A weekly sync is only as good as what people bring to it. When everyone arrives with their numbers entered and their updates ready, the meeting moves quickly and most of the time goes on solving problems. When people update things during the meeting, the meeting becomes data entry and the real conversations never happen.
Preparing takes about fifteen minutes. Do it at the same time every week, ideally the afternoon before the sync, and the meeting gets shorter and more useful for everyone, including you.
1. Read last week’s recap (2 minutes)
When a team’s sync ends, the recap is posted to the team’s Hub. It lists the wins and notables, what happened in the meeting, and “What’s owed”: every action item created, with its owner and due date.
Find your name in “What’s owed”. Those are the commitments you made last week, and you’ll be asked about them.
2. Enter your numbers (4 minutes)
If you own metrics, enter this week’s values on the Metrics page before the meeting. The sync’s Scorecard step can take values too, but typing them in during the meeting holds everyone up.
As you enter each one, look at it. Is it on target? If not, do you know why? You’ll be asked to say “on target” or “off target” in the meeting. You won’t be asked to explain unless it needs a conversation.
If a number is off target and needs the team’s help, use Flag as challenge in the metric’s history. That puts it on the challenge list with the value and target filled in. More on this in keeping your metrics current, and the clicks are in record metric values.
3. Update your milestones (3 minutes)
For each milestone you own, check its status and its subtasks:
- Tick off subtasks you’ve finished. The milestone’s progress follows from them.
- Set the status honestly. On track if you expect to hit it; off track if you don’t.
- If it’s off track, decide whether you need help. If you do, raise a challenge. Saying so in week five gives the team time to help. Saying so in week twelve doesn’t.
See update milestone status and the longer guide on owning a milestone.
4. Close your action items (2 minutes)
Open the Action Items page and filter to yourself. Tick off everything you’ve done. For anything not done, decide now: will it be done this week, and what’s the new date? If it’s been stuck for two weeks, use Create challenge from its menu so it gets discussed.
In the meeting, you’ll say “done” or “not done” for each one. That’s all. See manage action items.
5. Raise and vote on challenges (3 minutes)
What’s in your way? What’s a problem you’ve noticed that nobody’s raised? Add it as a challenge. Click Quick Add in the sidebar from any page.
Then open the challenge list and vote for the ones you think matter most. The list sorts by pinned, then escalated, then votes, so your votes decide what the team talks about first. You can take a vote back if you change your mind. See vote and escalate challenges.
6. Have one win ready (1 minute)
The second step of the default agenda is Wins & Notables: good news, and anything the team should hear. Come with one thing. A customer compliment, a problem solved, a colleague who helped you out. It takes thirty seconds to say and it sets the tone for the rest of the meeting.
In the meeting
When the facilitator starts the sync, press Join Sync on it. Your screen follows the facilitator from step to step, so you’re always looking at what’s being discussed. If something comes up that needs capturing, the Add button in the header opens quick add for a challenge or action item.
At the end, rate the meeting from 1 to 10. Be honest. A 6 with a reason is more useful to the facilitator than a polite 9.
The checklist
- Read last week’s recap; find what you owe.
- Enter this week’s numbers.
- Tick off subtasks; set milestone status honestly.
- Close finished action items; re-date the rest.
- Raise what’s in your way; vote on the list.
- One win ready.
Common mistakes
Updating during the meeting. It slows everyone down, and the meeting runs out of time for the problems that need it.
Status theatre. Marking a milestone on track until the week it’s obviously not helps nobody, least of all you.
Explaining every number. On target or off target. If it needs a conversation, it’s a challenge.
Never raising challenges. If you’ve never raised one, you’re either in a very unusual company or keeping problems to yourself. The challenge list exists so problems get solved, not so people get blamed.
Skipping the vote. If you don’t vote, other people decide what the meeting covers.