Feedback

You're listening to Shorts and Suits conversations about business, leadership, culture, and families through the eyes of two entrepreneurs in the small business community with Ben Kaulfman and J.W. rayhans.

So, jw, have you ever been in the situation where the company you worked for or that you're running where you were going to be put in the situation? We had to talk and share and get evaluated by someone else.

Yeah, you know what? That's a. That's a great question and really kind of a powerful question, too, because I'll give you one sense. In one sense, I feel like that happens in every appointment we have with a client. In another sense, because for the most part, the majority of my professional career has been owning a company. And so I think in terms of even with our own team members and the way that they kind of interview and fill me out from time to time, so I would say yes, absolutely. On a regular basis, probably daily.

So this episode's all about effective huddles and one on ones and kind of the things that we go through and the challenges we have with those, but also what we do Right. In those things. Because we've learned that a little bit over time, haven't we?

Oh, we sure have. Yep.

So let's start with maybe talking about what I call our team huddles. And you call them. Yeah.

Our family. Like our weekly family meeting.

Yeah. So tell me about what that is like for you guys.

Yeah. So when it comes to that, that is the one time each week that we've got everybody together that we can cover, you know, client and team victories that have happened over the last week where we can reach out. And we actually call a client every single week when we do that. And that's always fun because then the client on the other end is getting a call from the entire team. And then, you know, we use that time to just cover major updates or, you know, things that are relevant to the entire team. That's important for our overall communication. And then we'll also utilize it sometimes for our book study when we're in one of our book study series.

Okay, and you guys do that every week?

That's every Monday afternoon?

Yeah. Okay. We do something similar. We have a Monday standup is what we call ours. And so that's similar to yours in the sense that the whole team's together. We start ours off. We have a standard cadence, just like you. Ours starts off with, you know, just going through and talking about what your priorities are for the week. So everybody goes around the horn. And today it's via Zoom. Someday it'll be in person again.

That's right.

But we go around and we just talk about, okay, here's the top three priorities I have for this week. And what we're doing there is just kind of self identifying the work that we know we have to do that we feel are the priority things. And then as everybody hears that, they come sometimes go like, oh, hey, I can help you with that, or oh, hey, I'm working on something similar. So it's really just an accountability kind of thing. But it also kind of gets your mind thinking first thing in the morning. Well, about 8:30 in the morning to get things going from there we go into, you know, any announcements we have for the company. And then we tend to go into. We always end with a spark, which is like, you know, you think of a football team or whatever where you put your hand in the middle and everybody's like, says a thing like go team or whatever. We tend to use, you know, if it's someone's birthday, we'll say, you know, JW on three. And JW will be the thing we spark off with something, you know, that's fun.

Yeah.

And then on Fridays we do what we call a recap. So similar, same time on Fridays at 30, we get together and everybody goes around, says, what's the top or one thing you're proud of this week? And so we're going around now, Monday you said, here's what you had to do. But at the end of the week, the idea there, and this really came about because of COVID and us being all separated, not in person with that, you often forget what other people have done. And so you kind of miss that chance and opportunity to give people atta boys and kudos and stuff. Right. So that's what we do. We go around and say, here's the things that I am proud of or that I've seen that I'm proud of this week. So I often will share. I'm really proud of this team or this person for the work they've done because you know, they've done things. But you try to focus on things that you've accomplished so that people can understand what you've been up to that week.

That's right.

And again, it's an accountability thing, but it's also a chance for you to do a little bit of self bragging in a way. Right. Because you're like, hey, here's something I did. And you often get people like, oh, that's so awesome. You Know, great job and that kind of thing. And then from there we actually jump into kudos. And I got to tell you, jw, that's my favorite part of a Friday meeting on our stand up on Fridays is, you know, initially it wasn't so popular in the sense that people weren't as actively participating in kudos. But as it's grown, it's probably become the most. The probably the most cherished thing we do going around and giving each other compliments on different things. And I just love hearing all the things that people have to say to each other. It's just super rewarding on my end.

Right.

Because I realize how, what a great team I have and what a great family we've created, you know, and so we go through that and that's usually how we end the week on what we do. I will add, we also do a thing on Wednesdays now in the afternoons we call it Space Bar Spaces. If you don't know of our situation, our building is called Rocket Space and JD and I both work out of this facility. And so we used to do Grill Fridays and we used to have Mimosa Mondays and all these crazy things. But since we're separated from seeing each other as much from COVID we stopped all that. So we created what we called Space Bar, which was basically a chance for us to get together online and do silly things like Pictionary online or a thing called Drawsaurus or whatever it is. It's some kind of game where we're all just kind of just having fun together.

Yeah.

So those are the three cadences that we do, which sounds like a lot, I know, but it's actually just short little 30 minute blocks and they really just break up the week and give us a chance to kind of reconnect and stay connected even in this time.

Which those are so important. And you mentioned the word cadence a couple times. And I think that's important as well because, you know, it gives. There's certain structure and expectation that it gives your team. And so it builds upon each one of those because they know what to expect. Right. They know what to get ready for. And there's so many components you mentioned in there that are valuable. The mention of kudos and the ability and the permission for everyone to compliment someone else and at the same time giving the permission in the environment for them to kind of brag about themselves a little bit, say, here's something that I did. Well, similar to like what we do in our, in what I called our client or team victories and you mentioned even a spark. And we've got a team chant that we use that that really reinforces and we say it at the end of every meeting and it reinforces just kind of the energy and the. And what we want as a team for, for us, we say be bold, stay strong, enjoy. And that's kind of how we finish every single team meeting that we have. How does this lead us into then? Where, where do you engage one on one with your team? Because what that does for any of us as owners and for those of you that lead a team or you're a business owner, you understand what we mean when it gives us the opportunity to really see what's going on organization wide and what Ben and I just shared through those, those team meetings. But then you take that to a deeper level when you go one on one with a team member. So Ben, kind of walk us through how you do your one on ones. You guys call them one on ones, we call them huddles. And so what's a one on one look like when you're with that team member?

Sure. Before I jump into that real fast, one thing as you're listening to kind of note that if you're hearing this from our conversation is that we're very intentional. Both JW are very intentional about how we organize and set up these huddles or family meetings because they're impactful for a business and we are trying to guide the way things go by having these intentional things. I mean, you think about it, it costs us a lot of money to have those like we're bringing our entire staff, sitting them together to do a non work productive activity for 30 minutes to an hour. But it's worth it because reasons we've kind of created. And I just want to bring that up before I jump into one on ones because I think that's something that can get missed if you think about it. So I encourage everybody out there to be very intentional about how you set up your team gatherings, whatever they might be for you.

Absolutely. And that's why you want those to have a purpose because they are costly for a company. You have to realize that's a huge time investment when you multiply a half hour or an hour times however many team members you have, you know, divided by what they're making per hour. Make it purposeful, make it intentional and it'll become valuable.

And I would argue that the opposite is if you don't do those, the chaos that can endure and consume your business because you aren't communicating and staying Together, it'll cost you even more. It will. All right. So one on ones for us is really a chance for us to. And I bring this up because this is interesting. I used to work for a large corporation and the mentality at that corporation, and I don't say all corporations are like this, but the one I worked at really was really rigid in their processes. And so the one on ones when I did those was almost like what I started off the conversation with. It was more like an interrogation. You know, you would have a formal one on one probably once a quarter and it had a grade sheet that that manager or whoever was doing that one on one with you would do. And it really was uncomfortable because you knew you were on the spot and they were looking for. What's that movie? Office Space. I think was when they had the two consultants come in and they like say, so tell me what you do here. Remember that movie? I don't know if that's the right movie. But anyway, it was, it was like that where you're feeling very interrogated and you were on edge and you're like, oh my gosh, I got this one on one coming up this, this week and oh man, I hope I make it through it. I got, you know, this and this. And I think it's because there was a lack of transparency and communication at that particular organization.

Sure.

That's not what I want one on ones to be at Rocket Media. And we can intentionally make them. Not that ours are very conversational. So what we're really trying to do is at the very minimum we have a monthly check in with, with our individual. So as if I'm the manager, I'll probably have a few, you know, a few people to report to me monthly. At the very minimum, I'm going to meet with them and have a conversation. Now we encourage more than that, but it's really up to the manager to kind of decide that you and the employee. So that's the big thing for us is making sure it's regular, it's on the calendar, you don't miss it. I always tell my managers when I talk to them about one on ones. I say, don't ever be the one that cancels a one on one. Do whatever you need to do to make sure you keep that. Now they come to you and they have a reason, that's reasonable, fine. But you want to make sure they know you know, that they're respected and that this is important to you.

That's right. It shows that it's a priority. To you as their leader and manager.

Yeah. So if you're canceling on them, that says a signal. So don't let that happen.

You got it? You know, let me. Ben, I'm going to insert just some statistics to really support what you're sharing here, because you mentioned the regularity of it. You mentioned the importance of the manager or leader making it a priority and not being the one to ever cancel or change it. So. And any of you that want to follow up on this, I encourage you check out some of the recent research that's been done by Gallup and, and McKinsey and Deloitte. But all three of those major research institutions, their latest research is coming out to support that. The fact that these are conversational, that the employee feels like it's a meaningful conversation. And a meaningful conversation, by the way, doesn't necessarily have to take a long time. A meaningful conversation can literally be five to seven minutes if you need it to be. But the components of that is really what makes the difference. And when companies do this well, when managers do this well, it's one of the leading factors to build loyalty in an employee, or it ends up being one of the leading factors towards a disengaged or an employee that's going to leave. And so what we're talking about is critically important to the success of your culture and your organization. And so I want to throw that in there again. You can go to any of those three research institutions and find the actual data and statistics on this, but it is extremely important. And so I wanted to throw that in while you were talking specifically about that, because some of them are even finding that the frequency of weekly makes a difference. And again, it's not necessarily that you're spending, you know, a half hour, an hour every week, but that it's a priority and that you're sharing something meaningful with that employee.

Yeah, that's good. That's good insight. Okay, so here's kind of the agenda that we go through that we've done. And so what I've decided to do, and this is something new that we were working on, we're kind of going through and just creating this thing we call how we do things the rocket way. So this is the rocket way of doing one on ones. And, you know, it's all our desire to document things and kind of build more consistency.

Sure.

So recently I met with my management team and I said, okay, here's how we're going to do one on ones the rocket way going forward. This is the framework I Want you to have liberties to kind of create your own personality in this. But I would love for all of our team members to have a consistent experience with one on ones. And so here's what that looks like. So again, it's least one a month and yeah, it's about 30 minutes or so. It's just a conversation. We start off with a personal check in. Now, if you're an employee and you've got a manager, if you know them or don't know them, depending on how long you've been at the company, the thing you have to do as a manager is build trust. Yes. And so the only way to really do that is to start having personal conversations that are not related to work. That's one of the ways, I shouldn't say the only way, but that's one of the main core ways. So you're asking things like, you know, how's your family, how's, how are you doing, you know your hobbies and things like that. And you're getting to know them on a real personal level as opposed to just like how those reports, you know, how is this work coming or how's that client doing? So you want to be sincere. It's a conversation, it's not just a scripted thing. And I always tell people, take great care in this part of the conversation. This is probably where I'd want you to spend the most of your time in the one on one process. Because this is what matters the most.

You got it. And by the way, that's something that's changed in the workplace culture over the years and for managers and leaders, don't be afraid of that part. It's important that you do have an understanding of what's going on in their personal lives. Because as much as people want to say that they're going to separate work and personal into some level, you may want to do that. But the reality is one impacts the other. They're interconnected. And so as a manager and leader, it's important that you lean into really understanding and knowing your team and not shy away from it. And you're reinforcing that with giving them this framework.

Yeah, and you're right on that. You know, we bring what we've had at home to work and what we take from work back to home. So it's a real part of everybody's process. Okay, so personal check ins, the first part of the agenda. And again, spend the most time you can on this because this is the important part. We like to document all of our one on one so the person, the manager, the manager is taking notes throughout this process. And we use a digital system so we can pull them up the next time. So you would want to then go into reviewing the actions from your last conversation. So you've gone through having a personal discussion. Okay, well, let's just check and see what we had last time we talked. GW here's the things we agreed on that we were going to work on. Here's the things. How are you doing on this, this and this? And what you're doing now is you're opening up the dialogue, you're reframing it back into the work kind of mindset. And so. And all you're doing is asking for accountability. You are really their accountability partner in this process because you're kind of holding that onus for them in this process. So reviewing previous actions, then you have a great way to lead into work discussions. So now you checked on those. Okay, well, what's going on now? And I always, I have really three questions I ask them to work on when they go through that part. Are there anything going on with your team members? Because often one of the biggest things people have problems with at work is interactions with their team members or co workers. So is there anything going on with that? Any issues or concerns or any highlights? You know, let's not just make it all negative. Are there any client challenges? If they're client facing or they're doing client work for us, that's everything. Sometimes it's just, sometimes it's just important to vet, vent those things out and just talk through them and have some place to speak about them.

Right.

You know, they can fester inside of us and we don't have a place to just let them out in a safe spot. Where do they go?

That's right.

All right. They go to your head and they cause problems. And then I lastly ask about technology and tools. Is there anything that we can be doing is like, you know, is your computer working great? Are there any problems with that? Do we need IT support? You'd be surprised how many times that's a problem for people. And they just wish they had a place to go. So they're collecting this information for me as the owner and for whoever else is part of that conversation. Everybody on our team knows that your one on one is held private between you and your manager and me as the owner. And the reason why is because I like to check in on what's going on and I can't meet with everybody in my company.

Right.

That's Important for you to hear is depending on the size of your company, you really should never have more than they say. Four to six is kind of the magic sweet spot. Sometimes that's possible, sometimes it's not. But that's where I'm at. I'm at 26 people. So I can't necessarily meet with everybody and give them all my attention, which I'd love to do, but I can stay in the loop.

That's right.

And so they need to know, and I'm super transparent about like, hey, Ben's going to see these things. But my notes. That doesn't mean you have to put all the details in there. For my notes, these are just talking points. Okay. So there's still a sense of confidentiality going on here. It's just the highlights so I can find out. Okay, they're having problems with somebody or they're having problems with this client or having technology choose issues, whatever it is. Then we lean into company support. So we've had personal check ins, review previous actions, work discussion, and now we're into company support. And this is where you're now being the manager saying, what can I do to help you, jw, what can I do? Yeah, how can I serve you? I just heard you talk about these things, these challenges you're having with the company or with clients or teammates. I can help you talk through those. But you're not. I always tell managers you're not there to solve their problems, you're there to listen.

That's right.

And you're there to help guide them through the resources that you might have for the company or outside resources. And so at this point you're just saying, how can I help you? And let them help decide that. Let them invite you into the problem they might be having because then, you know, it's something that's important to them rather than just interjecting yourself. And that's hard for me because I'm the type of person that wants to fix everything.

Yep.

You know, and a lot of people are like that. You know, you're just a helper. You want to help and you want to just. You say yes to everything, no to nothing, you know, and so that's important to have that pause and just let them tell you where they think you can help them. And most times it's, I'm good. Yeah, you just did what you needed to do, which you just listened to me.

Yep.

Right. They're saying that by saying, I'm good. Okay, great. And then, and then you memorialize everything. Right. So now you were taking notes this whole time. I go back through my notes and say, okay, here's the actions that we decided from today's call.

Yeah.

And if there's any that you didn't have that we needed to carry across here, we're doing that. So they know you're holding them accountable.

You got it.

Right. And so now you've gone through this whole kind of dialogue and process with them and that happens in about a 30 minute window.

Yeah.

Or you know, so it can be over lunch, it can be over, you know, just, just a meeting conversation. It can be over the phone, however you want to do it. Face to face time is always the best, but that's not always a possibility these days. But that's the framework we use here at Rocket Media. And there's so many different ways to skin that cat. You can have so many different variables to that. And I'm only sharing ours because I like to share at least some type of framework.

Yeah.

And I know you have yours and you guys do your somewhat similar but different in the same light. So if there's anything you want to add, now's the time.

You know what, actually what I'll do is because our framework isn't too much different than yours, so I'm just, I'm going to highlight a few tidbits that any of you listening may want to note. Because you know, we're going to, we're going to bring this to a close here in just a minute anyway. And so here's what I would encourage you with is as you go back and maybe even you listen to this one a couple times. Right. And you kind of listen to the framework that Ben just shared. But you're going to notice there's some key components, no matter what framework you choose, that make these successful. One of them is instruct your managers or your leaders to listen. Right. To ask great questions of their team members and then listen and make it a collaborative conversation. In other words, the manager or leader is not there to solve all their problems. As Ben mentioned, you're there to listen. You're there to collaborate with them. You're there to make them feel understood. And then it's a debrief at the end. Okay. How do we debrief what we just talked about? What are the actions that either of us need to take? And so let's go ahead and close with that because I think that gives all of you enough meat to really create some great team and family meetings and stand ups as well as huddles and one to ones. And always feel welcome to check back into any of our previous or future podcasts and use these lessons. You know, use them. And that's why we do this is we want you to be able to put these into practice with your own flavor and your own strengths and talents in your own business, your own industry, and with your team. And we hope you have and experience just significant success.

Absolutely. Yep. Thanks, jw.

Thanks, Ben.

See you later.

Yep.

Thank you for listening to Shorts and Suits. Your hosts are Ben Kaulfman of Rocket Media, a digital marketing agency, and J.W. rayhans of Rayhans Financial, a financial investment advisory firm. For more information, go to shortsandsuits.com if you find this podcast helpful, please help us by telling a friend and rating us on itunes. Subscribe to our Tribe and learn more@shortsandsuits.com.