Goal Alignment in Standup Meetings

A tip for your Daily sync/Standup/Scrum: DO: Have everyone walk through the shared goals that you are hoping to get done by the end of the iteration. If people need help on stuff, or have important information to add, let them bring it up. DON'T: Have everyone stand in a circle (or be in a zoom call), answering three questions in between being bored and inattentive (or on a different monitor), while a pretend 'leader' takes notes and moves individual tickets. The standup is about supporting each other. Collaboration and focus are what you are trying to create. It doesn't matter if no ticket moves or if no notes are taken. What matters is the team centering for the day on what matters the most to collectively get done, and the ability to leave the meeting and start doing that - including having any followup conversations. The other advantage to this is it takes way less time. I've run these standups REGULARLY in less than 10 minutes and in a way that teams were happy to participate in, because they basically had 10 minutes to talk about the most important stuff that our team should be talking about. By the way, if there ISN'T some value or experience you are working on collectively and together, or you don't have shared goals, then you aren't actually functioning as a team that a daily sync/standup/scrum was designed for, and you're wasting a heck of a lot of everyone's time. So either become that team (and if it makes sense, this is the right move), or stop having a daily meeting among a group of people working independently from each other. #agiledevelopment #gameproduction #gamedev #standup

If Sales Is Just Reading the CRM at Stand-Up… You’re Wasting Everyone’s Time Let’s be honest: Too many stand-up meetings go like this— “Two tours scheduled.” “Left a voicemail.” “Three leads in nurture.” “Back to you, Dining.” It’s not inspiring. It’s not strategic. And it’s not sales leadership. You want to build a real sales culture in your community? You want your team to rally around occupancy like it’s everyone’s job? Then stop reporting, and start activating. Here’s the 5-minute stand-up agenda every Sales Director should be bringing to the team—daily: ⸻ 1. Today’s Tour = Today’s Mission (1 min) Don’t just say who’s touring. Say why they’re touring. Give the team the family’s story, the emotional heartbeat, and one way each department can make an impact. ⸻ 2. Community Wins = Shared Momentum (1 min) Share a recent testimonial, a small victory, or a “you wouldn’t believe what this family said yesterday” moment. Build confidence. Build pride. Sales culture thrives on stories, not spreadsheets. ⸻ 3. One Hot Prospect = One Small Ask (1 min) Pick one family in the pipeline and ask for specific help. — Can Dining send a handwritten note? — Can Life Enrichment call and invite them to a program? — Can the ED make a quick check-in call? This builds shared ownership of the sales journey. ⸻ 4. Quick Reality Check = Collective Focus (1 min) Where are we YTD on move-ins? Where are we right now on leads-to-tour? Not to pressure—but to align. Everyone should know where we stand and how they can help move the needle. ⸻ 5. Moment of Purpose (30 sec) End with a reminder of why we do this. A quote, a mission statement, a photo of a new resident smiling in the dining room. We’re not filling rooms. We’re changing futures. ⸻ Let’s stop using stand-ups to recite CRM notes like a script. Let’s use them to build belief, drive action, and make every department feel like part of the win. Sales doesn’t report to the team. Sales activates the team. #SeniorLivingSales #SalesCulture #LeadershipInAction #DailyStandUp #OccupancyStrategy #MoveTheNeedle #SalesWithPurpose #SellTheMission #BuildTheEnergy #LinkedInLeadership

Over the last few weeks, I spoke with a dozen different marketing folks, to understand what they most love and dislike about their team meetings in an effort to improve mine. Here is what I found: ✅ Real alignment – Not just updates, but tying work directly to company priorities. Example: Instead of listing campaign metrics, discuss how their latest cybersecurity content aligns with overall messaging strategy. ✅ Solving roadblocks – Meetings that actually help teams move forward. Example: A content marketer stuck on a technical piece gets insights from a security engineer on an architecture diagram to make it more visually interesting. ✅ Cross-team connection – Insights on how marketing impacts (and is impacted by) sales, product, and beyond. Example: Demand-gen learns from sales that prospects keep asking about “how our AI works” prompting a shift in ad messaging. ✅ Recognition & learning – Celebrating wins, sharing lessons, and injecting fresh perspectives. Example: A webinar campaign that exceeded lead targets is dissected: what worked, what didn’t, and what security topics resonated most with prospects? What makes them dreadful? ❌ Update marathons – If the whole meeting could have been a Slack message, why are we here? ❌ No clear agenda – Meetings that meander with no purpose waste everyone’s time. ❌ Forced icebreakers – No one needs another “what’s your go-to karaoke song” moment.