Checking IN, or Checking UP?

Checking in with your remote team members frequently can help grow and maintain strong relationships, but micromanaging them can destroy trust and engagement. Are you checking IN with people or are you checking UP on them? Let’s talk about the difference.

So here we are, a year into the pandemic, and I’m sure most of you are still dealing with teams that are remote, or partly remote. And you know that it’s important to keep up good communication with those teams.But here’s the question. When you communicate with your team members, are you checking in on them, or checking up on them?

There can be a big perceived difference. Checking UP on someone means, wondering WHAT they are doing. How are they using their time? Checking IN on someone means wondering HOW they are doing, and whether or not there is anything you can do to help them.

It’s more important then ever to cultivate a culture of trust in this environment, and you certainly won’t instill trust in your people by checking up on them. You may, however, strengthen the bonds you have by checking in on them, making sure they are doing well, and seeing how you can help them. Because remember, you are not in charge of people, people are in your charge.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with having tactical meetings or discussions to get up to date on project status and to make sure that things are moving along. But if those are the only communications you are having with your people, then you’re not really communicating at all, you’re managing.

So take the next step, and check in on your team. How are they doing working from home? Are they finding it difficult to balance the needs of work and home? Maybe they’re home schooling their kids. Maybe they need some support. Find out what you can do for them. Maybe they need office equipment. Maybe they need a tutor for their kids. Maybe they need a few days off! Maybe they need to adjust their working hours. Maybe they need to be available to you at different times of the day than you normally expect them to be.

Ask questions. Learn what challenges they’re facing, and find out what you can do for them as their leader. In other words, treat them like human beings that you genuinely care about, rather than like resources. Checking in on people is an important skill, whether they’re remote or in the office. Something we don’t think much about. While we’re all together in the same location, it’s a little easier to catch up on the trials of the day, and find out what TV shows are interesting to your co-workers. But when they’re remote, we tend to focus on business, spend less time talking, and more time acting. Let’s not forget to take time to be human.