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A Workplace Routine That Works Even Better in Your Relationship
Got something to discuss? Save it for the huddle
A much maligned part of the workplace is the over-reliance on long, inefficient meetings that could have been an email.
But there’s one kind of meeting I’ve always found helpful, especially in remote or distributed teams: the daily or almost-daily “check-in.” Sometimes it’s called a huddle, a stand-up, a round robin, but in essence it’s the same: A quick, to-the-point run-down of what people are working on, what they might need from colleagues, and what’s next on deck. It usually lasts no more than 10 minutes, and makes you feel connected to your colleagues even when you’re far apart.
Recently, my partner and I instituted something similar. We had a mountain of life admin piling up on us: planning a wedding, re-jigging our budget with changing circumstances, and renovation and DIY projects at not one, but two flats.
As a result, we were bouncing between one of two unhelpful habits. Habit one was talking about these projects and to-do list items at all hours of the day, with no structure, sometimes via text message, often in between tasks, or when the other one was inevitably tired or short-tempered. The other habit was to schedule time for a formal “meeting at the weekend,” which…
