Establish Ground Rules for a Huddle

Sample Ground Rules: 

• Be on time for the start of the huddle
• Come prepared to contribute and participate
• Visuals are updated prior to start of the huddle
• Everyone picks up blank idea cards prior to start of the huddle
• Do not say “No” to any idea without first asking clarifying questions
• Keep the focus on the process and not the people
• Be an active listener
• Demonstrate positive body language
• No side conversations
• Recognition is to be in real time to the person

Answer the following questions based on Huddle Guidelines and the Sample Ground Rules above: 

Which ground rules listed might be useful to your team?

Are there any ground rules that aren’t listed that would be useful to your team?

How might you go about establishing guidelines for huddles with your team?  Do you foresee any issues? If so, how might you address them?

Own the Gap: review your answers above, if you were a team member and your leader was working with you to set ground rules for a huddle, would you want to participate?  Would you understand the benefit of setting these ground rules?  If all of the guidelines were followed, would huddles be beneficial to the team? Would they help create a good environment for a team to work together?