Youre in yet another boring 1-on-1 meeting.
It seems like all you do is go over random updates, or just chat about life.
You could be using this time to doreal workinstead!
But it doesnt have to be this way.
If youre a manager, you oughta be using them to their full potential, otherwise youre flying blind.
Luckily, doing them well is pretty straightforward.
Focus on building better habits, and then practice, practice, practice.
Monthly meetings tend to only work when you already have a high level of trust and communication.
It’s free, every week, in your inbox.
Remember this meeting is your commitment to show that you care, and theyre a priority.
Every cancellation sends a message.
What kind of signal do you want to give?
This will make it far easier for you to jump to any pressing concerns or challenges theyre working on.
If you dont have an agenda from them, ask them at the beginning of the meeting.
This can be as simple as asking, Whats on your mind?
Your goal is to try and flush out what is worrying them.
Its yourjobto force the conversation into sometimes uncomfortable territory.
Also, avoid using 1-on-1s as a status update meeting.
There are far better (asynchronous) ways to get status updates.
Make the most of this valuable time you are spending together.
Dont spend the entire meeting (or any of it!)
on your phone or laptop (take notes in a notebook if needed).
You are here to listen.
Give them your full attention.
This will make it more difficult over time to understand their concerns.
If you do this right, you might learn a lot about how the controversial message is being received.
Pay close attention to their tone and body language.
Such invaluable signals are often missed when discussing tricky topics in group parameters.
This can be exhausting if you do this with your whole team, but its still worth it.
Remember that by the time any real issues surface, they may have evolved into something far worse.
Take the temperature
Take notes during/after your 1-on-1 to identify key issues raised.
Record a simple green/yellow/red measure for each team member.
you’re free to usually see the signs of a disgruntled employeewaybefore its too late.
It only takes a couple of skipped 1-on-1s to miss even the strongest warning signals.
Companies move fast, but so do people.
Track performance
Use 1-on-1s for tracking details about incidents related to performance.
Sometimes, it can be difficult to see when an individual is underperforming.
Each week is a mix of good and bad, so things never seemthatbad.
Communicate your concerns in each meeting.
Provide clear guidance to get them addressed.
Use the recurring meeting as the platform for reinforcing your expectations.
Be as specific as possible.
Its not only about defensibility and fairness, its also about peace of mind during a very stressful period.
it’s possible for you to track positive performance achievements the same way.
Use this technique to help justify your recommendations for compensation or other awards.
Team members should reply with their desired agenda items for this meeting.
Also, followup emails after the meeting with the action items agreed upon in the meeting.
If you wish to automate the above, consider using an online 1-on-1 management tool.
Be sure to actually review the previous action items in the next meeting.
Doing so sets the expectation that you arebothgoing to follow-up on any commitments made.
In turn, this reinforces the value of the meetings to both parties.
Hopefully youve gotten a sense of how important 1-on-1s are for your organization.
Try applying a new technique for a couple weeks, and see how it works for you.
The best path to long-term improvement is iterative changes.
This article was written bySalman Ansari,a software engineer, writer, artist, and former startup founder.
He currently splits his time between working with an AI startup and exploring creative projects.
