Holding a daily huddle is one of the most important activities a real estate team leader can perform. Huddles promote a supportive, collaborative team environment, and help keep everyone focused on their goals. They set the tone for a productive day. But let’s face it – huddles can easily turn unproductive and achieve the opposite of their intended outcomes. If they run too long, they can kill the day’s momentum and can easily turn from supportive to antagonistic if they are used as a forum for airing grievances.
If you lead or work on a team that practices regular huddles, it’s helpful to take a step back and look at what your huddles are actually achieving. Are they just an obligatory daily meeting? Do they break up the routine of an otherwise boring day but offer little value? Or do they do what they should, generating energy and focus within the group?
If your huddles are more of a burden than a pleasure, consider rejuvenating them with these five activities.
Be sure to start every huddle by sharing your wins from the past day. These could include any dollar-producing activities that the rest of the team might not know about, like a showing or a particularly successful prospecting experience. But they should also include wins from team members’ personal lives. Allowing space to share these victories, large and small, helps create an atmosphere of mutual support.
If you lead a team, there is no rule that says you have to run every single huddle. In fact, the more you share this task with the rest of the team, the better. If the team leader is the only person who facilitates huddles, it can have the unintended result of enforcing an unnecessary boundary between that person and other team members. But if all team members are able to lead huddles, a culture of support is more easily developed. Additionally, this will help your team members hone their own leadership skills.
One of the best ways to encourage camaraderie is with games. End your huddles with a quick game to raise the energy of the group and get them excited for a productive day. These could be anything from puzzles and brainteasers to a quick relay in the office. They might be related to real estate – like a race to find a certain piece of information in your CRM – but they don’t have to be. Depending on the size of your team, you might also consider incentives like small cash prizes or gift cards. Whatever you do, have fun!
Take a moment or two to do something silly or fun, like sharing a TikTok video. Or, if you’re feeling more ambitious, spend a few moments making a video with the team. Even if it never goes viral, the process of collaborating to create something will help bring the team together and set the mood for a productive, creative day.
We all remember show-and-tell from elementary school, but where is it written that only children can share things they love with their peers? Every once in a while (perhaps monthly or weekly depending on the size of your team), invite team members to share something like a book, a podcast, a video – anything they are passionate about and want to share with others. Learning about each other can help fast-track connections between teammates and help develop the team’s unity.
As with anything in your business, your team huddles should be working for you. If they are not providing you with the value you need, change them up! Investing time, thought, and creativity into making your meetings both productive and enjoyable will always yield strong dividends. A team that has strong professional and personal bonds will see greater success and retention than a team of virtual strangers. Try something new at your next huddle and see what happens!
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