🎯keep all your teams on track (without daily meetings)

Hey—It’s Mohammad.

I'm eating blueberry yogurt with granola, trying to fuel up for the day. My spoon scrapes the bottom of the cup while I think about the countless hour’s teams waste in "quick sync" meetings.

There’s gotta be a better way right?

Read Time: 5.5 minutes

Most teams fall out of sync faster than a broken metronome.

You've probably lived this nightmare:

• Someone misses a crucial Slack message buried in 127 unread notifications

• That "small update" never made it to the rest of the team

• Your client's getting antsy because deliverables look different than expected.

And the best solution to this: More meetings to discuss another meeting. (Which is like trying to put out a fire with gasoline.)

But here's what's interesting: Jason Fried, CEO of 37Signals, cracked this problem wide open.

• No daily stand-ups.

• No endless Slack threads.

Just two simple documents that keep his entire company running smoothly.

2 documents to track team alignment & reviews.

Instead of drowning in meetings where everyone nods along (but nobody remembers what was said), you get a clear paper trail.

It's like having Google Maps for your projects – you know exactly where you're going and where you've been.

The reason teams fall out of sync like two bad dancers is because they weren’t on the same page to start off.

Instead of using complicated methods to keep teams in sync, Jason Fried, CEO of 37Signals, uses none of that and has built multiple successful products including:

• Basecamp: A project management tool

• Hey.com: An email optimization tool

• Once.com: A SaaS for Business

Writing is the backbone for both in internal & external business communication.

Jason did an interview with David Perell where he broke down how he implements writing in his business.

He uses 2 documents: Kickoffs and Heartbeats.

Use Kickoffs for alignment: outline a project sprint.

37Signals does 6-week sprints, meaning they work on projects for 6 weeks.

Kickoffs are projections on what teams expect to accomplish over 6 weeks. These are big picture items. Roadmaps for teams and it’s up to the team to decide on individual tasks.

They describe the types of projects and how much time they will take. The team is given free rein on how to reach the end goal and their goal is to stay within the budget.

Kickoffs are shared with the entire company. Everyone is aware what everyone else is doing.

Here’s a summary of what Kickoffs docs include:

• Timing: Written at the beginning of each 6-week cycle.

• Due Date: Second Friday of the cooldown period between cycles.

• Purpose: To summarize and outline the work scheduled for the upcoming cycle.

• Content:

  • Team assignments: Who is working on it

  • Types of projects to be worked on

  • Money & Time Budget for each project

• Autonomy: Team leads have a high degree of autonomy in setting the direction and content.

Heartbeats are reviews on project health.

At the end of the 6-week sprint, heartbeat documents are written.

They’re reviews of what the team accomplished over the 6 weeks. Like Kickoffs, Heartbeats are published company wide. Any employee can read Heartbeats past and present.

Here’s a summary of what Heartbeat docs include:

• Timing: Written at the end of each 6-week cycle.

• Due Date: First Friday of the cooldown period between cycles.

• Purpose: To summarize and celebrate the work completed during the previous cycle.

• Content:

  • Overview of accomplished work

  • Successes and setbacks

  • Individual and team contributions

• Accountability: The work described should generally align with what was planned in the Kickoff.

These tools create a record of alignment & progress.

Instead of long, unfocused meetings, Kickoffs and Heartbeats create a written record of alignment and progress. They make sure everyone’s on the same page without stealing hours from your day.

Using both allows teams to stay in sync and on track.

37Signals uses both to keep their teams on track.

It’s helped them develop Basecamp, Hey.com, and Once.com.

Kickoffs are what you plan on doing.
Heartbeats are what you actually did.

Here’s a Strategy for using Heartbeats & Kickoffs:

1) The Diagnosis: What’s the root problem?

• If your teams keep missing their goals? → Implement Kickoffs

• If your teams keep forgetting what’s done before? ==> Implement Heartbeats

2) The Compass: What’s the true north to follow?

• "Everyone knows what everyone else is working on."

  That's it. No fancy mission statements needed.

3) The Action Plan: What are the tactics to solve the problem?

• Pay attention to where projects falter.

• Experiment with how kickoffs and heartbeats work for your own schedule. 37Signals uses it for 6-week sprints

  • Got a fast-moving startup? Try 4 weeks

  • Working on bigger projects? 12 weeks might fit better

The point isn't to copy their system exactly – it's to stop treating team alignment like a game of telephone.

I’ve noticed that the companies struggling the most with team alignment often have the most meetings. It's like having a leaky boat and deciding to add more holes.

But enough from me and my (now) empty yogurt cup.

Try this out and let me know how it goes – I'd love to hear what works (or doesn't) for your team.

See you next Saturday

— Mohammad Khan

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