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The role of a leader is to empower, engage, enable, and develop those around them in the workplace. It’s not an easy task and requires daily tending. So, how does one become a great leader? Marcus Buckingham, best-selling author and management expert, spoke at Achievers Customer Experience (ACE) Conference last fall on what makes a great leader. He shared two questions that exceptional leaders consistently ask their team: “What are you working on?” and “How can I help?” Buckingham’s argument is that these two questions should be at the core of every leader. By asking these two simple questions, leaders are able to provide guidance and help break down barriers. How an organization leads and supports its employees draws several parallels. If a business could ask its employees daily, “What are you working on?” and “How can I help?” what would that look like?
At Achievers, we use a daily 9-minute company-wide meeting known as TTP (aka “To the Point”) to facilitate this conversation. The goal of TTP is to drive alignment, visibility and give a quick break to re-energize the organization around common goals. Buzzwords aside, TTP offers a unique opportunity for the entire organization to ask, “What are you working on?” and “How can I help?” The purpose of sharing TTP in a blog post is two-fold:
1. To demonstrate how you can apply TTP to your organization
TTP has worked for Achievers throughout the years as a way to build alignment across the organization. If our methodology behind TTP resonates with you and your business, please feel free to duplicate TTP and apply it to your own company culture.
2. To suggest how you can customize TTP meetings according to your own business needs
Achievers’ TTP meetings have evolved over the years. For example, there were times when TTP would go on for over 15 minutes and we realized adjustments had to be made; and now they only run for 9 minutes. Also, as a global organization with 200+ employees, there are other factors to take into consideration when setting up a company-wide daily meeting, such as suitable time slots that work across different time zones.
By sharing why and how we conduct TTP meetings at Achievers, I hope other businesses can draw value and better align their organizations.
Below is the current breakdown of Achievers’ TTP meeting structure slide by slide. As you’ll see, the purpose of TTP meetings is to give employees the opportunity to share with the entire organization what they’re working on and ask for help if needed. Achievers’ TTP meetings are structured as follows:
Slide 1: Introductions
“Introductions” is a good time to announce any new hires that have just joined the company. This is also the right time to share if any customers, prospective customers, or potential job candidates are coming to visit the office to learn more about your business.
Slide 2: L.O.V.E Moment
Here at Achievers, L.O.V.E. stands for “Living Our Values Every day”. The most powerful way we do this is through the daily sharing of recognition moments. The host selects a recognition moment from our employee engagement platform – whether peer-to-peer or manager-to-team – and highlights it in front of the organization for a quick celebration. Moments like these show support and appreciation for hard work and provide added encouragement for employees to recognize another.
Slide 3: Good News
The “Good News” portion of TTP is used to celebrate milestones, announce closed business deals, or just catch-up on some of the great things happening across the entire business. This part of TTP is the chance to boost spirits around company performance and give employees additional cause for celebration.
Slide 4: Department Spotlight
For the “Spotlight,” one department is given 2-minutes to highlight any projects that have been a main focus or successes they have achieved within the last two weeks. They can also speak about what is coming down the pipeline for their department. Also, every department gets equal attention by having each department rotate for this portion of TTP.
Slide 5: New Meetings
“New Meetings” is the chance to highlight new opportunities the sales team is working on. Does anyone at the company know someone in their network that works at one of these companies? If so, this is the chance for employees to help make the connection and support any new opportunities.
Slide 6: Pause Minutes
“Pause Minutes” allows for anyone in the company to share any important announcements. This can be anything from an upcoming event they want employees to attend, or an opportunity to ask for help/advice on a topic.
TTP meetings provide multiple opportunities for the Achievers team to find alignment across the organization. Because of the level of transparency and open participation, countless ideas and additional opportunities have been generated from department spotlights, prospect announcements and new meeting highlights.
One final thing to note: TTP meetings have always been very bottoms-up. Leadership steps in occasionally to share what they have been working on, but each week the host of the meeting rotates and it can be anyone in the company. This gives everyone an opportunity to stand in front of the organization and actively participate.
As someone who has worked both remotely as well as in the office for Achievers, TTP has been an invaluable part of my day-to-day these last four years at the company. As organizations strive for flatter, more transparent structures, these types of daily huddles mirror what best-in-class leaders and organizations are doing to shake up their organizational structure and build toward what Josh Bersin calls, “a network of teams.” If you’re looking to implement something similar, feel free to reach out and let us know how Achievers can help. We’d love to be a part of helping to build the foundation for your culture, engagement, and communication strategies.
