Team Check In

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name: team-check-in
description: Use when a team must revisit their Goals/Roles/Norms foundation to surface drift and realign. Triggers include "team check-in", "are we still aligned", "team retro on our operating model", "review our team charter", "3X3 check-in". Structured conversation (30–90 min): still committed to our goals/roles/norms — if not, what's the gap? Second step of Moussa's 3X3. Works from a charter or de novo.
---

# Team Check-In

Structured recurring conversation revisiting a team's **Goals, Roles, and Norms** (the "Check-In" step of Moussa's 3X3). Purpose: surface drift before it derails the team — check-ins make divergence visible and create space to course-correct.

## When to apply

Trigger when: the regular alignment cadence is due (every 4–6 weeks); the team feels misaligned but can't say why; a new member joined; goals shift without explicit conversation; someone says *"Wait, that's not what we agreed"*; after a major external change; the charter is stale.

Skip when: first team meeting (use `team-charter` first); active fire-fighting (use `incident-responder`-type skills); only 1–2 people.

## The three-part agenda (3X3 check-in)

60–90 minutes for a 6-person team; shorter for smaller teams.

### Part 1: Review current state (15 min)
Start with reality, not aspiration.
- **Read the current charter** (if any): "What were we trying to do?"
- **Surface what's changed:** new information, constraints, composition changes, environment shifts.
- **Quick pulse (1–5):** Goals — pulling in the same direction? Roles — ownership clear? Norms — working effectively?

High scores (4–5) and no major changes → brief sync (15 min). Low scores (≤3) → full exploration.

### Part 2: Diagnose gaps (25–40 min)
For each foundation, surface where stated ≠ actual.

- **Goals:** "What are we actually spending time on — does it match the stated goals?" "Are our metrics still the right ones? Do we agree on priority order?"
- **Roles:** "Where are we stepping on each other's toes?" "What work is falling through the cracks?" "Are decisions getting made in the right places?"
- **Norms:** "What's driving us crazy about how we work together?" "Which meetings feel wasteful or are missing?" "How are we handling conflict?"

**Technique:** collect anonymous input first (1–2 bullets per foundation privately, then round-robin) — prevents the loudest voice setting the agenda.

### Part 3: Close the gaps (20–30 min)
For each gap decide: **fix it, or intentionally live with it?** Acceptance must be explicit.

For gaps to close:
- **Define the specific behavior change.** "Communicate better" → "Post status updates in #proj-updates every Friday by 3pm."
- **Assign a single named owner and target date.**
- **Keep it small** — one concrete change per gap.
- **Make it observable.** "Improve meetings" → "Agendas posted 24h in advance; decisions documented."

For gaps to live with: name the trade-off and set a review date.

**Output:** 2–4 action items max — what change, who owns it, by when, how we'll know it's done.

## Running the check-in

Provide: a sample agenda with timings, an anonymous input template, a follow-up email template, escalation guidance if the team can't agree.

**Suggested cadence:** new teams every 2 weeks for 2 months then monthly; stable teams every 6 weeks; high-change teams every 2–4 weeks. Link to `/schedule` for reminders.

**Virtual teams:** async input before the call; video on; shared doc for notes; extra time for reading the room.

## Facilitation tips

- **Start with appreciation** — "What's going well?" before gaps.
- **Name the pattern, not the person.**
- **Timebox each section; end with clear actions and owners.**
- **Rotate facilitator** to build ownership; archive decisions in the charter.

## Operating principles

- **Small steps, not revolution** — iterative improvement compounds.
- **Data-informed, not opinion-only** — look at actual behavior before diagnosing.
- **Owners, not just agreements.**
- **Link to the charter** — if it's wrong, update it.
- **Psychological safety prerequisite** — if members fear speaking honestly, fix safety first (`psychological-safety`).
- **Not a retrospective or status meeting** — this is about *how* the team works.

## Composition with other skills

- **`team-charter`** — prerequisite; the check-in reads the charter each time
- **`team-diagnosis`** — diagnosis gives the quantitative read; check-in the qualitative narrative
- **`read-the-room`** — use after if subtext appeared
- **`coaching-mode`** — coach a member post-check-in
- **`psychological-safety`** — run if the check-in reveals safety issues
- **`stakeholder-reflect`** — log external-stakeholder issues individually

## Anti-patterns to flag

- **Checking in without a charter** — charter first.
- **Going deep on one foundation, ignoring others.**
- **No follow-through** — untracked actions erode trust.
- **Leader dominates** — no buy-in.
- **Infrequent cadence** — drift goes unchecked.
- **Treating it as a performance review** — system health, not individual evaluation.
- **Acquiescing to the loudest voice** — use round-robin or anonymous input.

## Trigger phrases the skill recognizes

- "Let's do a team check-in"
- "Are we still aligned on goals/roles/norms?"
- "We need to reset how we work together"
- "Our team charter is stale"
- "Let's review our operating agreement"
- "3X3 framework check-in"
- "Team alignment meeting"