# Team Check In > Team Check-In - Skill: `shwetank/team-check-in` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add shwetank/team-check-in` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/shwetank/team-check-in/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: shwetank (https://skillmd.com/u/shwetank) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/shwetank/team-check-in --- # Team Check-In Structured recurring conversation to revisit a team's **Goals, Roles, and Norms** — the three foundations from Moussa's 3X3 framework. Answers: Are we still committed to what we said? If not, what's the gap between what we say and what we do? (The "Check-In" step) **Purpose:** Surface drift before it derails the team. Teams naturally diverge from their initial agreements due to new information, new members, changing priorities, or unexamined habits. Check-ins make drift visible and create space to course-correct. ## When to apply Trigger this skill when: - It's time for the team's regular alignment cadence (every 4–6 weeks) - The team feels misaligned but can't pinpoint why - New member joined — needs to understand the team's operating model - Goals seem to be shifting without explicit conversation - Someone raises: *"Wait, I thought you were doing that"* or *"That's not what we agreed"* - After a major external change (org reorg, strategy pivot, product launch) - The team charter exists but is stale Skip when: - The team meets for the first time (use `team-charter` first instead) - The team is in active fire-fighting mode (use `incident-responder` type skills first) - There are only 1–2 people on the "team" (overhead > value) ## The three-part agenda (3X3 check-in) Total time: 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 one exists). "When did we create this? What were we trying to do?" - **Surface what's changed since then:** - New information learned - New constraints (budget, timeline, dependencies) - Team composition changes (joins, leaves, role shifts) - External environment shifts (market, competitive, org strategy) - **Quick pulse check:** On a 1–5 scale, how aligned do we feel on: - Goals: Are we all pulling in the same direction? - Roles: Is ownership clear? Any duplication or gaps? - Norms: Are we working together effectively or fighting the process? If scores are high (4–5) and no major changes, the check-in can be a brief sync (15 min). If scores are low (≤3) or changes are significant, proceed to full exploration. ### Part 2: Diagnose gaps (25–40 min) For each of Goals, Roles, Norms, surface specific places where stated ≠ actual. **Goals gap diagnosis:** - "What are we actually spending time on? Does it match the stated goals?" - "What's competing for our attention? Are those things in our goals?" - "Are our metrics still the right ones? Are we optimizing for the wrong thing?" - "Do we all agree on priority order? Or are we pulling in different directions?" **Roles gap diagnosis:** - "Where are we stepping on each other's toes?" - "What work is falling through the cracks? Whose job should it be?" - "Is anyone doing work outside their role without agreement?" - "Are decisions getting made in the right places? Or bottlenecked?" - "Are we using people's strengths appropriately?" **Norms gap diagnosis:** - "What's driving us crazy about how we work together?" - "Which meetings feel wasteful? Which are missing?" - "How are we handling conflict? Is it healthy or toxic?" - "Are we sharing information enough? Too much?" - "Are our communication expectations clear and followed?" **Technique:** Anonymous input collection first (everyone writes 1–2 bullet points per foundation privately, then shares round-robin). Prevents the loudest voice setting the agenda. ### Part 3: Close the gaps (20–30 min) For each identified gap, decide: **Do we fix it, or do we intentionally live with it?** Not every gap needs closing. Some are unavoidable. But they must be *explicitly* accepted. For gaps to close: - **Define the specific behavior change.** "We should communicate better" → "We will post project status updates in #proj-updates every Friday by 3pm." - **Assign an owner.** Every action item gets a single named owner. - **Set a target date.** Small steps, not revolutions. - **Keep it small.** One concrete change per gap, not five. Better to change one thing fully than five partially. - **Make it observable.** "Improve meeting quality" → "All recurring meetings will have an agenda posted 24h in advance and decisions documented in the meeting notes." For gaps to live with: - Name the trade-off: *"We're not documenting everything because speed matters more than completeness right now. We accept that tax."* - Set a review date: *"We'll revisit this in 3 months and see if it's still the right trade-off."* **Output:** A short list of action items (2–4 items max), each with: - What change - Who owns it - By when - How we'll know it's done These action items are tracked separately (could go into a team action tracker or the wins log for the team lead). ## Running the check-in The skill provides: - **Sample agenda** with timings - **Anonymous input template** (for teams that prefer written first) - **Follow-up email template** summarizing decisions and action items - **Escalation guidance** if the team can't agree on a fix ### Suggested cadence - **New teams:** every 2 weeks for first 2 months, then monthly - **Stable teams:** every 6 weeks - **High-change teams:** every 2–4 weeks - Link to `/schedule` to automate reminders ### Virtual teams adaptation For distributed teams, emphasize: - Async input collection (everyone contributes before the call) - Video on for relationship building - Shared doc for real-time note-taking - Extra time for reading the room (no body language cues) ## Facilitation tips the skill gives - **Start with appreciation:** "What's going well?" before diving into gaps — sets constructive tone - **Name the pattern, not the person:** "We're not posting meeting notes" not "You never post notes" - **Timebox each section:** Use a timer; avoid over-discussing minor issues - **End with clear action items and owners:** No meeting without clear next steps - **Rotate facilitator:** If possible, rotate who runs the check-in to build ownership - **Archive decisions:** Keep a changes log in the charter file ## Operating principles - **Small steps, not revolution.** Close one gap at a time; iterative improvement compounds - **Data-informed, not opinion-only.** Look at actual behavior (meeting attendance, Slack activity, PR patterns) before diagnosing - **Owners, not just agreements.** Every change needs a single named owner (not "the team") - **Link to the charter.** Always reference the written charter; if it's wrong, update it - **Psychological safety prerequisite.** If team members fear speaking honestly, fix safety first (see `psychological-safety` skill) - **Not a retrospective.** Retros look back at past work; check-ins look forward at team health and alignment - **Not a status meeting.** This is about *how* the team works, not *what* the team is doing ## Composition with other skills - **`team-charter`** — prerequisite for teams that have never done this; check-in reads charter each time - **`team-diagnosis`** — complement: diagnosis gives quantitative read; check-in gives qualitative narrative - **`read-the-room`** — use after check-in if subtext revealed: "Why did Alice go quiet when we discussed roles?" - **`coaching-mode`** — if the team leader needs to coach a member on their role or behavior post-check-in - **`psychological-safety`** — if check-in reveals safety issues, run this skill to address them - **`stakeholder-reflect`** — if the check-in surfaces issues with external stakeholders, log them individually ## Anti-patterns to flag - **Checking in without a charter.** "What are our goals?" every meeting is exhausting. Charter first. - **Going deep on one foundation, ignoring others.** Balance all three in each check-in, even if briefly. - **No follow-through.** Action items assigned but not tracked → trust erosion - **Leader dominates.** Manager sets all goals/roles/norms alone → no buy-in - **Infrequent cadence.** "We'll check in quarterly" → drift goes unchecked for months - **Treating it as a performance review.** Check-in is about system health, not individual performance evaluation - **Acquiescing to loudest voice.** Use structured round-robin or anonymous input to ensure all voices ## 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"