The Best Team Huddle Ideas and Tips for 2024

Are you looking for team huddle ideas? You’ve come to the right place.

You know running a business requires regular and open communication with your leaders and staff. But how can you do this on a daily basis without disrupting the workflow?

A team huddle is the perfect time for staff to share their goals and plans of action for the day. These meetings are usually short, focused, and aligned with the objectives you’ve set for your retail store.

Read on to learn team huddle ideas from other merchants, topics to cover, and how frequently to have team huddles to motivate staff and reach your goals.

What is a team huddle?
Team huddle ideas: topics to cover
Types of team huddles
What are the benefits of team huddles?
Best practices for team huddles

What is a team huddle?

A team huddle is a short meeting where retail staff “huddle” together to discuss something related to your retail store—such as new products, daily priorities, or special events. They’re usually 15 to 20 minutes long, since that’s the natural drop-off point for our attention spans.

We can see team huddles in practice with brick-and-mortar stores using a rotating shift schedule. When one shift clocks out and another checks in, team leaders will have a 10-minute team huddle to hand over roles and responsibilities, assign staff to certain departments, and communicate the sales goals they’ve set.

They’ll get together and discuss what tasks still need to be completed and status updates of ongoing tasks, and make sure the shift changes are smooth.

Team huddle ideas: topics to cover

Now that you know how team huddles work, you might be questioning what you should cover in one. After all, if you’re asking for 15 minutes of your team’s time every day, it’s crucial that those meetings are as productive as possible.

Let’s take a look at what you can cover in a team huddle:

Calling attention to new products you’re carrying. For example, talking about the materials of a new dress you just put on the sales floor and how and where it was made so your store staff can share this information with customers.
Communicating new policies or procedures. Did your store opening checklist change? Are you implementing a new process for counting inventory? Whatever the changes are, a team huddle is a great place to communicate them.
Telling store associates which “zone” they will be working in. Doing this in a team huddles gives your staff the opportunity to request a different zone or to switch areas with another employee.
Addressing inventory shrinkage. For example, telling store associates to be mindful of shoplifters trying to steal a product that’s in high demand.
Setting goals and explaining top priorities. Call out store sales goals for the day, or ask store associates what their goals for the day are.
Establishing clear upsell or cross-sell objectives for the day. For example, asking that each sales associate aims for a certain average order value or items per order.
Metrics catch ups. Periodically meet store associates on the sales floor to tell them how much they’ve sold during their shift, their units per transaction, etc.

📌 PRO TIP: To quickly view your staff’s daily productivity in Shopify POS, select Analytics from the Home menu and click Staff report. From here, you can see each staff’s average order value, items per order, gross and net sales, and more.

Flourish Market’s retail store hosts 20-minute team huddles each week. Its owner and founder, Emily Grey, explains, “In our team huddle, we start with a quick whip-around I call Wins of the Week. During this activity, everyone from the team shares and celebrates a 15- to 30-second update on a win they had in the last two weeks that helped deliver on our business mission.

“Next, two people from our team deliver an update on the project or initiative they are working on. This process of presenting helps our team members feel ownership over and empowered by their projects, which is a core value of our mission. We finish up with a quick Q&A to make sure everyone is on the same page.”

Types of team huddles

The frequency of your team huddles can depend on a variety of factors—especially the topics you plan to cover. Here are three main types of team huddle meetings:

1. Daily team huddles

A daily team huddle does what the name suggests. At a certain point during the working day (typically before the store opens or prior to their shift starts), employees and the store manager get together for a stand-up meeting. Most retailers use quick daily team huddles because they’re fast, effective, and keep store associates aligned with the store’s goals and to-do list.

Let’s put that into practice and say your brick-and-mortar store is open from 9 a.m. every day. You ask your retail associates to get to work by 8:30 a.m. for your daily team huddle. There, you explain the tasks that need completing that day, the total sales you’d like to hit, as well as other goals you may have.

2. Weekly team huddles

Not all team huddles have to be frequent. You can host a huddle once per week, like jewelry retailer CRAFTD. Its co-founder, Dan Potter, says, “As a company that prides itself on providing as much autonomy and creativity to employees as possible, we nonetheless organize weekly team huddles to ensure we are all on the same page.”

At midday every Monday, the CRAFTD team hosts a weekly team huddle. Dan says it’s their chance to discuss:

Individual and team priorities
Weekly goals and deliverables
One thing the team is looking forward to and excited about for the week
Something they learned in the past week

3. Monthly team huddles

Monthly team huddles are usually slightly longer than 20 minutes. Retail teams can treat them as mini-meetings to catch up on key metrics—how the store performed that past month, and what their goals are for the upcoming month.

What are the benefits of team huddles?

Now that you’ve learned about a few team huddle ideas and know the different types of team huddles, let’s take a look at the benefits of hosting regular team huddles.

Provide and receive support

Research found that 85% of employees are more motivated when a company has effective internal communication. Team huddles slot perfectly into that concept. Employees know what’s going on and who they can rely on throughout the working day, and can pass the baton for ongoing responsibilities.

We can see this in action with two teams hosting a huddle as they change shifts. The first team explains they haven’t had enough time to finish a physical inventory count. The second team now knows to prioritize certain sections of the store for a stock check. Everyone works together to get the job done.

Address potential issues

Unfortunately, issues do arise when you’re running a brick-and-mortar store. Stock goes missing. Staff call in sick. A delivery doesn’t turn up as expected.

Team huddles are the ideal opportunity to handle and address issues. Have your team use the meeting as a way to communicate potential issues. Then, work together to solve the problem before it becomes a bigger one.

Build unity

As the saying goes, “Teamwork makes the dream work.” That’s especially true for retail teams.

Research shows that 75% of employees rate collaboration as very important. However, 39% of employees believe the people in their company don’t collaborate enough.

A team huddle helps retail teams overcome that challenge. The 20-minute stand-up involves people across every department. Everyone gets the opportunity to provide status updates so nobody’s left in the dark.

Increased communication

Better communication is a natural benefit of hosting regular team huddle meetings. Brian Lim of Into the AM says, “Our managers are in at least two team huddles a day. During these huddles, we cover what’s coming up in the next 24 hours and figure out a game plan. The major benefit of these huddles is to keep everyone on the team aligned and to also schedule bigger meetings to handle any issues that are more complex or require more time.

“We love team huddles so much that this has caused us to have more frequent one-on-one huddles throughout the week with direct reports. This keeps everyone on the same page and reduces the chances of any problems coming up.”

Callout and reward excellent performance

Did you know that more personal recognition is a leading motivator for 37% of employees?

Staff appreciation gives huge uplifts across the board. It increases teamwork, results in fewer on-the-job accidents, and generates higher loyalty scores from customers.

Team huddles provide the ideal opportunity to do that. In your meetings, make a point of mentioning when employees have performed exceptionally well. Congratulate them for their accomplishments, whether it’s something quantitative like exceeding their sales targets, or something qualitative like being a great team player.

Not only does this recognition help high-performing employees continue on their upward trajectory, but it can inspire others in the team huddle to do the same.

Increased alignment

Almost three-quarters of employees think they’re missing out on company news. A team huddle is designed to be the uber-strong cement that prevents things from slipping through the cracks.

Yuvi Alpert of Noémie says, “Team huddles are quintessential to ensuring that all team members are on the same page with priorities and to-dos each and every day. As such, our team has a 15-minute daily stand up to ensure that large priorities are covered before the day gets started.

“As our priorities change each day, team huddles are a wonderful way to ease into the day, remain on the same page, and bring up any and all issues before a hectic work day begins.”

Progress check-ins

Official performance reviews are typically scheduled every few months. For quicker updates that motivate staff between the long stretches, host team huddles to report on progress and team performance.

Let’s say that your team huddle involves three people: your store manager, a store associate, and a cashier. You know each of those people have different roles and responsibilities. Make sure they’re on track to meet them by requesting a quick status update during each weekly huddle.

Cashiers are an especially important part of your day-to-day operations, and these huddles might uncover opportunities for additional cashier training.

💡 PRO TIP: With Shopify POS, you can assign different roles and permissions and set boundaries on what store staff can do in your POS system without manager approval—like changing a product’s price or applying a custom discount to a sale.

Best practices for team huddles

Team huddles are a great way to make sure your store staff are aligned. To ensure your huddles are as productive as possible, consider following these five best practices:

1. Determine frequency and setting

It’s your decision on how often you want to host a team huddle: daily, weekly, monthly, or somewhere in between. Also consider the time of day they’re hosted. Do team huddles take place in the morning? Thirty minutes before the store opens? Is lunchtime your stand-up time? Or do you have a quick meeting at the end of the day?

There is no generic rule that states one is more effective than others. The frequency and timing of your team huddles depend on a variety of factors, including your team size, shift schedule, and store opening hours.

Also think about where your team huddle will take place. The stockroom is a good option if you want to host a mini-huddle out of a customer’s sight. The shop floor is the better option if you’re discussing something relating to store layout.

Finally, set time limits for your team huddles. They’re most effective in 20-minute bursts. That’s when people’s productivity tends to drop off. Schedule another longer meeting to discuss anything that makes the team huddle overrun.

2. Consistency is key

Regardless of how often you’re doing your team huddles, the most important thing is consistency. Make it part of the daily, weekly, or monthly routine. That way, employees never arrive unprepared.

As Jeff Moriarty, marketing manager at Moriarty’s Gem Art, says, “Moriarty’s is family owned, so we do a family team huddle every morning. It lasts about 10 to 15 minutes. We each talk about one goal we have for the day that we want to accomplish. We also discuss any issues we had the previous day or weekend, and if help is needed, we ask for it at this time. These huddles really help us get our minds on track and start the day in a friendly way, especially when you’re working with family.

3. Give everyone opportunity to speak

It’s easy to get caught up in the idea of hosting a fun conversation with your team. But don’t get carried away and dominate the meeting. A team huddle is everyone’s chance to stay updated with what’s going on inside your store.

According to Kathryn McDavid, CEO of Editors’ Pick, “One of the major keys in a team huddle is for the manager or supervisor to not get too involved. You may kick the huddle off, but let your employees run the show. That gives them more flexibility and room to share.”

Make sure every retail associate has the chance to speak during each team huddle. Invite them to share their thoughts, opinions, and goals with prompting questions.

If you’re finding there are too many people involved in a single huddle, consider breaking them down into smaller groups. For example, store associates can have their own mini-huddles.

"Your employees’ voices are crucial to the growth of your organization, and it’s important to show your team that you value their input," say Grey. "When employees understand and feel the impact that their role has on our business’s success—no matter how small that role may be—they are more empowered, confident, and engaged."

4. Focus on how rather than why

A good team huddle gives retail staff the explanation as to why they’re working toward the goals your store has set. A great huddle gives guidance on how to do it.

For example, your retail store manager explains that the overarching goal for your store is to provide customers with positive experiences that make them want to come back. Use the team huddle to share practical ways your team can meet that goal. They could greet people as soon as they enter or encourage them to use your in-store POS to send an email shopping cart to customers browsing an item that isn’t in stock.

5. Iterate and improve based on feedback

Team huddles are a work of progress. You won’t get them right straight away, and that’s OK.

Treat it as an opportunity to involve your team and improve employee engagement. Ask the following questions to unveil how your team huddles could be more productive:

Do you enjoy the team huddles? Why/why not?
Is there anything you don’t think we need to discuss in a team huddle?
How would you recommend we make the team huddles more productive?

Aside from formal surveys, make mental notes of passing comments your employees have said post-huddle. You might overhear them complaining that the daily stand-up takes up too much time away from their already-busy schedule. If that’s the case, trial a weekly team huddle and take it from there.

Use these team huddle ideas at your retail store

There’s no doubt that team huddles are effective ways to communicate with your retail team. They’re the perfect opportunity to provide much-needed employee recognition, get status updates, and address potential issues before they become bigger problems.

Whether you’re using them to announce upcoming events or to plan your upselling tactics for the week, use these team huddle ideas to run productive meetings and motivate your staff.

Additional research and content from Alexis Damen.

Team huddle ideas FAQ

What is the purpose of a team huddle?

Team huddles are brief team meetings used to exchange information, build team morale, and generate enthusiasm. The purpose of a team huddle is to give everyone an opportunity to share their ideas, learn from each other, and work together to come up with solutions to problems. It’s also a great way to build relationships among team members and foster a sense of camaraderie.

What is the difference between a meeting and a huddle?

A meeting is a gathering of people to discuss a particular topic or topics. It may last for hours and involve several people. A huddle is a brief, informal meeting or discussion. It is usually shorter in length and involves fewer people. It’s used to quickly share information, discuss a plan of action, or brainstorm ideas.

What should be included in a team huddle?

A brief review of goals and objectives.

A discussion of any current challenges or issues.

A chance for each team member to share their progress and successes.

A review of any upcoming tasks or deadlines.

A positive affirmation or team cheer.

A moment of reflection or gratitude.

An opportunity for team members to provide feedback.

A review of any new information or developments.

A chance to brainstorm new ideas or solutions.