Risk WATCH with Alberta Quarcoopome: Morning Team Huddles Focused on the Customer — A Key Risk Management Strategy

“You won’t be able to grasp new opportunities if your hands are cluttered with old rubbish” — Louise Smith

A workplace huddle goes beyond being merely another staff meeting; it’s an ongoing conversation where participants tackle crucial metrics and pinpoint opportunities for enhancement. Such gatherings may occur every day or each week. The aim behind these team huddles is to boost employee involvement and act as a corrective mechanism ensuring the organization stays aligned with its objectives.

Managers must ensure their employees stay informed about pertinent details originating internally as well as externally. Various methods can be employed when interacting with team members; these include meetings, emails, intranets, WhatsApp groups, letters, among others. Nonetheless, in contemporary management practices, the morning huddle stands out as an exceptionally efficient tactic. This approach shouldn’t be overly formal or lengthy. Structured discussions typically occur during regular staff meetings which follow a detailed plan.


The aim of daily stand-up meetings

The daily huddle is a brief meeting designed to happen each day, ensuring the whole team stays informed and synchronized regarding the tasks at hand. This recurring discussion allows participants to tackle crucial performance metrics and identify opportunities for enhancement. Such gatherings may be held either daily or weekly.

The aim of team Huddles is to boost employee engagement and act as a corrective mechanism to ensure the company stays aligned with its objectives. Establishing a morning huddle routine can enhance your team’s effectiveness by encouraging members to share what they’re focusing on with each other. This practice allows everyone to understand the current workload across the team and provides additional insights that go beyond what a typical task management tool offers.

In today’s climate, being a manager can often lead to misconceptions. To excel as a manager, one must possess at least two fundamental abilities: technical proficiency and cognitive capability. Simply possessing a leadership certification doesn’t guarantee immediate success.

They say that your technical abilities might secure you the job, but it’s your attitude that will lead to long-term success. In my observation, numerous staff meetings often lack productivity and are actually perceived as unnecessary by those who attend them; some even question their significance. Yet, there exists a particular type of gathering that stands out among these: the huddle meeting.

The huddle meeting is straightforward, concise, and focused. It ensures all team members stay aligned. During these meetings, urgent matters are quickly addressed before returning to work.

This adaptation of conventional meetings aims to ensure that gatherings fulfill their original intent—to enhance productivity for all involved and streamline workflow efficiency. As an alternative to standard meetings, a team huddle revitalizes the workspace and enables participants to conserve time while addressing crucial matters.


The Benefits

Daily morning stand-ups differ from regular staff meetings. Implementing brief daily huddle sessions can significantly boost productivity, responsibility, and team spirit. Remember, without clients, there would be no banking business; thus, our primary focus must remain on understanding their requirements, issues, and aspirations. Ensure these quick check-ins last only about 10-15 minutes at most. Maintain consistency with your huddles—whether held every day or weekly—at the same hour and location when feasible.


What is the impact of daily stand-up meetings?

The key lies\xa0in the\xa0

purpose


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During the daily team meeting, you aim to discuss how everyone’s day will unfold. This gathering isn’t meant for outlining weekly plans or managing projects; those tasks should be handled during separate sessions. A productive morning briefing provides an opportunity for colleagues to exchange updates and report on their current project statuses.

How can you ensure your daily stand-up meetings are more productive? Consider these points if you aim for an efficient morning meeting.


Advice for conducting effective morning meetings

  • You can choose to sit or stand based on the circumstances. Keep it brief. The aim is to update everyone on the work progress, not to tackle issues. Problems should be addressed in a more interactive setting.
  • Everyone participates by speaking up during the daily meeting. Wouldn’t it be more engaging if every individual shared insights on their current projects? Such contributions in front of the entire group can enhance everyone’s sense of responsibility and accountability for their tasks.
  • Let staff members share past experiences that others should be aware of to avoid repetition. For instance, the reason behind a teller’s cash shortfall or excess. Useful advice for newcomers to jot down.
  • Specific findings regarding a customer that others should remain cautious of or acknowledge. Handle customers with fairness rather than equal treatment.
  • No one individual should dominate the meeting.
  • The purpose of the morning meeting isn’t to report to the team leader; rather, it’s for team members to share information among themselves, collaborate effectively, and be aware of everyone else’s tasks.


Common scenarios addressed during Morning Briefings

  • Staying positive at work.
  • Managing an extremely difficult client
  • Intensification of recent client grievances regarding the system, along with suggestions for improvement.
  • Ways teams can foster greater customer-centric approaches in their processes for both conventional and digital clientele.
  • Dealing with change management.
  • The contagious email from a client regarding the updated bank charges and fees.
  • The consequences of the prior day’s system crash and the most effective ways to manage a comparable situation in the future.
  • A Teller Intern’s experience where they were unaware that a customer’s attire isn’t related to their account balance.
  • Maintaining cheerful expressions: Within a branching setup, team members ought to greet clients with welcoming looks, despite finding it challenging, perhaps because of a migraine (haha). Being at the forefront certainly isn’t simple!
  • How the office surveillance cameras managed to pinpoint a fraudster.
  • The good or bad experience of a front desk staff during an account-opening process.
  • How a communication gap due to language differences affected an interaction between a staff member and a customer was addressed.
  • Ways to generate chances for upselling when engaging with clients, whether face-to-face or online.
  • Creating lead generation strategies for sales and marketing departments.


Remote teams\xa0

Daily team huddles aren’t solely for groups sharing the same workspace.
Remote teams\xa0
Remote teams can also reap benefits from this approach. Much like traditional setups, the primary advantage for remote groups conducting daily check-ins lies in the increased commitment and responsibility derived from updating each other on their progress and tasks.

Establishing a morning meeting routine can enhance your team’s efficiency by encouraging members to share with each other what tasks they are tackling.

This also provides an opportunity for everybody to understand what occupies each person’s time and should lend more substance than your current setup.
team task management tool
\xa0is giving you.

I’ll stop here for now. In the following week, we will explore additional advice on morning meetings centered around our customers’ needs, followed by insightful conversations that managers should have with their teams.


Could you share how you conduct your morning meetings? What advice can you offer for ensuring they’re productive? Are these stand-up sessions held daily or weekly with your staff? Please feel free to reach out via my private email at [email protected].

For deeper understanding on this subject, consider reserving a copy of my latest book, “

THE CONTEMPORARY BRANCH MANAGER’S GUIDE

This entails embracing a multidisciplinary strategy in modern branch management practices. Additionally, it offers crucial perspectives on the mentality required to adapt and create an impact within the evolving landscape of the banking sector. To obtain your copy, dial 0244333051.


TO BE CONTINUED


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alberta Quarcoopome is a member of the Institute of Bankers Fellowship.

Chief Executive Officer at ALKAN Business Consult Ltd.

She has written three books:

“The 21

st

Century Bank Teller: A Strategic Partner” and “My Front Desk Experience: A Young Banker’s Tale” and “The Contemporary Branch Manager’s Guide.

Using her expertise and real-world examples, she trains novice bankers in areas such as operational risk management, sales techniques, customer service, bank processes, and fraud prevention.

CONTACT

Website
www.alkanbiz.com

Email:alberta@
alkanbiz.com
\xa0 or
[email protected]

Tel: +233-0244333051/+233-0244611343

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