How We Work: Kickoffs & Heartbeats

37signals works in 6-week cycles, which begin with a Kickoff and wrap up with a Heartbeat. In this week’s REWORK podcast, co-founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson break down the purpose and benefits of the Kickoff and Heartbeat documents and share tips for implementing this process across an organization. Key Takeaways00:40 - When 37signals started using Kickoffs and Heartbeats 02:13 - Details of the Kickoff write-up process07:34 - How much input Jason and David have in the Kickoff13:43 - What Kickoffs & Heartbeats look like for departments with ongoing work17:37 - The Heartbeats as an opportunity to highlight and celebrate the work of individual employees and team22:50 - The benefits of writing up work summaries for institutional historyLinks and ResourcesShape UpBooks by 37signalsSign up for a 30-day free trial at Basecamp.comHEY World | HEYThe REWORK podcastThe Rework Podcast on YouTubeThe 37signals Dev Blog37signals on YouTube@37signals on X