Team Member Quarterly Check-ins

The quarterly check-in process is a solution for managers and team members to help them sync up, learn from the past quarter, and, together, plan the next. People generally want to improve and learn. It is human nature to desire to grow and gain more control over your environment. We find that, even if they don’t seem completely engaged, team members do typically want to know what they have done well, what they can change, and what skills they need to develop. That is why the quarterly check-in process is more about learning than it is about scoring. The scoring process is a means to an end: learning from the past and doing a better job planning the next quarter.

Here is how you, as a team member, can prepare for your 1:1 Quarterly Check-in with your manager. This process takes about 20 minutes.

Begin the quarterly check-in process

Team members manually create their Quarterly Check-in when they’re ready—typically near the end of the quarter.

To Begin:

On your Snapshot, click on Quarterly Check-in

Quarter Check-ins side panel will open, and click the blue ➕ button to create a new check-in.

Select the cover date or quarter of the check-in
You'll now be able to see the check-in you've created. Now click on the 3-dot beside the word OPEN, then click Prepare Check-in

There are five steps to prepare your quarterly check-in for your manager.

Select the items from your plan that you want to include in your quarterly check-in.
Enter your Results on your goals and projects for the quarter.
Rate yourself on how well you exhibited core Leadership skills.
Add any overall Comments on how the quarter went and what you learned
Complete the "Prepare Check-in" process by sending a message to your manager

1. Select plan items to include

Only Big Rock MORs and Projects from your current Plan will be pulled into the check-in.

You must mark key MORs and Projects as Big Rocks in the Plan for them to appear.

In some circumstances, your plan may have changed significantly since it was first approved at the start of the quarter. This often happens when teams are first getting started with LeadFirst. If that is the case for you, you may want to get your quarterly check-in current and refresh from your current plan.

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 so your manager knows to verify that 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. Enter results

When you begin to enter results, you will be taken to the Results summary page. Here is an overview of the screen...

Name of the goal or project
General information about the goal/project
Quarterly check-in result and icon to indicate if a takeaway comment has been added
Click Result to score your goal or project for the quarter
Two calculated scores:
1. Result - based on your organization scoring scale (ex. 4-point scale), this is your average score across all your goals and projects for the quarter.
2. Overall % Met - calculated by the # of items you Met or Exceeded results on, divided by the total # of items in your check-in.

To begin entering 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)

The name of the item you are performing the check-in on.
Your goal/project’s measure/outcome. This is a read-only section.
For each goal/project, you will be asked to self-rate your results...
...if you select Not Met or Partially Met, you will be asked to provide a reason. More details on this step can be found on the second screenshot below.
Your “Self Takeaway” is where you can comment on what worked, what didn’t, and what you learned about this specific goal or project.
Your manager will later add their own commentary for this item.
When you have completed the form, click Save in the upper right to return to the Results summary page.

For the Result dropdown, select the option that best describes how well you delivered on the goal’s measure or the project’s outcome.

Frequently Asked Question:

Q: When rating goals and projects, what does 'Met' mean?

A: Met means that all the agreed upon expectations were met (i.e. schedule, budget, scope, outcomes, etc.). This is why, when planning, it is important to define goals' measures and projects' outcomes as clearly as possible.

For Not Met or Partially Met results, you will be asked to provide a Reason. Here are your options:

Ambiguous Assignment – the expectations for the goal/projects were never clear
Dependency – your work was held up by the delay of another party
Estimates – you underestimated the true scope of this project
Priority Shift – you and/or your team decided to shift your focus to a more urgent task
Other

Tip:

Be open and objective. Quarterly Check-ins are not about carrot and stick motivation, they are all about learning. We track the reasons every individual, team, department, and the organization as a whole give for why outcomes were not met. Correctly identifying why exactly you were unable to meet expectations will help everyone uncover root causes. For example, if a customer service department is consistently not getting expected results because of Dependencies, then the organization possibly needs to address product or delivery issues that affect Customer Service’s ability to deliver.

The most important part of the check-in, according to managers, is the Self Takeaway. Be sure to take your time and comment on what worked, what didn’t, and what you learned about this specific goal or project.

When you complete the check-in form, click Save; you will then be taken back to the Results summary page.

Continue down through all of your goals and projects, adding results and comments for each item. When finished, click Next in the bottom-right hand of the screen.

3. Rate your leadership skills

If your company measures Leadership Skills, you will be asked to self-rate how well you 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.

Then select the Result that makes the most sense > add any observations in the Self Takeaway box > click Save.

Note:

If you are a manager, you will be asked to score yourself on our basic Self Leadership skills and on skills managers should exhibit.

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

4. Add an overall takeaway comment

The overall Self Takeaway is where you can reflect on how the quarter went for you in general. Consider including some of these ideas:

Ways to improve how you work in general (i.e. time blocking, time tracking, batching similar tasks, delegating, revamping your workspace)
Potential projects for your team to consider
Observations on how well you are relating to different personalities and work styles
Continuous improvement ideas for your area or for the organization as a whole
How well your team is working together
Professional development ideas
General concerns
Upcoming vacation or OOO dates
Career aspirations

Note:

Your manager will complete the Leader Takeaway portion.

When you complete the overall comment, click the Next button.

5. Complete your review

With all of your results entered, you are now ready to send your quarterly check-in to your manager.

Verify your manager is in the Who do you want to notify list > then click Complete in the bottom-right.

When you complete your quarterly check-in prep, you will be taken back to your plan's quarterly check-in tab. Here you can see...

The current status of your quarterly check-in
Your overall Result for the quarter
Your overall % Met for the quarter.

The system will also send the following email to your team leader. After your team leader adds their comments to your check-in, they will schedule a 1:1 meeting to review all the results and comments with you.