I am involved with a couple of companies that use the “Check-In” model to start meetings. I’m “afraid” that if we used this we’d all get fired! In an ideal business relationship, this, of course, would not be an issue – as an open communication style would be in play. But how many are your clients and business partnerships are really ideal? The human emotional/psychological environment can be paved with pot-holes.
“And tell me Phyllis, what are you afraid of?”
Check-in, Chicken
One way to start every morning with your team is to have them check in. Go around in a circle and let people update and contribute. It’s not a silly exercise, in that it helps people speak up and it communicates forward motion.
Another way, probably a better one, is to have each member of the team announce what they’re afraid of. Two kinds of afraid, actually. Things that might fail and things that might work.
What are you, chicken?
Yes, we’re chicken. We’re afraid. The lizard has us by the claws.
So, tell us. What are you afraid might happen that would destroy, disintegrate, or dissuade–that would take us down? And what are you afraid of that might work, thus changing everything and opening up entirely new areas of scariness?
