Sunny Workplace® glossary
New to Sunny? This page defines every term you’ll run into across the app, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and email. Bookmark it, or search for any term below when something on screen needs a quick explanation.
The basics
Sunny Workplace®
Sunny Workplace builds high-performing, engaged teams by embedding modern team building into the flow of work: quick check-ins, weekly Pulse Checks, and ready-to-run team activities delivered where your team already works.
Sunny IQ
The intelligence engine behind Sunny. Sunny IQ blends AI and behavioral science to turn your team’s signals into personalized recommendations, coaching responses, and weekly actions. The more your team uses Sunny, the more tailored its guidance becomes.
Energy Profile
A personalized assessment you take when you join Sunny (about ten minutes, in three parts). Your Energy Profile reveals what tends to energize and drain you at work, and helps teammates understand how to work well with you. Only your immediate team and manager can see it.
Team Vitals™
Five research-backed signals of how a team is really doing, measured through weekly Pulse Checks and reported as team averages on a 1 to 5 scale:
- Supported. I can rely on my teammates.
- Energized. Interactions leave me with more energy.
- Aligned. We’re pulling in the same direction.
- Recognized. My work and I both matter here.
- Safe. I can speak up and take risks.
Team Vitals are designed to complement annual engagement surveys by showing what teams need right now, at the team level.
Team State
A short description of your team’s current context (for example, a reorg, a crunch period, or a wave of new hires), set and updated by the manager. Sunny uses Team State alongside Team Vitals to keep weekly recommendations relevant.
Your weekly rhythm
Check-in
A quick pulse on your energy, sent Monday and Wednesday at 10am your local time. You pick an energy level (Poor, Okay, Good, or Great), optionally add a reason in your own words, and you’re done in under a minute. Check-ins power your team’s shared picture and your own AI responses.
Anonymous check-in
An option on every check-in: “Keep my reflection anonymous this time.” When you select it, your name and written reason are hidden everywhere, while your energy level still counts toward team averages. See “What your manager can and can’t see” for the full rules.
Pulse Check
A five-question survey sent every Thursday at 10am your local time, one question per Team Vital, answered on a 1 to 5 scale. Individual answers are private; your manager only ever sees team averages and the response count. The response window stays open through Friday night.
Team check-in summary
A short recap of your team’s recent check-ins, delivered in Slack, Teams, or email. Managers receive it Tuesday and Thursday mornings; teammates receive it Tuesday and Friday mornings. Anonymous check-ins never appear in the summary by name.
Friday digest
The manager’s end-of-week snapshot, sent Friday afternoon. It shows each Team Vital’s average score, how it moved versus last week, the team’s response rate, and a prompt to review Team State. If too few teammates responded that week, the digest is held so managers never read too much into thin data.
Sunny Connect
Light, fun prompts Sunny posts into a Slack channel your manager chooses. Teammates reply in the thread (memes encouraged), and replies help make your Team Vitals more meaningful over time. Replies are visible to everyone in the channel by design.
Experiences and guidance
Team Experiences
Ready-to-run, modern team-building activities managers run with their teams. They come in two formats: Team Boosts and Interactive Workshops.
Team Boost
A 5 to 10 minute exercise designed to kick off a weekly team meeting. No prep required.
Interactive Workshop
A longer 30 to 45 minute session for deeper team moments, recommended roughly every fourth week in place of that week’s Boost. Also no prep required.
Weekly recommendation
The one Team Experience Sunny suggests to your manager each week, chosen by Sunny IQ to target the team’s lowest-scoring Team Vital. It arrives with a short rationale explaining why it was picked.
Guide library
The full catalog of Team Experiences in the web app. Managers can browse it any time the weekly recommendation isn’t quite the right fit, and rate any experience after running it.
AI Team Support
Real-time guidance from Sunny IQ, delivered in Slack, Teams, or the web app. Ask it for help navigating a tough conversation, acting on your latest check-in, or strengthening collaboration. Your conversations with it are yours; they’re never shared with your manager.
People, pages, and roles
Team Insights
The manager’s home for team data: this week’s Team Vitals, trends over time, what teammates said in check-ins, and the current Team State. Everything on it is team-level; Pulse Check answers never appear individually.
My Team
The roster page where employees and managers see teammates’ Energy Profiles and guidance on how to work with each person.
HR Admin Dashboard
The org-level view for HR and admins: adoption metrics (like weekly active teams) and organization-wide Team Vitals. It shows aggregates only, never individual responses, scores, or leaderboards.
Employee
The base role in Sunny. Employees check in, complete Pulse Checks, take the Energy Profile assessment, and use AI Team Support.
Manager
A role for people leading a team in Sunny. Managers set up their team, receive weekly recommendations, and see Team Insights. Every manager also has employee access.
Org Admin
A role for managing your organization in Sunny: inviting people, assigning roles, and viewing org-wide data in Organization Settings. Org Admins don’t see individual check-in content.
Organization
Your company’s home in Sunny. Every team, member, and setting belongs to one organization, whether you joined through an invite link, your work email domain, or your company’s HR system.