Achieve Together Check-ins

What’s a Check-in?

Check-ins are simple but meaningful conversations between employees and managers that occur three times per year. These are discussions about work progress, individual goals, performance expectations, special projects, work functions, and plans of action. When employees and managers are both fully engaged, these conversations drive higher performance, agility, and strengthen relationships. 

Check-in Conversation Demo - Achieve Together - UC Berkeley

When do Check-ins occur?

Period for Conversation

Hold Check-in Conversation Between

Online Form Due

Summer
(1 of 3)

April-July

August 1 - September 15

September 15 *

Fall
(2 of 3)

August-November

December 1 - January 15

January 15 *

Spring
(3 of 3)

December-March

April 1 - May 31

May 31 *

* or next business day

Schedule for check-in conversation periods by month. Shows the periods of time each conversation will cover, then the time period the conversation should happen.

What should I expect from the Check-in conversation?

Managers will facilitate the conversation by using 6 guided conversation starters. Each of these questions map to the Achievement Criteria, which will be used to help managers recommend merit rewards and/or general across-the-board salary increases in years when funding is available.

  1. What goals did you accomplish this period? (Goal Accomplishment & Job Mastery)

  2. What do you like best about your work? In what ways does your work connect to our overall strategy and/or mission? (Job Mastery & Goal Accomplishment)

  3. How have you supported others' work and/or collaborated with others on your work this period? (Collaboration)

  4. How have you innovated, sought efficiencies and/or improved work outcomes? (Innovation)

  5. How have you fostered inclusion and belonging on our team and/or campus? (Inclusion & Belonging)

  6. What can I do as your manager/supervisor to better support your success? What additional knowledge, resources, or tools are needed to successfully do your job? (Development Planning & Manager/Supervisor Support)

These questions are conversation starters that support effective Check-in practice. Each of these questions should be addressed in every Check-in. They are not meant to constrain your conversation delivery, so managers should feel empowered to ask the questions in ways that are most comfortable and relevant. However, employees deserve the opportunity to be prompted on each.

If you'd like to "dive deeper," here are some suggested additional questions for your conversation.

During or after the Check-in conversation, notes from the conversation can be captured using the online Achieve Together form. Performance levels are documented once per year, after the spring Achieve Together conversation. It is strongly suggested that managers and employees add high-level notes representing the main themes of the conversation. Bullets are encouraged and recommended. NOTE: The fall Achieve Together conversation is documentation optional, meaning that managers and/or employees can choose to not add notes for that conversation.

What is the recommended Check-in process for managers/supervisors and their direct reports?

Before

Manager/Supervisor
Direct Report

  1. Plan how you will apply coaching skills to the Check-in conversation. Plan for how you will help your direct report talk about their performance, listen to their comments about their work experiences, and discuss what they might stop/start/continue to be successful.

  2. Review the Achievement Criteria to consider current and future states of work, and what you can do to support your direct report's acquisition of knowledge, skills, and support needed to be successful.

  3. Start a yearly Achieve Together Online Form from your Achieve Together Online Dashboard. Your direct report will receive an email letting them know the Online Form has been created.  NOTE: You only start a new form at the first, Summer, Check-in or when an employee begins Achieve Together.

  1. Reflect on the current state of work, where it's going, what's needed for success, and the quality of your work experience, including the relationship with your manager/supervisor. Prepare how you would like to discuss what’s on track, major accomplishments, and opportunities you have for improvement.

  2. Use the Check-in questions that map to the Achievement Criteria as a guide for preparing to talk about your work performance in the areas of collaboration, goal accomplishment, inclusion & belonging, innovation, and job mastery.

  3. After the manager/supervisor starts your yearly Check-in form, you will receive an email from Team Achieve. You can access the form on your Achieve Together Online Dashboard

During

Manager/Supervisor
Direct Report

  1. Use the Check-in questions that map to the Achievement Criteria performance indicators to encourage the employee to focus on current progress.

  2. Use terminology that makes sense in your everyday conversations, rather than a rote reading of the Check-in questions. The goal is to have a meaningful conversation, not a formal interview. 

  3. To go deeper into the conversation, use open-ended questions to check for clarity and explore the employee's work experience. Seek to understand through finding agreement and explore discrepancies. Discuss work that is going well and on track, accomplishments, and opportunities for improvement. Use the 4-step coaching model to explore, discover, plan, and act.

  4. During the conversation, take brief notes of key information and add it to the Manager/Supervisor Notes field in the Achieve Together Online Form.

  5. Check-in on goal accomplishment expectations for the goals going forward. Ensure alignment with team, unit, and campus goals/strategies as appropriate.

  1. Use the Check-in questions that map to the Achievement Criteria performance indicators to discuss your current work progress and experience, in addition to future performance planning. These questions are pathways to go deeper on topics, issues, and themes, and are not meant to limit the extent of the conversation.

  2. Be open to feedback, partner on problem-solving, and take ownership of your achievements and areas for improvement.

  3. Spend time discussing additional knowledge, skills, and support needed for success at UC Berkeley. 

  4. During the conversation, take brief notes of key information and add it to the Employee Notes field in the Achieve Together Online Form.

  5. Discuss goal accomplishment expectations for your goals going forward. Think about how the goals align with team, unit, and campus goals/strategies as appropriate.

After

Manager/Supervisor
Direct Report

  1. Review or update goals that were discussed during the Check-in conversation. These updates are to reflect the goals going forward and can be for any length of time.

  2. Save and Lock your notes for the appropriate section to complete the Achieve Together Online Form.

  3. Ensure you have one-on-one meetings scheduled between Check-in conversations to exchange feedback and to connect on work expectations, goals, priorities, what's going well, areas for improvement, and needed support for success.

  1. Work with your manager/supervisor to update goals based on what was discussed in the Check-in conversation. The goals going forward can be for any length of time. Discuss with your manager/supervisor if there are questions or concerns.

  2. Save and Lock your notes for the appropriate section to complete the Achieve Together Online Form. This signifies that you have reviewed the content in full, not necessarily that you agree with what's stated in the form.

  3. Ensure you have one-on-one meetings scheduled between Check-in conversations to exchange feedback and to connect on work expectations, goals, priorities, what’s going well, areas for improvement, and needed support for success.

Download the Recommended Conversation Process

After your Achieve Together Check-in, be sure to schedule your UC Experience Conversation. Check out our webpage linked here for tools and resources!

Visit the Training & Resources page for additional resources.