In business, we are defined by the things we do with consistency.
Success and failure are the byproducts of what we do day in and day out—good habits set us up to succeed, while bad habits almost always lead to failure. Once you identify those habits in your business, you must practice them to the point where your days, weeks, months, and years have a rhythm to them.
Our daily lives have a rhythm, those certain beats we hit that remind us we’re on track to have a great day. It works the same way in business. You and your team need those touch points at certain intervals, whether it’s every day or every year, to let you know you’re on track.
Because things will inevitably go off track. That’s the nature of business. Even the best laid plans are going to get interrupted at some point. When you build in those touch points, it creates a rhythm within your business and helps you handle whatever setbacks arise.
Meetings Promote Company-Wide Alignment
Let me show you how this works in our company. Every morning at 8:55, we have a stand-up meeting that we do with all 50+ members of our team. That’s a chance for us to get aligned as a company. During that meeting, everyone shares three things: a win from the previous day, what they’re stuck on from the previous day, and what their focus is for that day.
Here’s why that meeting is so important: when people disperse into their various departments, they now know who’s working on what, what the challenges are, and what the wins are. Armed with that knowledge, people can help a colleague or department that’s facing a challenge.
We also have weekly department meetings that allow department heads and team members to address issues together and look for ways to support one another. As with any meeting at our company, there has to be an agenda to provide structure and avoid wasting time.
In addition to department meetings, our leadership team also meets each week to track our progress as a company and see what obstacles we can remove for our team members.
Finally, there’s the least frequent but most important meeting, which is the all-hands meeting that we do at the beginning of each month. During that time, we recap what went well across each department and where we got stuck. We look at how we’re progressing toward our goals and what the targets are for the upcoming month. We examine where we stand for the year and what work is coming down the pipe. We also recognize the employee of the month and celebrate the biggest wins from the previous month.
Keep It Brief and Memorable
Reading that, you might think I’m big on meeting as much as possible. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Meetings pull people away from their work, so they have to be important. If it’s not important, then you shouldn’t be meeting. Even then, you should opt for the minimum number of meetings needed to promote efficiency across the whole company.
At Crisp, our monthly meetings promote clarity and alignment. Without those meetings, we’re not going to get where we want to go as a company. We meet monthly to get realigned, make any necessary pivots, and give feedback so that we can all grow and improve together.
It’s a time for us to announce company-wide initiatives—such as new projects or changes to benefits—because it gives everyone a chance to ask questions. That meeting also gives us space to reflect back on the progress we’ve made, which helps with our perspective.
If you haven’t established a consistent rhythm in your business yet, the daily stand-up (or morning huddle) is a great way to get going. I suggest starting it at an odd time like 8:57. Why? Because it’ll be easier for people to remember than just another meeting at 9 AM.
Your daily stand-up shouldn’t last long. Even with 50+ team members, we’re finished in fifteen to twenty minutes. Focus on getting alignment not just around work, but around your core values. Recognize team members who’ve stepped up or over-delivered.
By adding this beat to the daily rhythm of your business, you can grow your culture and keep your team invigorated.
The Investment of Time is Worth the Payoff
As your business grows, it will become more important to achieve consistent alignment, clarity, oversight, and feedback. You’ll have more people to manage and more goals to hit. That means you must be intentional about creating a rhythm within the business that enables success.
Like any habit, it’s best to start early. We were having daily stand-ups when there were just five employees. We knew the day was coming when we’d have 50+ employees and we wanted to have that rhythm established well ahead of time. Now, when new hires come onboard, they’re coming into a company that has placed a priority on culture, alignment, and clarity.
A consistent rhythm allows us to maintain those conditions, which leads to more purposeful work and increases our effectiveness and efficiency across the board.
