True or False:   The highest paid employees in the world all ‘huddle’.

TRUE:   Professional team sports (NFL football), ALWAYS huddle, prior to an event.  These pro players are paid millions of dollars each year.  They ‘huddle’.  Corporations, like Wal-Mart also ‘huddle’ their department employees prior to the start of a shift.  The big boys do it and YOU should too!

WHAT?  ‘Huddle’ for customer service?

Like any professional team Customer Service departments should ALWAYS ‘huddle’. The day flows better when everyone know what is going on and  is on the same page. Keeping on top of changing parts, pieces, inventories, shipping, customers, warranties, weather conditions, returns, phone calls, sick/vacationing employees, customer complaints/compliments, are just some of the good reasons for a daily ‘huddle’.

WHY all organizations, departments, teams should ‘huddle’. 

When a group of people ‘huddle’, they naturally focus better.  It is also a great time to motivate your team. Gathering a group of people together to focus on today’s shift or one situation, for even just 5 minutes brings your topic to the forefronts of their minds.  No need for long, lengthy, sit-down meetings, a short, stand-up meeting will be more than enough to keep everyone up to date without taking a big bite out of the workday.

Companies will ALWAYS have situations/problems/short-comings in their daily operations.  Customers see and notice many of these situations.  ‘Huddling’ gives your business a chance to control these situations, in the case of customer service it can redirect what customers see and experience.

Manager’s Recommendation:  ‘Focus’ on one, maybe two points, tops!

Keep the stand-up ‘huddle’ simple.  Have just one ‘hot’ item for the day/shift to focus on, two if absolutely necessary but no more.  Your staff will remember one to two items but will struggle with trying to remember ten points in a day.