It’s a good idea to start meetings with some sort of checkin. For one-to-one or small meetings this might involve everyone informally sharing how they're feeling. For larger groups, a more structured approach is usually better. The format below can work well…
A standard checkin
Each person unmutes in turn, shares exactly three words and re-mutes...
1️⃣ Your number - a number between zero and ten, rating how you feel right now.
0= Absolutely rubbish;10= The best day of your life;5= Average.- It should average for how you feel about work, and personally. (If work's going great but your entire family is sick and the builders are replacing your kitchen, you probably don't feel an 8. Vice versa.)
- There's no pressure to give a high number – nobody's gonna make you to explain yourself. (But they might gently challenge you if you're always on cloud
9.)
2️⃣ One Word - describing how you feel right now. This can be literally any word.
- It could be a feeling like excited or stressed. Or something else – whatever feels right.
3️⃣ The Name - of someone else on the call who hasn't checked in yet.
- If you're with two people with the same first name, you can say a fourth word so it's clear who should go next.
If everyone sticks to three words we can check in very quickly, even with quite large groups.
Why's use this checkin?
- It confirms everyone has their cameras and microphones working right at the start.
- Everyone has to say something right at the start, and are more likely to feel comfortable speaking up later in the meeting.
- We get a general sense of where everyone is at, both individually and collectively. So we can be present to it.
- We start to establish openness and vulnerability by sharing a tiny bit about ourselves. But we also don't have to share too much.
- Choosing the next person requires that we're present to the other people on the call, which helps brings our attention "into the room".
- It's very quick.
Other checkins
The checkin above has some downsides – mainly because it's so brief. If you want to do something different, here are a few ideas...
- Gratitude - "one thing you're grateful for".
- Appreciation - "one thing or person you appreciate, and why"
- Learning - "one thing you've learned about yourself (or others) in the last month"
- Getting to know each other - "something you love about your neighbourhood" or "your favourite meal this week" or "the country you most want to visit and why".
- etc.
You could also just go round the room and answer "How are you doing and what have you been up to?" - much like you might with your friends.