Manager Quarterly Check-ins

Important:

If you are not a manager and are looking for how to complete your individual quarterly check-in on your plan, check out this article, Team Member Quarterly Check-ins

Purpose of quarterly check-ins

People generally want to improve and learn. It is human nature to desire growth and control over your environment. We find that, even if they don’t seem completely engage, team members do typically want to know what they have done well, what they can change, and what skills they need to develop. The Quarterly Check-in process is a solution for managers and team members to help them sync up, learn from the past quarter, and plan the next.

Tips when preparing for your Quarterly 1:1’s with your team members

  • Do a quick review of the person’s DISC assessment for a reminder of the team member’s communication style.
  • Think of two to three significant questions that reflect a genuine interest in the person and his/her particular stage of development. Write these questions down and bring them to your meeting. Here are a few suggestions:
    • What is one thing you worked on this past quarter that you are proud of?
    • What was the main thing standing in the way of hitting your goals and projects this past quarter?
    • On a scale of 1-10, how productive have you been? If you wanted to move up one number, what would it take?
    • How well can you rely on your team members? Any suggestions to improve teamwork?
    • What is one project you would love to focus on for an entire week, but never have the time?
    • How is management doing? Any feedback for me on my leadership?

Learn more:

Need help finding more quality questions? Check out our help article, Questions to Help Managers and Team Members Have Effective 1:1's
  • Review the team member’s self-ratings and comments for the current quarter in their quarterly check-in (we will show you how to do this below)
  • Remember the fundamental elements of a high-quality 1:1 meeting: 1) an authentic interest in the team member and 2) a genuine desire to help him or her win at work.
  • Demonstrate the importance of the 1:1 Quarterly Meeting by your preparation before the meeting and your actions during the meeting. Meet as scheduled. Start and end on time.

Review the team member’s quarter results

Here is how you, as a manager, can prepare for your 1:1 Quarterly Meeting with your team members. This process takes about 20 minutes.
When a team member completes their Quarterly Check-in, you will receive an email with a link to the check-in. Click and open that link.

That link will take you to the quarterly check-in section in the Development tab of the individual's plan. Find the correct quarter to review based on the Starting and Ending dates > click the row three-dot menu > open Review Check-in.

You can also see a complete list of quarterly check-ins for yourself and your team. Go to the three-bar menu in the upper-left > open Leadership Development > Quarterly Check-ins > select Quarterly Check-in List. Find the team member > click the three-dot row menu for the check-in with the correct date range > select Review Check-in.

Important:

Anyone with Human Resource rights within the system can see the entire organization’s Quarterly Check-ins. Individuals can only see their own, and team leaders can see everyone who reports to them, even multiple levels down in the organization.

1. Select plan items to include

The manager’s process of preparing a quarterly check-in for the 1:1 meeting is very similar to the process an individual walked through to prepare their quarterly check-in. The first step is to select/deselect the goals and projects the team member should be reviewed on. The system automatically selects goals and projects that were active on your plan during the last quarter. 

If you want to include other projects not automatically checked by the system, you can. Simply check the box beside the item. The system will then highlight any item you include that does not fit the normal requirements listed above (see example below).

You can also deselect rows if they should not be included. Deselecting rows is an exception. You should only deselect rows if you know something is in your plan by mistake. The system will highlight any row you deselect to indicate the change.

When you have the correct rows selected, you can proceed to the next step using the Next button at the bottom of the page or using the step navigation at the top of the screen.

2. Review results

When you begin to review the team member's results, you will be taken to the Results summary page. Here is an overview of the screen...
  1. Name of the goal or project
  2. General information about the goal/project
  3. Quarterly check-in result and icon to indicate if a takeaway comment has been added
  4. Click Result to score your goal or project for the quarter
  5. Two calculated scores:
    1. Result - based on your organization scoring scale (ex. 4-point scale), this is the average score across all the team member's goals and projects for the quarter.
    2. Overall % Met - calculated by the # of items they Met or Exceeded results on, divided by the total # of items in the check-in. 

To begin reviewing results, go to the first item and click the Result button.
The check-in form contains the following for you to consider (the #’s in this list correspond to the #’s in the screenshot below)
  1. The name of the item.
  2. The goal/project’s measure/outcome. This is a read-only section.
  3. For each goal/project, the team member was asked to self-rate their results...
  4. ...if they selected Not Met or Partially Met, they were asked to provide a reason. More details on this step can be found on the second screenshot below.
  5. The team member was then asked to write a “Self Takeaway” where they could comment on what worked, what didn’t, and what they learned about this specific goal or project.
  6. In the Leader Takeaway box, add your own commentary on the goal/project. What worked? What didn’t? What improvements can the team member make? How has their efforts on this goal/project contributed to the larger success of the organization?
  7. When you have completed the form, click Save in the upper right to return to the Results summary page.

Repeat this review process for each goal/project. When you have finished reviewing all the team member's goals and projects, you can go to the next step, adding your overall takeaway comment.

3. Review the leadership skills

If your company measures Leadership Skills, your team member was asked to self-rate how well they embodied each of the skills over the past quarter. On the leadership skill's card, you can see a brief description and an option to Learn more about the skill.

For each skill, click Result to open the skill's screen.

Here you can see the Result that made the most sense to your team member > add any of your own observations in the Leader Takeaway box > click Save.

Continue down through all of the leadership skills, reviewnig results and comments for each item. When finished, click Next in the bottom-right hand of the screen.

4. Add an overall takeaway comment

Add your overall comments on your team member’s quarter here. Focus on what worked, what didn’t, and what they can learn going forward. You can also include what you think their priorities should be in the next quarter. 

When your overall comments are complete, you can go to the next step to complete your review of the team member's check-in.

5. Complete your review

To complete your review, decide if you want to publish your comments now or not. Some managers prefer to review the check-in with their team members in person before publishing. Others like to give their team members a chance to read their comments before the 1:1 meeting. If you select this option, your comments will be published now and your team member will be notified. If you deselect this option, your comments will not be published until the 1:1 meeting is completed.

Tip:

Effective managers create relationships with each of their directs. And the best way we know to make that happen is to have regular one-on-ones. Be sure to schedule your one-on-one meeting with your team member to review their results and all comments in person. Before you meet with your team members, review the rest of this article to see our recommended 1:1 Quarterly Check-in Meeting agenda.
To start your quarterly 1:1 Check-in meeting, go to the team member’s plan > open the Development tab dropdown > select the Qrt Check-in.

You can also see a complete list of quarterly check-ins for yourself and your team. Go to the three-bar menu in the upper-left > open Leadership Development > Quarterly Check-ins > select Quarterly Check-in List. Find the team member > click the three-dot row menu for the check-in with the correct date range > select Conduct Check-in Meeting.

1. Discuss their goal/project results

Review each item’s results and discuss any discrepancies or comments. You can view the team member's and your comments by opening the Result slide-out.

When finished with all their goals and projects, click the Next button.

2. Discuss their leadership skills results

Review their leadership skills results and discuss any discrepancies or comments. You can view the team member's and your comments by opening the Result slide-out.

When finished with all their leadership skills, click the Next button.

3. Discuss the overall comments

Review the overall comments and decide what actions can be taken to improve productivity and engagement. Focus on what the team member can learn from the past quarter and take into the next. Show how their work connects to the larger purpose of the organization. Assume the role of “coach” rather than “commander.” 

When finished, click Next.

4. Complete the check-in meeting

Clicking Complete formally closes the quarterly check-in in the system. 

Review their individual plan for the next quarter

Once you complete the quarterly check-in, we recommend you, together in the meeting, review the team member’s individual plan for the upcoming quarter.
Start by reviewing the team member's goals. Here are some questions to consider:
  • Do their goals capture their main areas of responsibility?
  • Do each of their goals have a quantifiable measure?
  • If there is no quantifiable measure yet, does the goal at least have a qualitative statement about what "success" looks like for this area?
  • Do you have any specific targets you want the team member to shoot for in the upcoming quarter?
  • Beyond managing these core areas, how much "project time" will the team member have? What is their true capacity for extra work in the coming quarter?
Also review their projects for the next quarter. Here are some questions to consider:
  • Does the team member have 3-5 projects for the coming quarter?
  • Do they support larger projects? Are they in those larger project’s work breakdowns? If so, you would see “Parent: parent project’s name” directly below the project.
  • Open each project and verify all the following are true for each project
    • Assigned to the individual
    • Status is “active,” green, yellow, or red. They have likely been in the proposed status up to this point.
    • If relevant, the forecast end date is set
    • The project has clear outcomes. If the project continues from one quarter to the next, quarterly outcomes should be set for the coming quarter.
    • If relevant, the work breakdown has all the supporting projects identified
When you are finished, click Approve in the upper-right > select Approve plan for... the coming quarter. This creates a quarterly check-in for the next quarter.

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