Information: Check-Ins

Hello everyone! This is going to be an informative post on check-ins that happen or can be done in sub-community forums. You can refer to this thread anytime for all information on check-ins!

Check-ins can be an important part of a thriving sub-community and can be a great way to bond and see how others in the community are doing. Each team is different, and check-ins may vary depending on team needs and interests. Here is some basic information about check-ins:

• What is a check-in?

A check-in is a thread that invites members to a safe and interesting place to meet and share their struggles, dilemmas, mental wellbeing and accomplishments with us. By doing check-ins, we are giving members the opportunity to seek support, let us know how they’re doing and interact with other members in the sub-community.

• Who does these check-ins?

Check-ins are done by the sub-community team members. They have assigned / signed-up spots for these. If there is no team member available (upon confirming) to do the check-ins, anyone can do these!

• Where are these posted?

Check-ins are posted in the individual community and appear just like other posts.

• When are they done?

Each sub-community has its own schedule - they can be daily, weekly, monthly, or really a single on-going thread that covers multiple dates. It really depends on the number of active and reliable team members.

• What is the format for a check-in?

The content varies depending upon the needs and interests of sub-communities and leaders. However, for those doing it, the basic structure (with examples) of a check-in includes:

• Title
  • X Support Community Check-In: Month Date(s) Year
• Photo/GIF
  • At the beginning or the end.
  • Ensure that the photo or GIF doesn’t display flashy or triggering images.
  • A description of the image/GIF can be super helpful.
    
    
• Quote/Excerpt/Article/Video (Optional)
  • For the community to share their reactions, views, etc. on.
    
    
• Theme for content, if any - for instance link to any Awareness Days or Months or Events, even advertise any group support discussions that week too.  Or Spring, Summer, holiday season, Thanksgiving etc.
  
  
• Questions, mostly open-ended
  • Ask what is going well and what is not going well.
  • Post icebreakers or simple questions that relate to your community.
  • Simply ask how they are feeling. Let them share or ask them to rate how they feel on a scale of 1-10 or relate how they're feeling to a color.
    
    
• Community Taglist
  • Use and attach the taglist at the end for members to be tagged, added, removed. Click here to know more and for a list of community taglists.
    
    
• Check-In Responses
  • Ensure everyone participating is replied to and the conversation is as much as supportive as possible from your end.
  • We want everyone participating to feel welcome, included, valued and cared for.
  • Even if they're just stopping by to say hi, give them a wave back!
    
    
• Reminders
  • Lastly, remember to set the thread to check-in and be responsible with the whole process. It's perfectly okay to step back when needed and let someone else cover. It is not necessary to Feature it or Pin it.
  • Include other discussions, events happening and resources available in your community to use in the check-in! Also include information on check-ins where applicable in non-check-in areas so people know about these.
  • Don't forget to enjoy your check-in!
  • Check-ins are an important tool of community building and support so we cannot thank you enough for all the efforts! You are appreciated!

A sample format for a basic check-in is here:

Title: Check-In: February 7th-13th

Photo/GIF:

[Image Description: Text in bold on a blue background that says “Good morning, (in blue, red and yellow)

Check-In Questions:

• How are you feeling today?
• What’s going well for you? What isn’t?
• What was the highlight of your week/day, if any?

Taglist:

Click HERE (hyperlink the forum thread to the taglist) to be added/removed from the community taglist

Insert names of persons in the taglist: @User1 @User2 @User3

All of this information is available in a Google Doc here! Share your check-in tips and best practices in this very thread below!