The list of possible ways to get meetings off to a good start is long and wide-ranging. For example, you can run quick team-building activities to boost camaraderie within the group, do energizers and warmups to elevate everyone’s mood or play ice-breaker games to encourage communication and engagement. However, one of the simplest and most effective tools at your disposal is asking check-in questions.
Similar to question games, get-to-know-you questions, and this-that questions, check-in questions for meetings unify teams, lift morale, and provide interesting talking points. But that’s not all! Asked at the beginning of the session by whoever leads it, they also help you gauge how people are doing, which is vital for navigating the team dynamic and allocating work appropriately. Wondering what you can ask to reap those precious rewards? Check out these 200 check-in question ideas!
Check-in questions for daily meetings
Do you run morning meetings or huddles each day to see how people are and check what work they have lined up? Or maybe, with all those sales meetings, client meetings, leadership meetings, and so on, you’re in meetings every day anyway? Whatever the case, here are 40 check-in questions that are great for daily use.
1. How do you feel today on a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 is awesome?
2. What’s been on your mind lately?
3. What are you most excited to work on at the moment?
4. Has anything been proving particularly challenging recently?
5. What are the three most important things on your to-do list?
6. What are three things you’re grateful for this week?
7. Do you have a goal for today? If so, what is it?
8. Where do you see yourself in one year’s time?
9. What’s one thing you could do to end today better than it started?
10. What obstacles, if any, can you identify in your calendar?
11. Is there anything that would help you have a good day today?
12. What are you going to do today to practice self-care?
13. What can I/we/the management do to help you today?
14. What are three skills you’re going to focus on today?
15. What kind of deed will you do for a colleague today?
16. What’s your intention for the day?
17. Are you dreading anything today? If so, what? And can we do anything to help?
18. What’s something you’d like to see more of from your colleagues?
19. What accomplishment from yesterday are you most proud of?
20. What’s one thing you learned yesterday that you can apply today?
21. What progress have you made since yesterday’s meeting?
22. What was the highlight of yesterday? And why?
23. Have you learned anything over the last few days that you’d like to share?
24. How close to burnout do you feel on a scale from 1 to 5, where 5 is burnt out?
25. What’s one thing you’ve recently discovered that you’re excited about?
26. What’s one thing you’re doing to achieve your long-term goals?
27. Is there anything getting in the way of your progress in the organization?
28. What’s one challenge that you overcame yesterday?
29. How did you feel about coming to work today?
30. Is there anything you’d like to celebrate this week?
31. What’s the most urgent thing on your to-do list for today?
32. What are you most looking forward to about today?
33. If you were to receive some constructive feedback today, what would you expect it to be?
34. What personal goals do you have, and how can we help you achieve them?
35. Who is the person you admire most, and what do you like about them?
36. What’s one thing you like about work and one thing you think could be improved?
37. If you had to express your current work capacity (i.e., how much work you currently have to do) as a percentage, what would it be?
38. What are your seat neighbor’s three greatest personal qualities?
39. What are your three greatest personal qualities?
40. What two changes would you like to make to the office and why?
Check-in questions for teams
Want to find out more about the group as a whole? Whether you have a remote, hybrid, or traditional setup, check-in questions for teams can help. Here are 40 examples you can start using today.
41. From 1 to 10, where 10 is faultless, how well do you think we’re performing as a unit right now? What could we do to improve?
42. What changes can we make to boost productivity?
43. What tools could we provide to help you succeed in the workplace?
44. How can we ensure everyone feels included and valued within the team?
45. Is there anything you think we should be discussing more as a team?
46. Who’s feeling overworked at the moment? Are there any opportunities you can see to redistribute responsibilities?
47. What’s the biggest obstacle we face as a team in terms of communication?
48. How does our team compare to other teams you’ve worked in?
49. How can we work together to improve efficiency?
50. What word would you use to describe the current team dynamic?
51. What are three ways we could become a more integrated team?
52. What’s one example of effective teamwork you can give from this/last week?
53. What’s one thing we could do to improve the team dynamic?
54. What’s one thing we could do to improve collaboration?
55. What are three steps we can take to make the workplace more enjoyable?
56. What’s your favorite part of working in this team?
57. What are three positive aspects of our company culture?
58. What are three negatives aspects of our company culture?
59. What changes would you like to see in the office?
60. What sort of team-building retreat would you like to go on together?
61. Do you feel like part of the team? What could we do to make you feel more included?
62. What Hollywood movie do you think best portrays our team?
63. What song best portrays life in the office?
64. What are the biggest bottlenecks in our current workflow?
65. What is our biggest strength as a team right now?
66. What is our biggest weakness as a team right now?
67. Where does miscommunication occur most often?
68. Which team member deserves a prize right now, and why?
69. How can we beat our main competitor?
70. What tasks are hardest to complete? Why?
71. What team events would you most enjoy doing?
72. Is there any extra training you think would benefit the team?
73. What communication games and activities do you most like to play?
74. What tasks take more time than expected on an average day?
75. How can we better show our appreciation for our teammates?
76. How would you describe the team in three words?
77. What can we do to empower you as a team?
78. What opportunities for career development would you like?
79. If a new team member was about to join, what advice would you give to help them succeed?
80. Do you ever feel isolated from your teammates? If so, what changes could we make to stop that from happening?
Project-related check-in questions
Project meetings are essential for determining what progress has been made on current projects and identifying any problems that have arisen (or that are looming on the horizon). Here are 40 check-in questions to get these meetings off to an effective start:
81. What are the biggest wins of this project so far?
82. What obstacles do you foresee with this project?
83. What excites you most about this project?
84. Do you have any concerns with this project? If so, what are they?
85. How likely is it that we’ll hit our targets for this project?
86. In your opinion, what is working as expected? What isn’t?
87. Have there been any changes to the project timeline or deliverables?
88. How do you think we should celebrate and recognize team members for their contributions throughout this project?
89. What are the top priorities for this project in the upcoming week?
90. Have you received any feedback from stakeholders? If so, what did they say?
91. Is there any additional information or tools we can give you to help this project move forward?
92. Do you feel like you have enough support to succeed with this project?
93. Have you spotted any potential roadblocks that could derail or delay the project?
94. Do the project’s goals seem achievable? If not, what could we do to make them feel more attainable?
95. What metrics or KPIs are we using to measure the project’s success?
96. How can we keep everyone motivated with this project throughout its duration?
97. Have you spotted any new trends in the industry that could impact the project?
98. How is the team’s morale at the moment? What can we do to improve it?
99. How can we ensure the project meets relevant sustainability or corporate social responsibility goals?
100. How can we ensure the project meets relevant diversity, equity, and inclusion goals?
101. Do you feel adequately trained and supported to meet the demands of this project?
102. How much bandwidth do you have to take on additional projects right now?
103. What’s the plan to execute this project effectively?
104. How will you gauge the overall success of the project over time?
105. What is the best part of this project?
106. What is the worst or hardest part of this project?
107. Is there anything in this project you think we should stop doing? What should we continue doing?
108. How does this project align with the company’s overarching goals?
109. Do the project’s current goals seem achievable or overly ambitious? What could we do to bring them within reach?
110. Imagine the project is already over. What would you have done differently?
111. What makes you feel proudest about this project?
112. What’s the likelihood this project will fail?
113. Is the workload for this project manageable? If not, what needs to change?
114. What project are you most confident in and why?
115. What could the project manager do to help you execute the project successfully?
116. Are we on, ahead, or behind schedule? What could we do to speed things up?
117. What’s the main reason you can imagine this project will fail? What safeguards can we put in place to stop that from happening?
118. Are there any conflicts of interest you can identify with this project?
119. Can you spot any opportunities to expand or pivot the project’s scope?
120. Now the project’s over, what’s the biggest thing you’ve learned?
Check-in questions for challenging times
The workplace can be stressful and full of challenges, so it’s natural for employee well-being to suffer sometimes. The following check-in questions for meetings should help you take the pulse of your team and intervene before significant issues arise.
121. What self-care strategies do you find most helpful?
122. What can we do to help you feel happier at work?
123. What suggestions do you have for how we can support each other’s well-being in difficult times?
124. What employee well-being strategies would you like us to implement?
125. What personal boundaries do you have that you’d like us to respect?
126. What can we do to help you improve your work-life balance?
127. How easy do you find it to take breaks from work? Is there anything we can do to make it easier?
128. How can we ensure everyone on the team is taking care of themselves and each other at the moment and in general?
129. What resources could we provide to help you look after your physical, mental, and emotional well-being?
130. What lessons can we learn from this challenging time?
131. What times of day do you feel best and worst?
132. Which work tasks would you like to do more of each day?
133. Which work tasks make you feel most uncomfortable? Is there anything we can do to help make them easier?
134. What are three things you do to cope with challenging situations?
135. If you’re having a bad day, what could you do to improve it? What could the team do to help?
136. Do you feel like part of the team? If not, how can we change that?
137. How has your workload been affecting your stress levels?
138. What’s been on your mind lately?
139. How would you rate your current work-life balance on a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is perfect?
140. Are they any specific concerns or challenges you’re facing at the moment?
141. What steps are you taking to respect your health and recharge your batteries?
142. Have you been able to maintain your hobbies outside work? If not, what’s getting in the way?
143. How do you feel about your performance and contributions to the team?
144. What’s your current stress level from 1 to 10, where 10 is overwhelmed?
145. How motivated and engaged have you been feeling at work recently?
146. How fulfilled do you feel by your current role? What responsibilities or changes would make a positive difference?
147. What’s your favorite part of the job?
148. Have you been taking advantage of our current employee well-being resources? If not, why?
149. How easy do you find it to compartmentalize work and home life?
150. How do you feel about the company’s culture and values? Would you make any changes to them if you could?
151. If you had a set of scales, with your stress levels on one side and happiness on the other, which would be heavier?
152. Are you enjoying work at the moment?
153. What changes could we make to help you enjoy work more?
154. What are the hardest parts of what you do each day?
155. How do you feel about how much autonomy you have in your current role?
156. What conflict management strategies do you employ at work?
157. Do you feel supported by us? How can we do better?
158. Are you exercising, socializing, meditating, or doing any of the other recommended activities for staying mentally well?
159. Are we doing enough to facilitate team unity and cohesion? If not, what else would you like us to do?
160. When work gets you down, what are the primary factors in play?
Fun check-in questions for meetings
Check-in questions for meetings don’t always have to be serious! Some of the most engaging ones are the complete opposite – they’re silly, random, and totally unrelated to work. Here are 40 questions of this nature to try at your next meeting (that’d also serve as useful ice-breaker questions):
161. What are three things you loved about where you grew up?
162. What law would you be most excited to break?
163. What’s one thing the team might be surprised to know about you?
164. What’s your love language?
165. Who is your favorite influencer, and why?
166. What was your favorite song as a teenager? What’s your favorite song now?
167. If you could live in any country for the next year, where would it be and why?
168. What’s the best and worst thing you’ve ever eaten?
169. You can ask for tickets to any event in the world. What would it be and why?
170. What’s your favorite thing to eat for lunch?
171. What’s the worst part of growing up?
172. What are the three best books you’ve ever read?
173. What movie are you most embarrassed about liking?
174. If you could get the phone number of any celebrity, who would it be and why?
175. What are three things you couldn’t go a week without?
176. You win $1 million in the lottery. What are the first three things you buy/do?
177. What’s your favorite item and/or activity to splurge on?
178. What does the perfect Sunday look like?
179. What superpower is overrated? What superpower would you choose?
180. What background do you have on your mobile or personal computer?
181. What 3 things would you take to a desert island?
182. Which sense (touch, taste, sight, hearing, smell) do you most value and why?
183. You’re stuck at an airport for 10 hours with no Wi-Fi. How do you pass the time?
184. Have you ever had a business idea? If so, what is it?
185. What’s one hobby you’ve never tried but would love to start?
186. What’s the farthest you’ve ever traveled?
187. Would you rather visit 200 years in the past or 200 years in the future? Why?
188. What’s one thing people wrongly assume about you when you first meet?
189. What’s been the highlight of your day/week/month/year so far?
190. What’s your biggest fear?
191. In your opinion, what’s the best job in the world?
192. There’s a natural disaster, and you’ve got 60 seconds to evacuate your home. What three items do you take with you and why?
193. What are three things you’d wake up early for?
194. What do you think is your best character trait?
195. If the last meeting of the day got canceled and you could leave work early, how would you spend the time?
196. Who’s the teacher you’ll never forget? What did they do that made such an impression on you as a child?
197. What was the first thing you bought with your very first paycheck?
198. What’s a question that you hate being asked?
199. Look at the person to your left. What’s one thing you like about them?
200. When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Try these top check-in questions for meetings
Fact: there’s no shortage of reasons to begin work meetings with a check-in question or two. It gets things off to an engaging start, sheds light on how people are doing, encourages participation, reveals potential problems within the team, and stimulates creativity – among many other benefits.
Alas, the hard part is coming up with fresh and interesting questions! With any luck, though, having this long list of check-in questions for meetings will solve the problem. Oh, and if you’re looking for somewhere to ask them, they could be perfect at your next offsite meeting or company retreat! For help organizing either of these events, contact us today.
