The Problem with Regular Check-ins

Let's face it. Most check-in meetings waste time. They often lack focus, clear goals, or any real plan for growth. You sit down with your team or a designer, chat about current projects, maybe touch on some challenges, and then... what?

You have two choices:

  1. Keep running the same basic meetings that don't drive skill growth
  2. Transform those meetings into action-based sessions that boost both skills and team knowledge

As a design leader, your job isn't just tracking projects. It's growing top talent. With design skills changing so fast, your team needs a structured way to learn and improve.

This playbook shows how Fujitsu and other smart design teams use Uxcel Teams to turn boring check-ins into powerful growth sessions. You'll learn to use real skill data to guide better conversations, set clear goals, and create a culture where everyone constantly grows.

The result? A team that learns faster, shares knowledge freely, and produces better design work with fewer revisions.

What You'll Need

Before jumping in, make sure you have:

Uxcel Teams Access with:

  • Reporting to track team activity and engagement
  • Skill assessments to measure current abilities
  • Assignment tools to guide learning paths
  • Leaderboards to track progress

Meeting Structure:

  • Regular team check-ins (weekly or bi-weekly)
  • One-on-one meetings with each designer
  • A system for tracking and following up on action items

Team Buy-in:

  • Open discussions about skill growth
  • A culture that values learning and sharing
  • Clear communication about how this helps everyone grow

With these basics in place, you're ready to transform your check-in meetings from status updates to growth engines.

Step 1: Build a Team Knowledge Hub

Most design teams have a wealth of knowledge spread across team members, but no good way to share it. Each designer learns valuable lessons from courses, projects, and assessments, but these insights often stay locked in their heads.

How to Create a Knowledge-Sharing System

1. Check Course Completions in Uxcel Pulse

  1. Open your team reporting
  2. Look at the activity feed to see who completed what courses
  3. Note which team members recently earned certificates

2. Assign Knowledge-Sharing Sessions

  1. During your team check-in, pick one or two recent course completions
  2. Ask those designers to prepare a 10-minute knowledge share for the next meeting
  3. Example: "Kate, I see you finished the Design Terminology course. Could you share the top 3 things you learned in our Friday meeting?"

3. Structure the Sharing Format

  1. Keep presentations brief (5-10 minutes)
  2. Focus on practical takeaways, not theory
  3. End with 1-2 concrete ways the team can apply this knowledge

4. Document and Build Your Knowledge Base

  1. Record key points in a shared team doc
  2. Tag topics for easy searching
  3. Build a library of team knowledge over time

💡 Feature Highlight: Uxcel Activity Feed.
The activity feed shows all team learning in real-time. You can see exactly who completed what courses, assessments, and challenges. This makes it easy to spot opportunities for knowledge sharing.

Pro Tips for Success

  • Rotate sharers so everyone gets a turn
  • Connect knowledge sharing to current projects when possible
  • Ask questions that link learning to real work challenges
  • Keep a "learning backlog" of topics you want to explore further

Expected Outcomes

By making knowledge sharing a regular part of check-ins, you'll create:

  • A team that learns collectively, not just individually
  • Better application of course content to real work
  • Higher engagement with learning materials
  • A growing library of team knowledge

When your team sees that learning leads directly to sharing and applying knowledge, they'll be more motivated to complete courses and grow their skills.

Step 2: Create Personal Growth Plans

Most growth plans are too vague. "Get better at UX research" doesn't tell anyone what to do next. Using assessment data from Uxcel Teams creates much clearer paths forward.

Building Data-Backed Growth Plans

1. Review Assessment Results

  1. Open the Assessments tab in your Uxcel dashboard
  2. Check which assessments team members have completed
  3. Note areas of strength and growth opportunities

2. Prepare for One-on-One Check-ins

  1. Pull up specific assessment results before meeting
  2. Note the designer's current score and skill areas
  3. Think about how these skills connect to team needs and the designer's career goals

3. Have Growth-Focused Conversations

  1. Start with current assessment data: "I see you scored in the top 24% on the Workshop Facilitation Assessment"
  2. Ask about their goals: "Where would you like to be with this skill in three months?"
  3. Discuss why this matters to them and the team

4. Create a Specific Action Plan

  1. Pick relevant Uxcel courses that address skill gaps
  2. Set a timeline for completion
  3. Plan how to apply these skills to current projects
  4. Schedule a follow-up assessment to measure progress

💡 Feature Highlight: Uxcel Assessments. Assessments provide objective data on skill levels across dozens of design areas. They take just 15-20 minutes to complete and give both you and your team members clear insight into where they stand.

Pro Tips for Growth Plans

  • Connect learning to real project work whenever possible
  • Break big goals into smaller milestones
  • Celebrate progress, not just end results
  • Ask "how can I help?" - sometimes they need time, resources, or mentoring

Expected Outcomes

Well-crafted personal growth plans lead to:

  • More focused skill development
  • Higher motivation due to clear goals
  • Better resource allocation (time and learning content)
  • Measurable progress that both you and your team can see

When designers see their assessment scores improving over time, it creates a powerful feedback loop that motivates further growth.

Step 3: Set Clear Skill Goals

Saying "get better at design" isn't a goal. It's a wish. To truly grow skills, your team needs specific, measurable targets tied to both learning and application.

Creating Measurable Skill Goals

1. Start with Baseline Measurements

  1. Use assessment scores as starting points
  2. Note current skill levels across key areas
  3. Identify which skills most need improvement

2. Set SMART Skill Targets

  1. Specific skill (e.g., "Figma proficiency")
  2. Measurable outcome (e.g., "join the top 40% in 3 months)
  3. Achievable within role and resources
  4. Relevant to both team needs and personal growth
  5. Time-bound with clear deadlines (typically 2-3 months)

3. Connect Learning to Application

  1. Assign specific Uxcel courses that build target skills
  2. Create small practice projects to apply new knowledge
  3. Map how improved skills will impact current work

4. Document in a Shared Growth Plan

  1. Record current levels and targets
  2. List specific learning resources
  3. Note application opportunities
  4. Set check-in dates to review progress

💡 Feature Highlight: Uxcel Assignments. The Assignments feature lets you curate specific learning paths for each team member. You can assign courses, set due dates, and track completion - making it easy to support skill goals with the right learning resources.

Pro Tips for Skill Goal Setting

  • Start with just 1-2 skill goals per person
  • Pick skills that connect to both current and future work
  • Use the "one skill at a time" approach for focus
  • Mix technical skills with soft skills for balanced growth

Expected Outcomes

Well-structured skill goals create:

  • Clear direction for learning efforts
  • Higher completion rates for courses
  • Better application of new skills to work
  • Visible progress that motivates continued growth

By making growth concrete and measurable, you transform vague hopes into actual skill improvements that benefit both the individual and the team.

Step 4: Track Progress and Adapt

Setting goals is just the beginning. The real magic happens when you consistently track progress, celebrate wins, and adjust plans based on real results.

Creating Feedback Loops

1. Schedule Regular Progress Check-ins

  1. Add skill review to weekly or bi-weekly one-on-ones
  2. Look at course completions since last meeting
  3. Discuss how new learning is being applied
  4. Check for obstacles or needed support

2. Use Data to Guide Conversations

  1. Review updated assessment scores
  2. Look at completion rates in Uxcel Pulse
  3. Compare current skills to set targets
  4. Note improvements and areas still needing work

3. Adjust Plans as Needed

  1. Speed up or slow down based on progress
  2. Add resources for challenging areas
  3. Pivot if team priorities change
  4. Build on unexpected interests or talents

4. Celebrate and Share Wins

  1. Acknowledge when assessment scores improve
  2. Have team members share how new skills helped their work
  3. Recognize both completion of learning and application of skills
  4. Use leaderboards to add friendly competition
Feature Highlight: Uxcel Leaderboards. Leaderboards show who's most active in learning, creating healthy competition. They highlight top performers across various metrics and can spark motivation across the team.

Pro Tips for Progress Tracking

  • Keep it light and positive, not judgmental
  • Look for patterns across the team to spot common needs
  • Use progress data to inform team learning resources
  • Connect individual growth to team performance improvements

Expected Outcomes

Consistent tracking and adaptation leads to:

  • Sustained engagement with learning
  • Quicker course corrections when needed
  • Higher completion rates of learning plans
  • Better matching of skills to team needs

When designers see you consistently paying attention to their growth, they're more likely to prioritize it themselves.

Real Impact: How Fujitsu drives check-in meetings with Uxcel Teams

Noriyasu Vontin, Design Manager at Fujitsu, faced significant challenges with his cross-functional team of software engineers and designers. With demanding project schedules and limited time for traditional training, they needed a solution that integrated learning into daily work.

Before:

  • Professional development happened in scattered, occasional sessions
  • Team lacked objective assessment of current skills
  • Learning resources were fragmented across multiple platforms
  • Knowledge stayed in silos rather than being shared
  • Development conversations lacked data-driven focus

Fujitsu implemented a structured approach using Uxcel Teams that mirrors the framework in this playbook:

1. They transformed check-ins into growth sessions

Regular meetings evolved from status updates to focused skill development conversations. Using assessment data, they set personalized growth objectives tailored to each team member's profile and career goals.

2. They created data-driven development plans

With detailed competency data from Uxcel assessments, they matched learning resources to specific needs with remarkable accuracy. This personalized approach boosted engagement as team members saw direct relevance to their daily work.

3. They established knowledge-sharing practices

Learning became a central theme in weekly retrospectives. The team regularly exchanged insights from courses, creating a vibrant culture where discoveries strengthened collaboration through shared understanding.

4. They built sustainable learning habits

Uxcel's accessibility made professional development adaptable to diverse work styles. The micro-learning approach fit naturally into brief windows throughout the day, transforming what might have been perceived as obligatory training into an engaging daily practice.

‍The Results:

  • Skill acquisition accelerated across the team
  • Design quality improved with fewer revisions
  • Team communication strengthened through shared language
  • Cross-functional collaboration became more efficient
  • Employee engagement and retention increased

This transformation at Fujitsu demonstrates that turning check-ins into growth engines doesn't require massive organizational change. It’s quite simple: use the right data to guide better conversations about skill development.

Implementation Timeline

Week 1-2: Setup and Baseline

  • Get all team members on Uxcel Teams
  • Have everyone complete key assessments
  • Set up your dashboard and leaderboards
  • Introduce the new check-in format to the team

Week 3-4: Initial Implementation

  • Start knowledge sharing in team meetings
  • Hold first growth-focused one-on-ones
  • Set initial 3-month skill targets
  • Assign first round of learning resources

Month 2: Building Momentum

  • Continue weekly knowledge sharing
  • Check in on early progress toward goals
  • Adjust assignments based on engagement
  • Address any obstacles to learning

Month 3: First Review Cycle

  • Re-assess initial skill areas
  • Compare to baseline measurements
  • Celebrate improvements
  • Set next round of targets

Common Challenges and Solutions

Low engagement: Focus on connecting learning to work that matters to them
Time constraints: Start small with just 10 minutes of knowledge sharing
Inconsistent follow-through: Use Uxcel's notification features as reminders
Resistance to assessment: Frame as growth tools, not performance evaluation

Next Steps

Ready to transform your check-in meetings from status updates to growth engines? Here's how to start:

  1. Set up your Uxcel Teams account to access all the tools mentioned in this playbook
  2. Choose one approach to try first - either knowledge sharing or personal growth plans
  3. Introduce the concept to your team, explaining how it benefits everyone
  4. Schedule your first action-driven check-in using the formats outlined here

The best design leaders know that growing their team is as important as delivering great work. By making small, smart changes to meetings you're already having, you can create a culture of continuous growth that improves skills, boosts retention, and delivers better design outcomes.

Ready to see how Uxcel Teams can transform your design team? Request a demo today.