Team Check-in Template

Your team probably dreads the weekly team meeting. That’s not your fault; it’s hard to turn progress reports into something that’s engaging and, more importantly, useful to the whole team. 

It’s no fun for you, either. You have to sift through the weekly noise of updates and tasks and files to find the signals that will allow you to take action. If the weekly check-in meeting is the only time your whole team communicates with each other, then these problems will continue. More importantly, you’ll miss out on all the benefits that come from streamlined communications and a collaborative culture.

That’s where a team check-in template comes in.

The benefits of our team productivity check-in template

A good team meeting check-in template is the backbone of a strong team. It provides transparent communication and structures collaboration, so that your team has the tools and support they need to do their best work. Here are just a few of the ways our team check-in template does that:

Build a strong team culture

Elevate your team’s work in Slack with our team check-in meeting template, designed to effortlessly enhance your team culture. This template creates a dedicated space for team members to share important docs and track priorities, helping with planning and collaboration. To ensure accountability and move projects forward faster, this template also includes scheduled messages to collect status updates, so your team can focus on next steps without any roadblocks.

Streamline team management

This resource is pivotal for leaders who aim to maintain a close-knit team dynamic and ensure that all members feel empowered. The structured team check-in template provides onboarding for new team members, helping them smoothly integrate into the team, and includes a team priority list to identify business opportunities. Keeping everyone aligned on the team’s biggest objectives for the quarter ensures that all members remain focused on what matters most, while the check-in meeting agenda keeps meetings organized and actionable.

Encourage engagement

Keep your team engaged and motivated with this user-friendly team check-in meeting template. It serves as a central hub for team members to communicate freely and share updates, boosting transparency and trust. Plus, it features a weekly icebreaker to keep conversations flowing and maintain a strong connection, even in remote or hybrid environments. Regular engagement through this structured yet flexible template can help you maintain a positive work environment, encourage collaboration, and empower teams for long-term success.

Centralize resource sharing

The team check-in meeting template also simplifies the sharing and utilization of resources. Whether it’s training materials, meeting agendas, or project guidelines, everything can be accessed in one place. This improves efficiency and encourages team members to make use of existing resources, as well as create new ones that can be shared with the entire team. Action items and next meeting details are clearly outlined, helping team members stay on track and focused on their goals.

What should be included in a weekly team check-in template?

There are a few non-negotiables when it comes to a team check-in template that truly streamlines communication. The key to success is not only clarity, but effective collaboration. So no matter what else you add to your weekly check-ins, make sure to include these three elements: 

• Progress updates. Review your team’s priorities and update individual tasks with any challenges, changes to the deadlines, or new context. Slack’s weekly check-in template lets you update tasks in the team prioritization tab and tag teammates in the comments, all within your team’s centralized communication hub.
• Wins and roadblocks. Make sure you also check in with your team on an emotional level. What were they proud of this week? What frustrated them? Where did they spend the most energy? What do they need help with? Use workflow automations in Slack to make weekly updates as easy as filling out a form, and even send scheduled reminders to your team so they don’t forget to fill it out.
• Requests for support. Collaboration is the biggest factor in team productivity, so your template should make collaboration as easy as possible. Create a canvas where your team can share project details, ask questions, and include links that need input from colleagues. Conversations can then happen in the exact place the work is shared, improving transparency and inviting support and insight from the whole team.

Your guide to using a team progress check-in template

Once you’ve created a template that fits your team’s needs and workstyle, it’s time to start running new and improved weekly syncs. The most effective way to use your weekly check-in template is to make it the ultimate source of truth for your team meetings. Here’s how:

1. Set a clear agenda

Even the best template won’t help you and your team if you don’t set a clear agenda. If you’re running a meeting, share your weekly sync canvas the day before and invite team members to add any agenda items they want to discuss. If you’re holding a structured asynchronous discussion in Slack, make sure it’s clear where, when, and how teammates can submit their own agenda items so that everyone has the time and visibility they need ito contribute.

2. Make sure your project or task list is up to date

Make your weekly sync as efficient and effective as possible by asking your team to make sure all project and task statuses are up-to-date in your management tool before you kick off your sync. This way, you don’t waste time or risk miscommunication during your official sync. The Team Priorities tab in Slack makes this convenient by putting your team’s task tracking in the same channel as your weekly syncs. You can even tag team members within the task to prompt them for updates.

3. Create dedicated threads in Slack

Don’t lose the important notes, comments, and ideas that come up in a weekly sync. Use a shared canvas for your weekly sync template, then turn agenda items into dedicated threads by selecting the item and adding a comment. This makes your agenda more dynamic and invites collaboration more naturally. And the best part is, these conversations don’t have to end when the meeting does!

4. Start with human interaction to improve engagement

It’s always a good idea to start a meeting with some personal engagement. A few minutes of fun interaction go a long way towards easing stress and helping your team get in the right headspace. Use your team check-in template to encourage human interaction — whether that’s adding a “question of the week” to the agenda doc, telling everyone to spam a Slack thread with every GIF and meme that comes to mind when you say “Wednesday,” or using one of many Slackbots that generate random icebreakers.

5. Turn your meeting notes into action items 

A meeting is a waste of time if it doesn’t lead to action. After your sync, review all the discussions, team updates, requests for support, and ideas that came up during your team sync. Leverage Slack to continue important conversations, organize resources, create new canvases, and add tasks to your team’s priority list. When you keep your meeting archive in the same space where you’re taking action, it’s easy to cross-reference and collaborate without losing context.

Slack’s team check-in template gets everyone on the same page

With Slack’s team check-in template, you can now run weekly syncs that turn frustrating meetings into collaborative working sessions that create action, not just notes. Turn agendas into transparent conversations, turn progress updates into next steps, and turn a single Slack channel into a centralized communication hub for your team’s tasks and resources.