For what?

Check-ins and check-outs are tools from Otto Scharmer's Theory U (2020) with the aim of meeting employees at eye level and giving them the space to share what is going on inside them on a personal level. If they are practiced regularly and authentically, a sense of purpose, coherence and trust in the team can increase. It feels liberating, you feel recognized and valued in your entire being. As a manager or team leader, you can respond better to your employees after a check-in and repeatedly assess what you can trust them to do without getting into the dangerous areas of over- or underchallenging them and thus achieve the most sustainable productivity for the company. For this

It is important that you as a manager set a good example and open yourself up, show authenticity and allow vulnerability. This will create a healthy basis of trust in the team and ultimately also in the company.

Example

Check-ins and check-outs can take place at any meeting of co-workers.

working people. They can promote the collective intelligence of the entire team, especially in meetings that require the efficiency and co-creativity of the entire team. Every team member, including the leader, has the opportunity to communicate. This makes team members feel heard and valued. Leaders can better understand and respond to the mood in the team through the honest expressions of the team members. By arriving together and taking time for each other, a connection to the present moment is created. This increases concentration and presence.

What matters

• Ideally, the tool is used whenever the team comes together - physically or online.
• Ideas to share: Thoughts, intentions, feelings, facts, needs, intuitions, tensions and desires.
• What makes this method strong beyond the process is the way people are present and use the space.
• The more you and your employees practise this method, the more likely everyone is to use the invitation to be more open and authentic.
• Speak from the first-person perspective.
• Please do not give up if openness and trust are not immediately apparent. This tool requires courage and some practice.

Step by step

Step 1

Create a safe space (online or offline): First, create the

Framework conditions for a space in which you can communicate openly and confidently with others. It is important to give the participants the security of knowing that what they say will remain in the room and will not be used against them.

Step 2

Arrive in your body and with yourself: A facilitator or participants ask the check-in question. To arrive, a minute of silence can

be agreed. It should then be determined how much time is available per person (e.g. 5 minutes) or for the entire check-in (e.g. 30 minutes in total).

Step 3

Check-in: One person announces themselves to the group. After that, it can either continue in the circle in turn or the first person nominates the

next person. It is also possible for those who feel like it to communicate one after the other ("popcorn style").

Step 4

After check-in, another minute of silence can be granted.

to reflect on what has been said and to appreciate the openness of the participants. Then the meeting can begin.

Variants

Check-outs follow the same pattern as check-ins and can be done on the

be used at the end of a meeting or a joint workshop.

Check-ins and check-outs can also be used in private life.

Try it out at your next get-together with friends. You will notice that it has a positive effect on the quality of your private relationships.

Inspiring questions for check-ins

• How am I feeling today? What word would describe my state of mind today?
• What does my inner weather forecast look like right now?
• How do I get here today? What moves me?
• What has kept me busy in the last x months/weeks?

Inspiring questions for check-outs

• What touched/surprised me?
• What am I grateful for?
• What keeps me busy?
• What do I take with me?

Framework

Duration: approx. 5 - 30 minutes (depending on team size and intention)

Format: Formulate check-in question

Participants: Team (e.g. before a meeting)

You can find more information on this and other tools for overcoming business challenges with communicative means in the book "Rethinking communication".