A Daily Huddle for a School Leadership Team

Improve your communications, uplevel morale, and strengthen the team’s commitment to values and vision with this efficient and effective strategy.

In this Edutopia article, Paul Young (Ohio University/Lancaster) says principals who multitask while trying to do everything (phone calls, e-mails, drop-ins, paperwork deadlines, student behavior) are likely to use their time inefficiently, make mistakes, and get exhausted. “If you’re switching between activities at a rapid rate,” says Young, “chances are your office staff is, too” – and that’s especially true for the school secretary.

Young has a suggestion: the principal convenes a short meeting every morning – a huddle – with core team members:

• Secretary
• Assistant principal
• Nurse
• Social worker
• Lead custodian
• Cafeteria manager
• Before- and after-school coordinators
• Anyone else who’s involved with daily operations. 

The purpose of the meeting is not to plan the week or long-term projects – there are other meetings for that – but to check in with the team on what today has in store: goals and priorities, appointments, visitors, challenges, sharing key information.

Young, who has been a teacher, principal, after-school director, principal association president, and mentor to school leaders, has the following suggestions for the huddle:

• Gather at the same time and place each day, ideally before students arrive.
• Conduct the meeting standing in a circle.
• Keep it short – 15 minutes or less.
• The principal speaks first, then everyone else speaks, going around the circle.
• Each person briefly (in a minute or two) shares priorities, important status updates, shout-outs and accomplishments, and possible roadblocks.
• Problems are identified but not discussed – that takes place in separate meetings afterward.

Young has found that regular huddles like this have a number of benefits:

Smoother office operations – When the secretary and administrators are aware of priorities and scheduled meetings, they are more likely to know when an interruption by a colleague, student, parent, or visitor can be squeezed in.

Setting limits on an open-door policy – When team members are aware of an important deadline and a block of time when the principal must not be interrupted, they can act as first responders and gatekeepers.

Team communication – “Not only will your team know your priorities for the day,” says Young, “but they’ll learn about each other’s as well. Communication will become free and open.”

One team, one mission – At their best, daily huddles strengthen a school’s values and sense of direction. “You can’t create a culture alone or in isolation,” says Young. “Share the responsibility for success.”

Morale – Discussing goals and priorities and getting direction from the principal can energize team members, focusing the way they spend their time and empowering them to fend off low-priority distractions and prevent crises. A daily huddle “may be the best meeting you’ll ever have,” concludes Young.

This summary excerpted from The Marshall Memo #971, January 30, 2023, and included with permission. Original article: “How a Morning Huddle Can Organize a Principal’s Day” by Paul Young in Edutopia, January 26, 2023.