How can I help? Powerful ways to check-in with your team.

A YouGov poll found that 80% of employees had experienced what they felt was poor management and 55% had actually left their job because of it. You know the saying “people join a company but leave a manager”. Yeah, been there – done that! I bet you all have stories – I’m listening!

I work with leaders because I know the awesome responsibility they (you) have – not only for the business but to their (your) team.

My purpose is to help employees have better lives, one leader at a time. This is why I do the work I do – coaching, leadership training, organization consulting – all to help leaders like you engage, support, coach and grow their teams.

I am sharing a simple but powerful strategy for you to use as a leader – the check-in.

A check-in meeting helps managers get updates on current projects and challenges, reinforce team objectives, and uncover potential engagement issues as they arise. In other words, a check-in lets you take the pulse of your team.

I am watching a show right now where the leader is known for constantly asking people ‘how can I help’ because he realizes he is there to remove obstacles, help his team perform at their best and show that he cares about what they are doing and who they are.

Employees overwhelmingly believe that check-ins are important. A massive 84% think this is the case, with around 30% rating them as “very important”. They are particularly significant to the youngest members of the workforce, Generation Z, with 40% of this age group rating them as “very important”.

A check-in can help you align on goals, reprioritize, give feedback, and get feedback. You can find out how they are doing personally, what their career goals are and what innovative ideas they have that they have been dying to share.

Now, I said it’s simple, but just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it’s easy and that everyone does it.

How often? I prescribe doing this formally at least every two weeks. You will find the more frequently you do it, the quicker it is, easier it is and the more in-tune you are with your team.

How do I do it? I recommend asking a few key questions, and let them know these will be the initial questions so they are prepared.

• How are you doing? Anything special coming up for you?
• What were your wins and challenges last week?
• What are you working on now?
• How can I help?
• What feedback do you have for me?

Choose the questions that are comfortable for you, change it up, ask them what questions you should be asking. It’s a partnership. How can you help them?

Are you doing succession planning right now? Perfect time to ask the questions ‘where do you want to go and what do you want to do’?