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You attend a seminar or read a self-help book. You do a plan and are so excited to implement it. This time, you will really stick to your plan for change! And then, a few months later…nothing. Sound familiar? Lack of follow through is a common problem for both individuals and teams. That’s why I recommend you schedule a growth check-in ahead of time.

What is a Growth Check-In?

A growth check-in is a pause to reflect on your progress regarding a major change or initiative. Most of the time it is a series of questions you can ask yourself or your team to see if you are moving forward.

Why is a Growth Check-In Important?

We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.

John Dewey

A growth check-in helps keep you on track. Are you doing what you set out to do?

It also keeps you focused on the big picture. Are you learning? What works for you?

Periodic check-ins facilitate timely course correction. What do you want to do differently?

Design Your Growth Check-In at the Beginning

Create your growth check-in form right after you complete your plan. This is when everything is fresh in your mind and you are still excited. I normally recommend a series of questions or tasks in a checklist format. Keep it short and to the point.

What are the tasks or behaviors you want to track?

How will you include learning?

Do you need to adjust anything?

Once the content is set, think about how often you should do your growth check-in. Don’t make the mistake of making it so frequent that you end up ignoring it. I find that monthly or quarterly usually works.

The Secret Weapon: Your Calendar

Most of us already use an electronic calendar app such as Outlook or Google Calendar. Every smartphone has a calendar app. So, put it to work for you! You can make your growth check-in a recurring event, adding its checklist on the event description. This way, your calendar will manage the check-in process for you. Here are some examples:

Example #1: an Individual Self-Care Check-In

This example is for someone using Outlook to track her self-care. She set a quarterly check-in with a checklist of self-care behaviors she wishes to follow. She also included several reflection questions.

Since she is doing the check-in by herself, she did not mark her time as busy or invite anyone else.

Example #2: a Team Strategic Plan Check-In

This is an example of an Executive Director who used the Outlook task list to set a monthly Strategic Plan check-in. She kept it very high level, only focusing on the plan’s 4 main goals. She also included a team learning question as well as course adjustment for both the plan’s content and implementation. This check-in can be a reminder for the Executive Director or it can be used in a team meeting. Thus, reflection can certainly be a group exercise.

Ready to Schedule your First Growth Check-In?

You are heading into the last quarter of the year. Is there anything you want to change? Any plan you need to monitor? How can you tailor this to suit your specific needs? Open your calendar app and start designing a growth check-in for it.

Once you get the hang of this tool, it can be really powerful. You can create all kinds of growth check-ins for yourself or your team. They can be tactical or philosophical and vary according to audience.

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