1:1's - Do or Die as a Manager

The ability of a manager to run effective 1:1 meetings will make or break him/her.

A task despised by both sides, but why?

I believe it's from a lack of goal clarity.

There really are only two options: performance or connection.

Both can be accomplished, but the one prioritized will influence the other greatly.

Choose performance and employees will feel judged for their results consistently.

Choose a connection and the quality of work can fluctuate.

If both sound like losing options, that's not necessarily the case.

You can't be hyper-focused on performance and not expect the manager-employee relationship to suffer.

You can't only care about connecting with teammates at the detriment of the quality of work.

At this point, my words may sound futile, but here's where it turns.

Focus on building a connection first to solicit a strong foundation to work upon.

Then you can expect more from your team including a standard of excellence, better attitude/effort, and holding them accountable to deadlines/outcomes.

When the foundation of your 1:1 meetings is built on rapport, great work is a product of caring.

But when performance is the emphasis, feelings of judgment and conditional acceptance arise.

Now I get that companies survive and thrive off performance, but how to optimize efficacy matters.

You do your best work when you feel trusted.

Performance without connection makes people feel unvalued.

The connection between a manager and their team breeds higher morale, collaboration, and productivity.

The best example I can give you is when I managed a team of 30 remotely.

I ran weekly 30-minute 1:1's where I spent 50% of the time on connection and 50% on performance (approximately).

Based on how each person was doing outside of work determined how I managed them.

Objectives tend to be finite, but if you treat people like commodities they will underperform based on mood.

This is where managing people becomes an art form.

I truly believe if you as a manager don't enjoy 1:1 meetings, it's because you don't like people or you have too much on your plate.

Meeting weekly with individuals can literally jumpstart their energy.

You can read all the books, posts and take all the online courses on how to run an effective 1:1, but caring about the person as a human before a worker is a prerequisite to success.

From my own experience as a manager, nothing excites me more than 1:1's (75% of my work week with a team of 30 people).

Call me crazy, but the thought of speaking the truth and motivating/encouraging someone to surpass their potential gives me the chills.

I understand that may not resonate with you as a manager, but it's possible.

1:1 meetings are not just something required by companies and are set in your calendar.

Those sessions determine the retention, turnover, and performance of your company's workforce.

That's quite the responsibility and impact wouldn't you agree?

It's time to take that challenge seriously.

So now that you see the importance of 1:1's, what are you going to do about it?