<aside> <img src="/icons/info-alternate_yellow.svg" alt="/icons/info-alternate_yellow.svg" width="40px" /> This page is part of The Toolbox by Danny Smith.

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Starting meetings with Meeting Checkins is a great way to get everyone “in the room” quickly. It can also be helpful to end meetings with a similar Checkout. The best format for this will depend on the meeting and group, but the goal should usually be one of the following:

• Reflecting on the meeting.
• Lifting the mood so people leave feeling positive.
• Lightening the mood after a heavy or stressful meeting.
• Grounding the group back into the real world after a long virtual meeting.

As with Checkins, checkouts should usually be very quick and include everyone in the room. The best format for this involves the facilitator posing a question and each person giving their answer in turn.

Reflection 💭

If reflection is an important part of the meeting, it should not be used as a checkout – do a proper reflection exercise and follow it with some other quick checkout.

For meetings where you wouldn’t normally end with a reflection exercise, you can use a quick as a checkout. You’re unlikely to get deep reflections here, but if you do this with a lot of meetings it’s a useful way of normalising and habitualising reflective practice. Example questions…

• One thing that surprised you during this meeting.
• One thing you learned during this meeting.
• Your one most valuable soundbite or idea you heard in this meeting.
• The most insightful comment in this meeting.