Check-Ins
What is Check-Ins about ?
A check-in is a simple way to establish a relationship between people who are about to do some work together. It allows people to arrive and manage the transition from the outside world to the meeting or workshop. It gives everyone a sense of what/who is in the room and ideally establishes the principle that every voice is both welcome and equal. It helps to create a field of trust and openness. A check-in can be used to start any meeting, event, or workshop, or any other space where participants will be interacting or collaborating.
Getting every individual to speak early on in an event is a good way to encourage later involvement. It can be intimidating to speak in front of a large group and/or in front of strangers - people generally find it much easier to contribute once they’ve already broken the ice. Even something as simple as saying their name and where they come from can help people feel comfortable in speaking up again within the group.
For people who know each other already, a check-in is also a useful tool to connect with each other, by sharing something not directly linked to what they’re working on. It can help people to ‘park’ whatever they’re carrying with them (for example, to let go of stress they’d been feeling because they thought they were going to be late), or to let others know how they are right now (if someone checks-in telling us they were up all night with a sick child, we might be a bit more understanding if they seem less attentive than usual!).
It’s also useful to have an awareness of how comfortable different demographics, genders, minority groups etc. may feel in the setting you’re working in. It’s often noted for example that women are more likely to contribute if a woman speaks first in a group. This is another reason why check-ins are worthwhile, and can also be worth considering when deciding how to begin the check-in.
Audience
Is participant experience relevant for Check-Ins ?
Requirements
Not specifically
Run Through
Prepare the space:
For a face-to-face event, prepare the room – a circle of chairs is best for an ‘open’ conversation (setting the space can set the tone for the conversation).
For online events, you may need to prepare breakout rooms if you intend to break the group into pairs or small groups.
Prepare yourself:
We recommend taking a moment to remind yourself to be fully present for the event you are about to host. Perhaps take a few deep breaths, or set an intention in your mind. You may have your own practice that helps you to feel centered - use whatever method works best for you.
Online
As you may not have the option of a physical ‘circle’ in your chosen video conferencing platform, the facilitator may track the order of who is to speak next. If the group is relatively large, it’s useful to type a list of names, in the order that they appear on the facilitator’s screen, into the chat box, so participants can see where they are in the circle, and know how long it will be before their turn to speak. The facilitator will need to track whether anyone new has joined the call, and ought to be added to the list.
An alternative is to put the onus on the participants by inviting each person to ‘pass on’ by naming someone else when they’ve finished speaking. This can get tricky to keep track of in a large group, but participants tend to manage well to self-organise in these situations, often by asking ‘who hasn’t spoken yet?’ and looking for raised hands.
For blended events it can be more difficult to see who has or hasn’t spoken - if several people are gathered on one screen, their screen can be treated as one ‘unit’, with each person there speaking in turn before passing back to people in other locations. Alternatively, the facilitator can check with people grouped together whether anyone in their group hasn’t spoken yet.
For check-ins in pairs / threes / fours, participants are split into breakout rooms. Bear in mind that in certain situations, randomly assigned pairs may be uncomfortable for some people (for example, if they’re paired with someone they don’t get on with. In face-to-face events this is less likely to happen, as people are unlikely to be sitting beside someone who they’re in conflict with). For this reason it may be safer to opt for threes or fours for online check-ins, unless you are confident about the dynamics within the group.
It’s also worth being aware that some people find break-out rooms daunting, especially if they’ve joined a call intending to listen in, rather than participate (a friend of mine recently mentioned that she’d joined a webinar then left almost immediately when she realised she was about to be put in a break-out room straightaway). If, however, the event is very participatory, using break-out rooms for the check-in can be a great way to get people engaged right from the start.
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