The 1-on-1 meeting is the most important meeting you have-here is how to optimize it.

If you are a manager or leader of people, the 1-on-1 meeting is the most important meeting you have on your schedule. Hands down.

Too often the 1-on-1 meeting gets thrown away as a "quick chat" or "status update" and not as the wildly valuable, precious time it is between a leader and his or her team.

The way I like to think of it, the 1-on-1 meeting is your way of growing the people who turn around and grow the organization. Your 1-on-1's should be frequent (every week or every other week), consistent, and owned by employee. This last part is important. The 1-on-1 is for the employee to give the manager an update and ask for their help on a particular goal, initiative, or task.

Typically, these meetings are short, so we need to make them efficient. Here is how I optimized the way I run a 1-on-1 meeting.

The Four C's of a Great 1-on-1

This simple framework is easy to remember and even easier to implement. Your 1-on-1 meeting should hit on these four things:

Care

Begin the meeting with conversation that makes a genuine connection with your team member. They need to know you care (ps. you also have to care, you can't fake this).

Ask questions like, "What did you do this weekend?" or "I saw it was your son's birthday, how old is he now?"

You should know things about your direct reports and this your opportunity to talk about what makes them who they are. This will sound like small talk, but it's called building trust. You may keep it short, but don't skip it.

Celebrate

Majority of teams (and leaders) are poor about celebrating their wins. People, teams, and companies work hard and they should celebrate when projects are completed and goals are achieved. I'm not saying a 48-hour bender, I'm talking about praise. Simple acknowledgement of a job well done.

In the context of a 1-on-1, you as leader need to ensure that you are reinforcing the right behavior and rewarding the accomplishments you'd like to see more of. That means celebrate it.

In every 1-on-1 meeting, I'd try to take a minute or two to celebrate a win that the person was directly a part of and to make sure they know you saw it. Enjoy those W's.

Challenge

This is the key step. This is where you challenge your direct report. This could be a challenge to do better next time if something isn't going well. It could be a challenge to go further if things are going great. Or, it could be a challenge to try something new, take on a different role, or to get uncomfortable.

Remember, you grow the team and the team grows the organization.

Challenging our team may feel uncomfortable at first, but if they are great employees they too want to grow and improve. It's your job to lead them into that discomfort.

Commit

Now what?

These are two powerful words that need to be followed up by a plan, a schedule, or some form of action. This is the part of the 1-on-1 where you can summarize what was discussed, ask your direct report to make a commitment (remember this is their meeting), agree on that commitment and then a timeline to circle back.

The natural follow-up will be at your next 1-on-1, but make a commitment that aligns with the timeline. Now you have an answer to the now what question.

Quick Tip: As the 1-on-1 meeting plays out, make sure to touch on all of the four C's. I do not put the four C's directly on the agenda. Work these in throughout your time, naturally in whatever order makes sense, but make sure you cover each section.

If you don't do 1-on-1 meetings, get them on your calendar. If you do, try to work in the four C's at your next meeting.

Grow the people and let them grow the organization.