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 Takeaways

• 00:40 - When 37signals started using Kickoffs and Heartbeats
• 02:13 - Details of the Kickoff write-up process
• 07:34 - How much input Jason and David have in the Kickoff
• 13:43 - What Kickoffs & Heartbeats look like for departments with ongoing work
• 17:37 - The Heartbeats as an opportunity to highlight and celebrate the work of individual employees and team
• 22:50 - The benefits of writing up work summaries for institutional history

Links and ResourcesShape Up

Books by 37signals

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HEY World | HEY

The REWORK podcast

The Rework Podcast on YouTube

The 37signals Dev Blog

37signals on YouTube

@37signals on X