Huddles – Old

Huddles are “quick conferences” before the day or shift, where the care team meets to plan their approach for the day, identify potential challenges, and ask for/offer help where needed.
Resource Type: 
  • Guide
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Downloads:

REFERENCES

 

Baker, C. Team Huddle Agenda: A daily “stand up” meeting. The Enlightened Manager.

Bodenheimer, T. (2007). The Teamlet Model of Primary Care. Annals of Family Medicine www.annfammed.org/content/5/5/457.full

Healthy Huddles. Center for Excellence in Primary Care.  cepc.ucsf.edu/healthy-huddles

Johnson, B. and Stewart, E. (2007, September). Huddles, Improve Office Efficiency in Mere Minutes. www.aafp.org/fpm/2007/0600/p27.html

Use Regular Huddles and Staff Meetings to Plan Production and to Optimize Team Communication. Institute for Healthcare Improvement. www.ihi.org/resources/Pages/Changes/UseRegularHuddlesandStaffMeetingstoPlanProductionandtoOptimizeTeamCommunication.aspx

SAMHSA-HRSA Center for Integrated Health Solutions. Team Members.
https://www.integration.samhsa.gov/workforce/team-members/Huddle_checklist_by_HealthPoint_CHCs.pdf

REFERENCES

Huddles improve team communication and help build team morale and positive attitudes, which translates to .

Other Benefits to Huddles May Look Like...

  • Setting the vision for the day.
  • Providing clarity for the team to understand who is doing what.
  • Preventing duplication of work.
  • Accelerating problem solving and increasing transparency.
  • Providing opportunities for everyone to request and/or offer help, thus building camaraderie and respect in the team.

Our Huddle How-To:

Establishing Setting & Structure

Establish a central meeting space where everyone can stand. Set the duration of the meeting as well, establishing a start and end time with your team.

Inviting In

Invite all members of the care team; physician, nurse, medical assistant, care manager, front desk, behavioral health worker, etc. Check in with the team – What do we need to plan for today? What does everyone need to meet the demands of today's schedule?

Debriefing & Thinking Ahead

Debrief on the day before - What went well? What didn’t go well? What do we need to do differently? Then, you can plan for today. What’s on the schedule? Any open slots scheduling should know about? Any complex patients on the schedule? What help is needed? What might derail smooth operations and optimal care?

Things to Consider When Implementing Huddles:

  • Leadership buy-in is key to success. Leadership does not necessarily need to lead huddles, but their support is critical.
  • Any size of practice can benefit from huddles! In large practices that use pods, one person from each pod can attend the huddle and take important information back to their area. In small or solo practices, huddles prevent problems that can arise when one person assumes that everyone else in the office knows what’s going on.
  • Everyone should seek to learn from mistakes and review what went right and what went wrong, so the practice can adopt more efficient processes.
  • Consider establishing an agenda format and common topics to be covered at each huddle.

Key Takeaway:

Huddles are a vital tool for increasing transparency, planning ahead, and bringing your team together.

Before you go, consider how you and your organization could implement huddles into your day-to-day. How can you ensure your team members feel comfortable speaking up during huddles, regardless of their role or position? How can you best measure the impact of huddles over time? What strategies can be used to prevent huddles from becoming routine or losing their effectiveness?

Additional Resources:

  • Download our Huddle Checklist for an example of a team "game plan."
  • Download our Sample Agenda for your own example template to work from.
  • Watch our Starting Care Team Huddles video below!

3 Steps to Starting Care Team Huddles:

A HealthTeamWorks' Huddle How-To

How Can We Help Your Team Work?