11 Daily Huddle Tips: How To Boost Team Efficiency + Free Template

When your team meets on a daily basis, meetings can become routine. Even worse, they can lose their purpose and become a waste of time if you don’t have a defined structure.

But all you need is the right daily huddle tool and a clear agenda to keep your team focused and engaged. To help you run productive team huddles, we’ve got expert recommendations and tips from Océane Carée, Web Product Manager at Livestorm.

By the end of this article, you’ll be equipped to create your own team meeting agenda and host effective daily team huddles.

What should be included in a daily huddle?

A daily huddle is a focused, short meeting with a duration of approximately 15 minutes. The goal is for the conversation to flow quickly so that everyone can get back to their tasks as soon as possible. It’s similar to a daily standup or daily scrum.

Here are the key elements to include in your daily huddle:

1. Wins of the day
2. Key focus items
3. Project updates
4. Open questions
5. Actions items

1. Wins of the day

Start your huddle with team shoutouts, no matter how small their successes may seem. This is a great way to build morale, give recognition, and set a positive tone for things to come. Plus, sharing wins supports virtual team building, encourages knowledge sharing, and can inspire new ideas and approaches.

2. Key focus items

“When I invite people to a meeting, I want them to know the exact issues we need to discuss,” shares Océane Carée, Web Product Manager at Livestorm. These team meeting agenda items could be priorities for the day or week. So if you're a project management team working towards a launch date, add key focus items like finalizing the user interface or testing a new feature.

3. Project updates

You want to provide a space for discussion and collaboration. Have a designated time for each team member to present current projects they're working on, updates to existing ones, and roadblocks they’re facing. This helps foster strong team communication and ensures issues are addressed before they snowball.

4. Open questions

Encourage an open dialogue between all participants. Invite questions, comments, and suggestions to the discussion. It's a chance to clarify any confusion, brainstorm new ideas, and maybe even share a good joke.

5. Action items

End your daily huddle by outlining action items for each participant. Break down bigger goals into smaller, actionable steps. Use project management tools like Asana or ClickUp to set up automated to-do lists and timelines, track progress, and measure results.

Daily huddle agenda template for you to customize

“When you have an agenda," adds Océane, "you avoid going off in all directions and ending the meeting without answering the questions in the room.” Even though a team huddle might seem like an informal catch-up, an agenda gives your team a workflow that helps them avoid detours or dead-ends during the conversation.

And if you don't know where to start, use our free huddle meeting agenda template to get things rolling:

Attendees: [Employee names], [Line manager name]

Date: [Time and date]

Duration: 15 minutes

Wins from yesterday [2 minutes]

What did you achieve yesterday? Did anyone on the team go above and beyond or accomplish something notable?

Priorities for today [5 minutes]

What are your top priorities for today?

Blockers [5 minutes]

Do you have any obstacles that could prevent you from meeting your goals?

Quick updates [3 minutes]

Any brief updates to share with the team?

Action items [2 minutes]

What action items do you need to take today?

How to make your daily huddles more effective

Now that you have an agenda, you need to run the huddle meeting like a pro. To help you set up a daily huddle that runs smoothly, we've divided our action items into three sections:

1- How to plan your daily huddle
2- How to run an effective huddle
3- How to follow up after a huddle

How to plan your daily huddle

This planning stage is where you set the foundation for an effective huddle. Think about the topics you want to discuss and who needs to be included. Do it in this order:

1- Set up your calendar invites
2- Customize your daily huddle template
3- Automate reminder emails

1. Set up your calendar invites

When you're managing remote employees, you need to sync up with different time zones. Scheduling tools like Google Calendar, Outlook, and Calendly help you sync your team’s calendars and avoid scheduling clashes. Plus, you can use the invite to attach any relevant materials, documents, or links your team needs to prepare for the meeting.

2. Customize your daily huddle template

Océane recommends sharing the meeting agenda within your calendar invite, so team members get an idea of the time allocated for each discussion point. She adds, "Sometimes I include additional points like 'don’t hesitate to bring any feedback, suggestions or concerns to the call' in the agenda.” This way, your team will feel empowered to take the initiative during the meeting.

3. Automate reminder emails

Your team can easily get sidetracked with other tasks. To avoid any last-minute cancellations or no-shows, automate reminder emails with Livestorm. On most video conferencing platforms, you can customize the email reminder template to include the meeting link, agenda, and additional resources. With Livestorm, you can also customize the sending cadence, so the reminder goes out whenever you prefer.

How to run an effective huddle

Getting everyone in a virtual room doesn’t ensure a productive meeting. Here's how you can keep them engaged:

4- Read the room
5- Stick to time
6- Give everyone a chance to speak
7- Prioritize questions
8- Avoid problem-solving
9- Share resources

4. Read the room

You need to read the energy and engagement level of your team members for an effective video conference call. Are they distracted or fully focused on the discussion? Are they participating actively or just passively listening?

“Sometimes when you’re running a meeting, you don’t know if people are listening to you," says Océane. But, if you’re accurately reading the room, you can use tactics to refocus or re-energize attendees. She adds, "With Livestorm's emoji reactions, I can see attendees give me a 'thumbs up' or a 'celebration' and get an idea of what they think of the discussion.”

5. Stick to time

You've already set time limits for each discussion item in your agenda. Now you need to stick to it. Use a timer and assign a facilitator to keep an eye on the clock. If an item is taking longer than you estimated, schedule a follow-up discussion. Remember, unlike an all-hands meeting, a daily huddle is meant to be a quick, effective check-in, not a lengthy conversation.

6. Give everyone the chance to speak

“Avoid silences and don’t hesitate to give the mic to your participants," shares Océane. It’s important to ensure everyone feels heard and involved in the meeting. An online meeting software like Livestorm offers engagement features like Q&A and live chat that makes your meeting interactive.

7. Prioritize questions

Once the timer runs, it can be difficult to answer all questions during the meeting. With Livestorm, attendees can upvote questions they find most relevant. This way, you can address the most important ones first and touch upon other questions at the end of the meeting or follow up with team members individually if necessary.

8. Avoid problem-solving

A daily huddle isn’t the right space to dive deep into problem-solving. If a discussion takes too long, you can always schedule a follow-up meeting. For example, if your agenda item is about website redesign, and the team wants to discuss technical requirements, set up a separate meeting to iron out the details.

Pro tip: A daily huddle is about sharing quick updates and discussing progress, not brainstorming and tackling complex issues. If you need to do the latter, schedule a longer collaborative meeting.

9. Share resources

Your team needs the right resources to be aligned and collaborate effectively. If you have an agenda point that would take more than a couple of minutes to explore, consider sharing a document or video that attendees can watch in their own time. This saves time in the call and ensures everyone is informed enough to contribute.

Pro tip: You can share downloadable documents and resources directly within your meeting room using Livestorm's Handouts plugin.

How to follow up after a huddle

You've just run a productive huddle. But what’s next? How do you ensure that the meeting wasn't just a talkfest? Here’s how you can follow up effectively:

10. Confirm the date of the next huddle
11. Send follow-up emails

10. Confirm the date of the next huddle

Your daily huddle is a recurring event that happens at the same time every day. To save time, schedule it as a "recurring event" using your online meeting platform so everyone on the team can see the upcoming huddle dates in their calendar. And if there are any changes or updates to the schedule, you can easily adjust the recurring event, and everyone will be notified automatically.

11. Send follow-up emails

Send follow-up emails to confirm any decisions or tasks that were discussed. With Livestorm’s transcript app, you can quickly generate a summary of the discussion, highlighting any key action items that need to be addressed. Plus, Livestorm lets you set up automatic meeting recordings with instant replays, so your team can always refer back to the discussion if needed.

Huddle, Hustle, Repeat!

Your daily huddle isn't just about checking boxes. It's an opportunity to connect with your team, build relationships, and achieve your goals together.

Here's a quick recap on how to huddle like a pro:

• Stick to an agenda and eliminate non-essential topics
• Use a timer to keep discussions on track
• Give everyone the opportunity to speak
• Avoid complex problem-solving
• Send follow-up emails with recordings and next steps

Choose a powerful video engagement platform, like Livestorm, that integrates with your team's calendar, sends automatic email invites and follow-ups and keeps your team engaged with collaborative tools. Gather your team, huddle up, and score big!

Frequently asked questions about daily huddle templates

How do you perform a daily huddle?

You perform a daily huddle by:

1. Preparing your agenda (see our template above!)
2. Sending calendar invites
3. Automating reminder emails before your huddle
4. Sticking to the time allocated for discussion items
5. Ensuring everyone has a chance to speak
6. Prioritizing questions with upvoting
7. Sharing resources with Livestorm’s handouts plugin
8. Automating follow-up emails

How do you structure a team huddle?

You structure a team huddle by creating an agenda that outlines the topics, concerns, or roadblocks you’d like to discuss. You should also have a timeline for each topic and, finally, assign action items, so the team has tangible goals to work on.

What are the benefits of a daily huddle?

The benefits of a daily huddle are:

• Improved communication and collaboration between team members
• Increased productivity and faster progress on projects
• Higher quality output due to better organization
• More accountability among team members
• A sense of transparency and trust within the team