Even though I have a long history with Basecamp,
the automatic check-ins tool
was the feature I
used the least before working here. And now,
automatic check-ins is one of the
Basecamp
tools I probably use the most.
If you're not yet using it or you're not quite
sure how it works,
this video is for you.
I'm Kimberly from Basecamp's Customer Success Team,
and I'm going to show you how to add
automatic check-ins to a Basecamp project.
I'll also walk you through creating and
editing automatic check-ins. And
because we're all about
sharing around here, I'll even show you
how we use automatic check-ins here at
Basecamp, and how you might use them to
streamline your work and take
some of those dreaded
meetings off your calendar. First,
you'll need to add automatic check-ins to
your project.
And you can do that with a three-dot menu
at the top right of your project page
and select Set Up Tools.
You'll toggle Automatic Check-ins on.
If you want to rename the tool, you can do
that here. Now, before I show you how to set up
and work with automatic check- ins in your Basecamp
project, I think we should talk about
why you might want to use them. I love
how we describe them in our help guide.
Automatic check-ins are for asking your team
recurring questions and gathering their answers
all in one spot. In many cases, we see automatic
check-ins replacing
daily or weekly stand-up or status meetings.
Just because you need to know what
everyone is working on doesn't necessarily
mean you have to have a meeting to do it. Automatic
check-ins are a really
simple way to collect information consistently,
keep your team up to date, or
just get to know your colleagues better.
To get started, you'll open the automatic check-ins
card and click New Question.
You'll type in the question you want to ask
and then select when you want the
question to be posed to your team.
You have lots of options here. You can
choose to ask the question
daily, several times a week, once a week on a certain day,
every other week, or even just once
a month. You can also choose what time
you want the question to be asked. We've
given you two standard times,
either the beginning of the day at 9 o'clock a.m.
or at the end of the day at 4:30,
but you can also designate your own time
if you prefer. Now, keep in mind that
people receiving the question
will get it at their local time.
So, if you have people working in
different time zones,
you'll receive the answers back to their question
at different times as well.
The last step is to choose who should be asked your question.
You can select everyone on the
project with one click, or you can pick and choose
who should get the automatic check-in.
When it's time, Basecamp will send a notification
to everyone on the list
asking them the designated question.
Each person can click on the notification
in their Hey menu, answer the question,
and move on with their day. Just like in
other parts of Basecamp, you can @ mention
someone, include attachments, or even link
to other parts of Basecamp, which is really helpful
when you want to point out where someone can get more
information about your check-in.
Within the automatic check-ins tool,
you'll see everyone's answers saved in one place,
and if anyone has a
question or comment about someone's check-in,
the discuss button allows for any communication to
happen right there on the check-in.
If you're wanting to get a glimpse into someone's check-ins over time,
that's easy to do.
With the automatic check-in question open,
go to the three-dot menu at the top
and select "See someone's answers."
From there, you can choose someone on the list and see
all their answers to that check-in
consolidated in one place. You can easily edit the automatic
check-in from that same three-dot menu. From here,
you can change their frequency,
the timing, and who is being notified.
You can also change the question in this area,
but just know that the answers
that have already been submitted to the
original question will stay with that check-in.
those answers won't necessarily make sense. You'd probably be better off just making a
new check-in altogether. If you want to put a
check-in on hold, you can click
"Stop asking this question" at the top.
That will stop the check-in from going out, but won't
delete it completely.
Now, if you want to completely delete a
check-in along with any responses, you can do that by selecting
"Put in the trash."
Automatic check-ins help keep everyone informed
without needing more meetings or tons of
back-and-forth emails.
It also helps keep everything on the record for future reference.
But if you don't need to be notified when other people
complete a check-in, you can go to the three-dot menu
and change your notification settings.
Here at Basecamp, we use automatic check-ins
different ways. Every Monday morning, the entire company gets asked,
"What did you do this weekend?"
It's completely optional to answer, but it's a
great way to learn more about our coworkers.
It's always fun to see who went on a cooking spree
and to find out where in the world Michelle is currently working from.
Monday mornings, we also get the question,
"What will you be working on this week?"
Each person chimes in with what they have planned on their
to-do list over the next few days, and everyone else has
full transparency to those plans. Each afternoon at 4.30,
we get the automatic check-in, "What have you worked on?"
This is where we report on what has been filling up
our time, and everyone answers this question at least twice a week.
I love this combination of check-ins because it really makes you
self-monitor your work. By saying what you're planning on doing
at the beginning of the week and then checking in on those things throughout
the week definitely helps you keep on task.
As a completely remote company, we're never wondering
what someone else is working on, and we don't have to
have a meeting to find out. I hope you'll
give automatic check-ins a try. As always,
if you have any questions, just reach out.
You can always get help from our team with that
question mark in the bottom right corner of your screen.