Fostering Team Engagement and Knowledge Sharing with a Remote Workforce: The Power of a Daily Huddle

In an era where remote and hybrid work has become the norm for professional services firms, maintaining a strong sense of connection, shared values, and open knowledge exchange is a constant challenge. At 2050 Partners, we’ve adopted a daily huddle—a practice that’s simple yet evolving—to help address these challenges.

The daily huddle serves as our virtual gathering space, helping our fully remote team stay aligned and connected. While it’s not a silver bullet, the huddle is a meaningful step toward fostering collaboration, reinforcing our company values, and supporting knowledge sharing.

Fostering Connection in a Remote Workforce

Our huddle format is short and focused, taking just 15 minutes a day, five days a week for the typical 30+ attendees. This consistent rhythm helps create a shared routine while respecting everyone’s time. While we’ve developed a structure that works well for us, it’s important to note that each team may need to experiment and find a format that suits their unique needs and culture.

Reinforcing Company Values Through Structure

Each day of the week is designed to reflect our organizational priorities and values, and we always close the huddle with a WRAAP—an acronym for Wins, Recognitions, Announcements, Ask a Question, and Pain Points—to ensure that everyone has a voice:

• Mindful Monday: We start the week by revisiting our values, vision, purpose, and quarterly theme. Team members share their key priorities and challenges, or discuss a thought-provoking quote, setting the tone for a productive week.
• “Tech” Tuesday: This day is all about growth and learning. Whether it’s discussing a relevant article or listening to a “Power Talk” from a team member, we use this time to explore topics that advance our collective knowledge and support our work.
• Work Wednesday: Knowledge sharing takes center stage as team members present updates on projects or initiatives. These presentations are concise and actionable, providing insight into challenges, wins, and opportunities for collaboration.
• Trusted Thursday: We dedicate time to training and discussions focused on being a trusted advisor, a core value of our organization. This might include lessons from client engagements, best practices, or strategies to deepen client relationships.
• Fun Friday: To close out the week, we engage in team-building activities or games. This lighthearted session reinforces camaraderie and serves as a reminder that we all have rich, varied lives and interests outside of work. Whether it’s trivia, sharing hobbies, or just having fun, these moments help us connect as people, not just colleagues.

Rotating Roles to Build Skills and Relationships

One key aspect of our huddle is the rotation of facilitators and presenters. By giving different team members the opportunity to lead, we help them develop facilitation and presentation skills while allowing the rest of the team to learn more about their colleagues. This rotation ensures diverse perspectives and keeps the huddle engaging and dynamic.

Evolving Through Feedback

Our huddle topics and approach have evolved as we’ve grown as a company. Employee feedback has been instrumental in shaping the structure and content to ensure it meets our team’s needs. This iterative process reminds us that the huddle is always a work in progress—open to change and improvement.

Supporting Knowledge Transfer and Collaboration

The huddle’s structure aims to support a company vision where knowledge flows freely across the organization. Work Wednesday, for example, is a platform for team members to:

• Showcase their work, highlighting successes and obstacles
• Share insights that might otherwise stay siloed
• Request feedback or support from colleagues with different expertise.

By encouraging open dialogue and collaboration, these sessions help us identify opportunities for innovation and ensure that everyone feels invested in the organization’s success.

Conclusion

The daily huddle is not a complete solution, but it is an important practice that helps us overcome some of the challenges of remote work. By fostering connection, reinforcing values, and promoting knowledge sharing, it has become a valuable part of our efforts to build a cohesive and aligned team. As we continue to refine our approach, we recognize that the key is finding a structure that evolves alongside our team’s unique culture and goals.