Management Rituals: Quarterly Check-ins
Part of being a people manager is regular check-ins and feedback for direct reports. One tool I've used for this is quarterly check-ins.
Each quarter, I ask my direct reports six questions.
What did you accomplish over the last three months?
What did you learn?
What relationships did you work on?
What do you want to accomplish in the next three months? (What are your goals?)
What do you want to learn?
What relationships do you want to work on?
tl;dr - This is a conversation about accomplishments, learning, and relationships for the previous three months and the next three months.
As you can see, the first three questions are about the past, and the latter three are the same questions but forward-looking. Once you reach the second quarter, you can discuss whether they met the goals they set in the previous check-in.
This does not replace regular 1:1s or regular, timely feedback. These check-ins are for dedicated discussions about performance and growth and provide a consistent cadence for checking in on goals.
On a yearly schedule, I like to extend the meeting to review the past twelve months and encourage employees to consider the coming year, not just the next three months.
These questions are adapted from First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently.
Conversation Starters:
What types of check-ins related to performance and growth do you have with your direct reports or manager?
What conversations would you like to have?
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xo,
Brie
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My areas of expertise and interest are leadership development, conquering impostor syndrome, values exploration, goal setting, and creating habits & systems. And, of course, Quality Engineering. 🐞
