was a member of the team.)

Everyone would arrive outside Jennifer's office --- yes, in the corridor outside the office! --- and stand around in a circle. The manager would reiterate what needed to be done by the upcoming deadline and check specifically with those concerned that everything was on track. If not, a way was found to provide help to ensure it was. This took about 5 minutes, and then everyone went back to work.

Both managers and team members had the comfort of knowing the project was on track, and nobody minded coming to the huddle because they knew it took just a few minutes. After using the huddles for a few weeks, both managers reported they had been very well received by team members and were succeeding in keeping projects on schedule.

Why not try this system in your department? If you have any questions about how it works, drop me an e-mail at hwilkie@mhwcom.com and I'll fill you in.