The Friday Huddle: six numbers, 20 minutes, one plan

A weekly store huddle turns last week’s activity into next week’s decisions.

The format is small on purpose: 20 minutes, the same six numbers, and one student responsible for explaining each line.

The four habits behind the huddle

Use the same numbers every week. A fixed format makes changes easier to spot. Students spend less time finding the data and more time explaining it.

Give every number an owner. The owner brings the result, explains the gap, and proposes the next action.

Compare results with a plan. A number becomes useful when the team can compare it with a goal set before the week began.

Manage the inputs. Students cannot change last week’s sales. They can change stock, pricing, promotion, staffing, and whether the store opens on time.

The six-line Store Review

Put the same table on the board every Friday.

#	Metric	Suggested owner
1	Net sales vs. weekly goal	Student CFO
2	Transactions and average sale	Sales lead
3	Top five items and slow movers	Merchandising lead
4	Stock-outs and missed demand	Inventory lead
5	Cash over or short, by shift	Store manager
6	One customer comment, verbatim	Customer lead

The titles are suggestions. Use the roles your store already has, or assign each line to a small team.

The 20-minute agenda

Minutes 0 to 2: read the scoreboard. Show all six lines together. Note which ones met the plan and which ones need discussion.

Minutes 2 to 14: hear from the owners. Give each owner two minutes: the number, the plan, the reason for the gap, and the next action.

Minutes 14 to 18: test the explanations. Ask what evidence supports each explanation. Separate a cause the team can act on from a story that only sounds plausible.

Minutes 18 to 20: commit the next week. Set the sales goal and record one owner, action, and due date for each open issue.

Prepare four fields, not a presentation

Each owner should arrive with four fields completed: plan, actual, explanation, and next action.

The explanation should distinguish a fact from a hypothesis. “The blue hoodie sold out Tuesday” is a fact. “Students lost interest in spirit wear” is a hypothesis that needs more evidence.

If a metric is missing reliable inputs, say so. A gross-profit discussion is premature when product costs are incomplete. The first action may be fixing the data rather than changing the store.

A worked example

Suppose weekly sales finished $160 below plan. Transactions held steady, but average sale fell.

The sales owner checks the product mix and finds that a higher-priced item was out of stock for two days. The next action is specific: assign the reorder, choose a substitute display, and check the result next Friday.

The huddle has done its job when it moves from a gap to a testable action. The explanation can be wrong. The team will have another week of evidence to find out.

Four rules that keep it useful

Set the goal before the week starts. A target chosen after the result cannot guide a decision.

Ask about controllable inputs. When sales miss, check stock, price, promotion, schedule, and checkout speed before settling on a broad explanation.

Show the trend. One week can be noise. Keep a running view so the team can see whether the result is isolated or repeating.

Let students answer first. The advisor can challenge the explanation without supplying it. If the room is quiet, return to the evidence on the board.

If every student should prepare, assign the metrics in advance and draw the presenter at the start. Preparation becomes shared without turning the meeting into six separate presentations.

Check the ritual after four weeks

Do not judge the huddle by whether the conversation feels polished. Check whether the operating work is improving.

• Can each owner explain why the number moved?
• Did last week’s action get completed?
• Are repeated stock-outs or cash variances becoming less common?
• Are the team’s forecasts getting closer to the result?
• Does the next action have one owner and a date?

If the answers are weak, reduce the number of metrics or tighten the agenda. Keep the meeting small enough to run every week.