More Productive Meetings Start Here

“We’ve done the niceties, now should we get to work?”

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Don’t be fooled by his choice of words. He LOVES the niceties. Most people do, even if it takes them a minute to feel the benefit.

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What we’re really referring to here? The check-in.

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That small but mighty moment in a meeting that creates connection, brings every voice into the room, and sets the tone for the meeting.

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Let's be real - nobody goes into a meeting hoping it will feel like a frustrating waste of time. Fortunately, as leaders, we have the opportunity to make our time together count.

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If you want your meeting time to feel valuable and productive, you need a high level of engagement and honesty.

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To build engagement and honesty, you need to help people feel more comfortable and connected to each other.

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Check-ins help you move in that direction.

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Picture this -

I recently asked a group of manufacturing foremen to share something they enjoy doing outside of work.

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Everyone groaned.

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But then - someone got us started and the energy shifted.

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⚡️ You bartend?? I had no idea!

⚡️ I love to garden, too - what do you grow?

⚡️ You coach little league and don’t even have a kid on the team? Good for you!

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And just like that, their juices were flowing, their comfort level rose, and off we went into the main topic for the meeting - emotional intelligence in leadership.

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There are lots of benefits to check-ins, but let’s just take a peak at a few:

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✨ Create a safer space for voices to be heard: We naturally connect more with the people we know. Check-ins help teams see each other as whole humans, not just as colleagues. This leads to more trust, higher comfort level, and ultimately, better conversations.

✨ Foster participation right from the start: Once someone speaks in a meeting, they’re more likely to speak again. A simple check-in helps break the silence and makes full participation feel more natural.

✨ Get to the meaningful stuff quicker: Sharing something small first makes it easier to share something big later. Starting with an easy peasy check-in paves the way for deeper, more meaningful conversations.

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Think of it like exercising - you don’t take off in a sprint without jogging a bit first to let your muscles warm up. And you don’t do your heaviest lift without first using some lighter weights to get the blood flowing.

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Prioritizing opportunities to warm up in the places where we gather - whether that’s senior leadership team meetings, one on one check-ins or all-staff trainings - creates a greater opportunity for creating outcomes that matter.

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That said, check-ins are the kick-off for the meeting, not the whole meeting. To get the most out of them without people getting antsy about getting to the work, follow these guidelines.

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Ask a clear and simple question - something that’s generally easy to answer, but also lets people get to know each other a bit more. Here are a few that I’ve used lately:

• What’s one bright spot for you right now?
• What are you looking forward to in 2025?
• What are you working on in 2025?
• Let people know the order of sharing - I love a simple round robin, but there are some more interesting ways to do it.
• Set a timeline for the share - 30 seconds? 60 seconds?

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I know many of you are brilliant leaders and facilitators. I’d love to hear from you! Do you love a check-in as much as I do? What are your go-to check in questions??

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Much love,

Laura

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PS: Meeting facilitation is one of my favorite things to do. If you have a meeting coming up and want to ensure high engagement and valuable outcomes, let's talk about how I can help. Schedule a call here.

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