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Episode 70

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Published on:

15th Jan 2024

Maximizing Efficiency: The Power of Daily Standups

How does the implementation of a daily stand-up meeting empower team members, and what role does continuous learning and training play in maintaining quality service in a rapidly evolving work environment?

In this episode, Damien and Penny delve into the power of daily stand-up meetings with the team of S&N Financial in Chennai, India. The team discusses how such meetings, structured clearly around priorities and challenges, can alleviate stress and increase efficiency, especially during busy seasons like tax time. The team also shares their experience about the overall benefits of having a daily meeting versus one-on-one sessions. In addition, they touch on the importance of continuous learning and training to keep up with the numerous applications they use in their work.

[00:00 - 16:23] Daily Stand-Up Meetings

  • Damien and Penny share insights and lessons learned from their work with customers around the world.
  • The episode focuses on the importance and structure of daily stand-up meetings, especially during the busy tax season.
  • The internal team dynamics, specifically how team leaders handle communication and problem-solving within their teams.
  • Damien and Penny emphasize the benefits of these stand-up meetings in solving immediate problems, handling workload distribution, and improving overall team efficiency.


[16:23 - 26:50] The Implementation of a Daily Stand-Up Meeting Template

  • Damien and Penny discuss the importance of making meetings more valuable, focusing on daily stand-up meetings.
  • They explore the process of empowering team members to make changes to meeting templates to better suit their needs.
  • They also delve into the dynamics of team collaboration, especially in problem-solving and managing technical issues.
  • The importance of integrating training into the company culture is highlighted, emphasizing its role in maintaining quality service.



[26:50 - 46:16] The Importance of Continual Learning and Training

  • Welcoming the management team of S&N Financial from Chennai, India.
  • Damien and Penny engage with the team during their daily stand-up meeting, discussing its purpose and effectiveness.
  • The discussion covers how the team manages daily client requirements, prioritizes tasks, and adapts to staff availability.
  • They explore the dynamic workload management during tax season and how the team efficiently processes tax returns.
  • The importance of continuous learning and training within the firm is emphasized, especially during busy periods like tax season.



Quotes:


"I think there's a really, really valuable lesson here and a lot of power in the daily stand-up and having it very structured in terms of what we are trying to achieve out of this meeting." - Damien Greathead


"It's not an easy feat, and I kept on saying, we have somebody who's been with us for 10 years... Why aren't we using her? Well, she didn't have the right designation to go. No, but she has the right knowledge and she has the right temperament." - Penny Breslin


"Build training into your culture and that learning mentality into your culture." - Damien Greathead



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Thank you for listening. Please like and share this episode with a friend!

Websites: https://moneypennyllc.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/damiengreathead/

Twitter: @Damien_GH

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/penny-breslin-0228b81/

Twitter: @pennyb57


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About the Podcast

Strategy and the Virtual Controller
Helping accounts and bookkeepers build the firm they want, their way
Your hosts Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead have more than 30 years of combined experience in the accounting industry. This podcast is to share their experiences of working in, and consulting to accounting and bookkeeping firms of all sizes, helping them grow.

Nothing discussed will be rocket science, instead they'll be discussing 'how' firms have successfully, and not so successfully, pursued growth. Penny and Damien will be sharing their insights on how firms can be successful by focusing on their people (clients included), their technology, and their processes and systems.

Ultimately how successful an accounting business will be depends largely on how the owners manage change, which alongside taxes appears to be the only constant.

We do want to acknowledge David Maister's great read Strategy and the Fat Smoker: Doing what's obvious but not easy as the inspiration for our title. Buy it on Amazon - https://amzn.to/3dhcUFC

Subscribe today for an upbeat and practical conversation about what's working and what's not in accounting businesses around the world.

About your hosts

Penny Breslin

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Penny Breslin is the founder of MoneyPenny, a consulting firm specializing in helping accounting firms and other businesses embrace the power of technology to simplify their operations and increase their profit margins.

Drawing on her years of experience and her knowledge of what it takes to run a successful business, Penny oversees the development of back office processes for her client firms. From the initial evaluation of the firm’s workflow, to technology selection, and assisting in the on-boarding of the firm’s clients, Penny works with her clients to maximize the benefits of a paperless and cloud-based firm.

Damien Greathead

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Damien has been working in the accounting industry for more than 15 years. In addition to getting his hands dirty preparing tax returns and doing bookkeeping, but the bulk of his experience comes from consulting to both accounting firms and the technology companies that serve the industry.

He set up 2020 Group USA which was a membership group for small and medium sized accounting firms and then went on to set up Receipt Bank (now Dext) in North America.

He regularly speaks to industry bodies on technology, marketing and change management.