Team check-ins have become increasingly important as we switch to remote working. Here's a simple check-in structure that quickly gets everyone on board, working together and encourages collaborative problem solving.
At the start of the day, with as much of the team present as possible, ask the following questions.
How are you?
What's on your list to be done today?
What will get in your way?
How to do it?
Go around the room - either one by one or asking each person to pick the next person at random.
You could ask each person to answer all three questions or focus on getting the answers to one question from the group before moving on to the next question.
This is designed to be a quick exercise.
Encourage group solutions and suggestions to obstacles identified in "What will get in your way?".
If someone is feeling out of sorts - then everyone can bear this in mind if interactions are not as straight-forward as usual.
When the group returns to the same questions the next day, there will be a keen focus on tackling persistent obstacles and celebrating blocks that have been overcome.
Encourage the team to use this format when you can't attend the meetings.
You can build it into your team communications plan too.
At the end of the process the team will know what each other has on their plates, the challenges they face and how the team can support each other.