Just check-in
What if every meeting started with a check-in? A minute to just pause, and check-in with yourself and others on your team. A minute of intentionally asking the question, “how are you?”, and then pausing and intentionally listening to the reply? How would that change your day? How would that change your mood? How would that change how you approach your work?
One of my favorite things about my experience with the Innovation Leadership Accelerator that I attended last year was the check-ins. I can remember my very first check-in with ILA. The night prior, I received a really upsetting email from a client that someone from my team wasn’t representing our brand and living our values with them. It shook me. Honestly, it was the first time I had received negative feedback about anyone on my team, so I didn’t even know where to begin with my feelings. I had a hard time sleeping that night and was anxious about meeting a cohort of new people the next day for ILA. I woke up on that Thursday morning feeling run down, exhausted, and emotional. My mind was on how to fix this issue with my client, while also having to make immediate changes to my team. I walked from my hotel to the ILA space. As we gathered and began our day, we sat in a circle and I was introduced to the “check-in”.
You’re probably all thinking “what’s the big deal with a check-in?”. Maybe you practice the check-in already, I can say that it is not something I ever did. Every meeting for the last 18 years has started with some form of small talk, or not, but never with anyone really asking me to check-in with myself, and get mentally tied to where I was, physically. So many meetings I’ve been in, where no one ever pauses to check-in. Just jumping straight into business, even with all of the chaos happening around us. That day at ILA, I remember being nervous. My thoughts raced, “do I tell them how I really feel, or do I just say that I’m happy and it’s all good and pretend?”. As we went around the circle, I was relieved to hear that I wasn’t the only one in the group who didn’t sleep well, or who was nervous, or who had a long, exhausting week.
When the circle arrived at my check-in, I was honest and told them I felt sad based on what had happened the night prior, I felt tired from lack of sleep, but I also felt excited to meet this new group of people, and really dig into the next few days. It’s amazing how that felt. After I checked-in, I remember feeling lighter. I remember seeing the faces of people having empathy and understanding. That check-in changed my mood, my outlook, and my day.
It’s the little things that make a big impact. The check-in is now something I carry with me in my own meetings with my Dot team. I encourage you to give it a try and see what happens. See how this small act of intentionally asking and listening can change your day, your mood, how you approach your work, and your life.
