Boulder-based agency dojo4 realized its weekly “team check-in” meetings had become pointless and dull: “It felt like punishment rather than a way for people to know what everyone else was doing and see how we could best help each other.”

More importantly, the team wasn’t connecting deeply with each other.

So the founders decided to radically shake up the stuffy old cadence. Instead of a meaningless weekly check-ins or status updates, the team now meets each week to answer a powerful question to help them understand each other better.

Here’s how it works: Every Friday at 12pm, the team gathers together in a circle. After a minute of silence allowing everyone to slow down and arrive, one person offers a question to the group, and everyone takes a turn answering.

For example:

  • #2. What’s the most surprising thing that nobody knows about you?
  • #18. What’s your earliest memory?
  • #51. Of all your worldly possessions, what would be the hardest to give up?

Read more: 52 Questions to Get to the Heart of Your Team and Make Meetings Matter

P.S. Another fantastic source for team check-in prompts comes courtesy of Hyper Island. They provide suggestions on different kinds of check-ins – i.e. everyday, during a project, and at the end of a project:

Check out Hyper Island’s full set of resources here.


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