Navigating Meetings: Your Passport to Success through Check-ins

12 powerful checkin questions to setup your meetings for success

It’s the summer holidays and many families will be looking forward to a well deserved break. Us wanna be super heroes also need a break from time to time and we decided to fly over to Majorca. In fact that’s where I am as I write this newsletter. 

But at what point do you feel like you are actually going on holiday? Is it the moment when you book the tickets? Is it the moment you’ve done your packing? Or is it the moment you arrive at the airport? For me it’s just after I have checked-in at the flight desk. As I approach the airport check-in counter, being able to speak to a friendly face creates a sense of connection and reassurance that this holiday is definitely happening! Equally, if we have a bad experience during the check-in it could derail the entire experience that is yet to come. That’s exactly what happened earlier this year during a trip to a business conference to Las Vegas - more about that later.

Surprisingly, a similar sense of anticipation and connection can be achieved in meetings through check-ins. But many facilitators overlook the power of checkin. Imagine being invited to someone’s home and not having the opportunity to talk until about 20 mins into the visit? Check-ins help to break the ice and invite everyone to contribute to the meeting. They don’t necessarily have to include an elaborate activity, it can be a simple question that everyone is invited to answer or give an opinion.

The Science Behind First Impressions

But check-ins aren’t unique to just meetings, they are in fact utilised in many walks of life. For example, when I used to have a weekend job in a Sports retail shop during my university days, we were instructed to greet new customers on the shop floor within 30 seconds of them arriving. Whilst it was a simple ‘hello’ or ’hi how are you doing?’ It was an extremely simple yet powerful tool to create connections.

But why does the initial moment wield such influence? At its core lies the science of first impressions. Our brains are equipped with mirror neurons that lead us to mimic the emotions of those we interact with. When you engage with an airline staff member, for instance, the genuine warmth they project is mirrored in your response. Meeting check-ins trigger the same neural response, creating empathy and emotional contagion. As team members share their updates and display emotions, they naturally resonate with one another, forming a stronger sense of unity and shared purpose.

The Serial Position Effect

Have you ever heard the saying ’first impressions last?‘ Well there’s some truth in that. People tend to remember the first and last items in a sequence more easily than those in the middle. It’s known as the Serial Position Effect. This effect is divided into two parts: the "primacy effect" and the "recency effect."

Primacy Effect

The primacy effect refers to the tendency to better remember items presented at the beginning of a sequence. This occurs because, during the initial moments of an experience, our working memory is less crowded, allowing us to focus more on processing and encoding the information. As a result, the first impression is more likely to leave a lasting impact.

Recency Effect

Conversely, the recency effect pertains to the improved recall of items presented at the end of a sequence. This effect occurs because these items are still fresh in our short-term memory when we try to recall information. They haven't had the chance to be pushed out by subsequent information, as the items in the middle might have been.

In the context of meetings or training courses, the primacy effect and recency effect play a role in how we perceive and remember the experience. A strong opening (first impression) and a memorable conclusion (last thing experienced) tend to leave a lasting impact because of these cognitive biases inherent in our memory processes.

What can we learn from the research?

Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two (Miller, 1956)

Miller's study explored the capacity of short-term memory and its influence on recall. He found that people can typically hold about seven (plus or minus two) pieces of information in their short-term memory at once. This capacity limitation contributes to the primacy and recency effects, as items in the middle of a sequence may not receive as much attention or encoding due to this limited capacity.

12 Powerful Checkin Questions to Build Better Connections

Whether you are facilitating a small or large meeting, it’s important that we enable everyone to feel heard as early as possible. Here are some powerful checkin questions you can pose in your next meeting to help build deeper connections with your audience.

Team Wellbeing

1. Desert Island: Imagine being stranded on a desert island and share one item you would take with you and why.

2. Virtual Vacation: Team members describe their dream vacation destination and what they would do there.

3. Superpower Introduction: Introduce yourself with a superpower you wish you had and why.

4. Gratitude Circle: Everyone shares one thing they are grateful for in their life or work.

Team Improvement

1. Time Capsule: Create a time capsule with items or messages that represent the team's current goals and aspirations.

2. Best Team Memory: Each person recalls a memorable achievement or moment the team experienced together.

3. Role Reversal: Team members swap roles and discuss the challenges and perspectives of each role.

4. Team Pledge: Create a team commitment each person would like to make and implement.

Plan and Prioritise

1. Blind Drawing: Teams are given a simple drawing to recreate, but one person is the "planner" and can only give verbal instructions.

2. Marshmallow Tower: Teams build the tallest freestanding structure using just marshmallows and uncooked spaghetti.

3. Shipwrecked: Teams rank a list of survival items after being "shipwrecked" and stranded on an island.

4. SWOT Analysis: Analyse the team's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for better planning.

Going back to the Vegas conference I attended a few months ago. My good friend Grant Wright and I had patiently waited in the checkin queue at London Heathrow airport for almost an hour. All of a sudden the lady in front started to sway. At first, we thought she had started drinking too early, but then as she collapsed and was about the fall to ground, it was clear she was dehydrated from the long wait. Luckily we managed to catch her before she hit the ground. It was probably the worst check in I had ever experienced. I felt extra bad because I was the one who had booked our tickets and chosen to purchase from that particular airline. The conference turned out to be amazing. But Grant will never let me live it down and I am now banned from booking flights for conferences. Make sure your next business meeting gets off to a flying start and ensure your audience has a fantastic experience during the check in. And I’ll stick to facilitating meetings 😃