Too often, workplace meetings are viewed as a waste of time. “That could have been an email” is a common complaint. But, with the right check-in questions for team meetings, you can make these discussions more productive and engaging.
Starting meetings with check-in questions can improve team dynamics and communications by setting the tone and clarifying the purpose of getting together. They help leaders and everyone attending the meeting organize their thoughts and engage in purposeful dialogue.
Even small, informal check-ins can strengthen workplace relationships and help team members feel as though they are heard. They reinforce the team’s common purpose while making everyone involved feel included and acknowledged.
This post delves into the purpose and benefits of using check-in questions, how to use them effectively, and 75 specific check-in questions for various situations.
Why Use Check In Questions for Team Meetings?
Without clear direction, meetings too often start with awkward, off-topic conversations. Using a check-in question at the outset helps break the ice and get the conversation started on the right path.
At larger company gatherings (like all-company meetings or annual sales kickoffs), an organized but fun way to accomplish this is with our Speed Networking team building program. We use a series of entertaining but challenging activities combined with interactive get-to-know-you discussions designed to promote camaraderie, build workplace relationships, and energize participants.
To make more routine team meetings seem anything but routine, try a Find Your Pair Icebreaker. Especially if you are welcoming new team members or getting a remote team together in person for the first time in a while, this is a great game for breaking the ice and a fun, quick way to get everyone engaged.
Using check-in questions can help build a sense of community and trust among team members by reinforcing goals and objectives. They help keep everyone on the same page, keep the group in sync, and maintain progress.
Encouraging everyone to contribute their thoughts, observations, and ideas at the beginning of the meeting sets the tone for a productive, engaging discussion. Team members not only feel included but also get a better sense of the value of their efforts and contributions to meeting the team’s objectives.
This type of focused conversation helps foster collaboration and makes meetings feel more productive. Employees leave with a clear set of next steps and action items, and are more likely to feel that the meeting was a worthwhile use of their time.
The Key Benefits of Using Check In Questions
In addition to improving collaboration and making meetings more productive, check-in questions deliver a number of additional benefits to organizations and their employees, including:
- Fostering improved communication, engagement, and team cohesion;
- Encouraging participation from all team members, resulting in more inclusive meetings;
- Building trust and strengthening relationships between team members; and
- Helping to identify potential issues and conflicts early, enabling the team to address challenges before they escalate before they escalate into more serious and disruptive problems.
75 Check-In Questions for Team Meetings
Check-in questions can be adapted for various types of meetings, such as daily stand-ups, one-on-one coaching and feedback sessions, and weekly all-team meetings.
Leaders should understand how to use several different types or categories of check-in questions, depending upon the situation and objective. The following sections highlight different types of check-in questions, from icebreakers and one-on-one coaching questions to inquiries related to project status, professional development, remote teams, and more.
General Check In Questions
These are versatile conversation starters that can be used in almost any type of meeting to set the tone for a productive discussion. Team leaders and managers can learn more best practices for keeping meetings productive and engaging in our Meeting Management professional development workshop.
- How many meetings per week do you think is optimal?7
- What’s an interesting fact you recently learned?1
- Who is the teammate you would like to show appreciation for today?4
- What is your “work superpower“?4
Icebreaker Style Check Ins
Icebreakers are fun, casual conversation-starters that help lighten the mood and ease team members into more serious discussions. They warm up the conversation with questions about topics typically unrelated to work, like pets, hobbies, favorite books, and more.
- If you could pick any fictional character to be your mentor at work, who would it be?2
- If you could bring any famous person to a weekly department or all-hands meeting, who would it be and why?
- What’s one team icebreaker question you’ve never been asked but wish someone would ask?2
- How would you describe the most interesting person you’ve ever met?3
- When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?2
- Are you a dog person, a cat person, neither, or both?
- What would you choose an unlimited supply of in the office?3
- If you were an athlete, what would you choose as your walkout song?2
- Who would you choose if you could pick one person, living or dead, to have dinner with?3
- Would you rather go on a relaxing vacation or an adventure hike?2
Mental Health Check-In Questions
Questions related to mental health allow team members to express their feelings and mental state, helping the team understand one another’s emotional well-being. Making mental health and well-being a priority helps organizations build high-performing teams.
These questions are designed to gently explore how team members are feeling and if they need any support. This can include questions about stress levels, work capacity levels, and more.
- What excites you about work?1
- What frustrates you at work?1
- What are some aspects of your work or life you’re grateful for?
- How could we improve your work-life balance?1
- What do you think about our company culture and work environment?4
- What’s one thing you’d like to see change in the workplace culture here?7
- On a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being the highest), how high are your current stress levels?4
Project and Goal-Related Check-In Questions
These questions help gauge progress on current projects as well as individual and team goals, and identify any obstacles or issues early on. Their objective is to keep projects on track and make adjustments in terms of priorities and resources as required.
Our Igniting Team Performance® training program challenges your team to complete a series of progressively difficult tasks, while our Pipeline team building exercise helps participants understand how their efforts fit in with larger goals.
Pre- and In-Progress Project Check-In Questions
- What is your main priority for today?1
- How will you measure this project’s overall success?
- What do you need from me (as the employee’s manager or supervisor) to successfully execute this project?
- What challenges and setbacks have you encountered? If none, what do you foresee as potential risks that can hinder your progress?4
- What resources or support do you need to help ensure the success of your project?
- What assumptions are we making about our current project and how can we challenge them?5
- If we had unlimited resources, how would we approach this project differently?5
- If we had to argue against our current strategy, what points would we raise?5
- How can we apply lessons learned from our last project failure to our current challenge?5
- What’s one thing that went well with your project this week?6
Post-Project Reflective Check-In Questions
- What are you most proud of in this project?1
- What would you have done differently?1
- Were you able to follow the project’s initial plan, and if not, what went awry?
Personal Development Check-In Questions
These questions help team members reflect on their personal growth and goals within the organization. They relate to career goals, skills development, and growth in employees’ current roles.
- How do you feel about your current path, and what are your career goals?4
- How have your long-term career goals evolved?
- What’s the most challenging part of your growth?1
- What are the best and worst pieces of career advice you’ve ever received?7
- What motivates you to learn?7
- If you could instantly gain one skill or talent, what would it be and why?5
- How can we help you grow?4
- What tools or resources do you need to make progress on your development plan?
One-on-One Check-In Questions
These questions are ideal for more personal one-on-one feedback and coaching sessions between managers and team members. They are aimed at understanding individual challenges, achievements, and work-life balance. The goal is to help the employee continually improve while identifying and dealing with any obstacles or issues before they escalate into more serious problems.
Conducting effective one-on-one feedback and coaching sessions is a mix of art and science. Our Manager’s Guide to Business Coaching workshop teaches managers different feedback techniques and proven coaching and employee training practices.
- What is your workload like?1
- Do you feel like you have enough time and information to complete your tasks?6
- What’s one thing that’s been challenging for you recently?3
- What are your professional goals for the next year?3
- How have we helped you achieve these goals?1
- What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone starting in your field?2
- What’s one thing you’d like to try in your role that you’ve never done before?3
- How does our team make you feel supported?5
Team Building Check-In Questions
These questions focus on strengthening team cohesion and helping members get to know each other better. They encourage sharing, trust-building, and fostering camaraderie within the team, such as asking team members what they’re thankful for or admire in one another.
- What do you see as the most important untapped opportunity for our team?6
- What do you view as the most important qualities in a colleague or teammate?
- What do you think are the most important qualities of a successful team?7
- What’s a pet peeve your teammates should know about you?3
- What’s one success our team achieved in the past year that you feel personally proud of?5
- Share one thing you’ve learned from someone else on the team.55
- What’s one thing you think our team could improve to work better together?2
- What team building activities would you like to do, and how can we improve team bonding?4
- If you could add one role or expertise to our team, what would it be and why?5
- If you could swap roles with anyone on your team for a week, who would it be and why?
- If we could have a team retreat anywhere in the world, where would you want it to be and why?5
- If our team were to volunteer for a cause—for example, by doing a charitable CSR team building activity—what cause would you want it to be and why?
- If you could bring one guest speaker to inspire our team, real or fictional, who would it be and what key question would you ask them?5
Remote Team Check In Questions
This set of questions is specifically tailored for remote or hybrid teams to ensure they stay connected and engaged. They touch on communication issues, the support needed in a virtual environment, and what actions leaders can take to make employees feel included when working remotely.
- What type of guidance or resources can we provide to help you be more productive in your remote work?
- What’s your best WFH accessory?2
- If you could have any upgrade to your WFH setup, what would it be?2
- When do you feel the most/least productive?4
- What’s the most significant benefit of WFH to you?4
New Employee Check In Questions
These are great conversation-starters to help team members and colleagues get to know new hires in the organization. The goal is to make the new coworker feel welcome while also getting to know them and begin forming productive workplace relationships.
- How has the company met your expectations so far?1
- Do you feel welcomed by the team?1
- What do you hope to achieve in your role here?7
- How would you describe the company’s culture so far?1
- What’s something you’re passionate about outside of work?3
- What keeps you motivated at work and life in general?4
- What does success mean to you?5
How to Facilitate Check-In Questions Effectively
Introducing and managing check-in questions effectively helps keep meetings engaging and productive. Mix up the questions used, and when you need to re-use a question, reword it to keep the inquiry fresh.
Questions don’t always need to come from the manager or team leader. Consider rotating the meeting facilitator role among team members to share responsibility and develop leadership skills.
Work to develop your meetings as a “safe space” where team members feel comfortable sharing their thoughts, insights, and observations with the team. Focus on actions, not individuals, to avoid hurt feelings or damaged relationships.
Finally, be sure to follow up on responses to check-in questions as needed to drive further discussions, address team concerns, and deal with issues early before they escalate.
Take Your Team Meetings to the Next Level
Check-in questions help break the ice, get conversations started, lighten the mood or focus attention, and improve engagement in team meetings as well as one-on-one sessions. To get the most out of check-in questions:
- Start small, with a few simple questions.
- Match the type of question to the tone of the meeting (e.g., don’t open a serious meeting with a silly, imaginative question).
- Avoid repeating questions, but where appropriate, ask for similar information in a new way.
- Track the impact of these check-in questions on individual performance, team morale, and meeting effectiveness.
Ongoing improvements in professional development, coaching sessions, team performance, and communication require more than just clever questions. A regular cadence of team building activities plays a vital role in building workplace relationships and enhancing collaboration.
To learn more about the wide variety of team building events available, start your journey at the Best Corporate Events home page. And to discuss how team building programs can be personalized and customized to address your specific business situation and goals, contact us to get the conversation started!
Sources:
- 103 Check-in Questions for Meetings, Workhuman Blog, https://www.workhuman.com/blog/check-in-questions/
- 130 Icebreaker Questions for Work That Actually Work, Asana, https://asana.com/resources/icebreaker-questions-team-building
- 101 Icebreaker Questions for Work: The Perfect Tool for Breaking Down Barriers, Necatar HR Blog, https://nectarhr.com/blog/icebreaker-questions-for-work
- 71 Great Check-In Questions for Engaging Meetings, Deel, https://www.deel.com/blog/check-in-questions-for-meetings/
- Ice Breaker Questions: The Ultimate Guide for Team Building, Evivve, https://evivve.com/icebreaker-questions-the-ultimate-guide-for-team-building/
- 21 Important Check-In Questions Your Team Wishes You’d Ask, The Polly Blog, https://www.polly.ai/blog/21-simple-yet-powerful-check-in-questions-and-how-to-ask-them
- 70 Icebreaker Questions for Any Meeting or Presentation, Mentimeter, https://www.mentimeter.com/blog/meetings/icebreakers-for-meetings-and-presentations
