What are the benefits of huddle boards?
Daily or weekly huddles give team members the opportunity to raise any issues that are interfering with their tasks and milestones. As a project manager, you can use huddle boards to:
Create a visual overview of the entire project status
Address any issues that interfere with project progress
Make quick changes to a project schedule to achieve the desired result
Once you manage an effective huddle board, your team members can always refer to the document when addressing any issues in their productivity. For example, they can:
Create a point of discussion to raise at the next team huddle update
Proactively ask for additional support on larger, complicated tasks
Execute tasks without roadblocks while awaiting huddle updates
A typical huddle meeting is completed in a 10-15 minute window. The purpose of a huddle board is to make the daily or weekly check-ins even more efficient, and provide a forum for global teams to raise issues with the project so that solutions are readily implemented.
When to use the huddle board template?
The huddle board template is an effective resource to help you:
Schedule regular team check-ins and progress report updates
List out all tasks for the week and initiate task management discussions
Identify blockers, resolve issues, and clarify expectations
Make adjustments to how project resources are assigned for specific tasks
Align global teams around shared priorities and project expectations
The huddle board template creates a forum for you to run weekly status update meetings with your team. You can use the template to open the floor for discussions about how certain tasks may impact other priorities and resolve any conflicting demands for your team members.
Suppose your team has been tasked with developing a new piece of software that will be promoted to clients. Before you can go public with the new release, your team must complete plenty of internal development work to validate the new technology will work. Here are some examples of what you can include on your huddle board template to keep the project moving forward:
Review existing user authentication access codes
Identify areas to improve user authentication
Implement security enhancements to protect platform access
Test new authentication codes in a staging environment
Evaluate test results and make any necessary changes
Run a final authentication code test in the staging environment
Release the new feature and gain user feedback
Each one of those tasks is a small part in the larger project, but they must all be completed to ensure the new software works as advertised. Your huddle board template allows all team members to share status updates in a clear and transparent manner to ensure the project remains on track. You can also evaluate how more immediate priorities conflict with other tasks and make adjustments to the project schedule based on the team feedback.
How to use the huddle board template
The huddle board template is a visual representation of all task workloads in a particular project. Project managers can easily see which tasks require immediate attention and make any changes to project schedules to help team members complete larger, more complex tasks.
Step 1: List out all current project tasks
Open your huddle board template and list out all current project tasks. Use the + button on your project board to create new tasks. Within each task, create a checklist that includes all steps and sequences that must be completed to finish the assigned task.
Step 2: Organize your tasks and assign completion dates
Your huddle board template comes pre-built with three distinct vertical sections: tasks underway this week, tasks completed this week, and blocked tasks. Once you’ve listed all your tasks and checklists, add each task into your section for tasks that will be completed this week.
Assign team members to complete the tasks. In some cases, your checklists may include sub-tasks that require other team members to contribute to that task. Make a note of these instances and ask the team member tagged to complete the task to manage the completion of each item on the checklist.
Step 3: Manage the workflow with task status updates
Any tasks that were completed on schedule can be moved into the tasks completed this week section so that you can free up bandwidth for other priorities. Any tasks that were not completed and are stuck in development can move into the blocked section to highlight the challenge.
For any tasks that are blocked, determine if they should remain a priority for your team. If so, reassign resources to help solve the blocked status and complete the task. If not, de-prioritize those tasks so other, more important tasks can get done.
Step 4: Monitor workforce capacity using status reports
Use the Reports feature of your huddle board template to monitor tasks that are successfully completed and tasks that are blocked. Use the reports to help organize your next huddle update status and address issues with the workflow.
