The Two-Word Check-in: A Minimal Daily Meeting

What a difference through just two words.

Two Words Check-in.

I used it as a warm-up in a leadership session for a Boston-based BioTech.

They liked it so much that they started using it as common practice. They started using it in their weekly Review/Retrospective/Planning sessions (Yes, they were using Scrum to develop the company; go figure)

It became a highlight.

Before you can talk work, accountability, results, and tackle conflicts, you need to maintain / warm up the social fabric.

Here’s an idea -

Instead of talking about what you’re all working on, share how you’re feeling.

Check-in with each other as human beings. (Two words check-in is one great way to do that, but whatever works)

And that’s it. (no 3 questions, no status, nada. Unless people really want to chat about something, or an issue emerges from the check-in)

That’s the most essential aspect of a Daily Scrum/Standup anyhow.

Try it.