5 Elements for Better 1-on-1 Meetings

One-on-one meetings are important because they encourage engagement, increase productivity, and improve performance. And creating an agenda for the meeting is equally important since that’s what drives the conversation.?

Key takeaways:

• During one-on-one meetings, you get to understand what drives your employees to achieve their goals?
• You’re able to discuss challenges your team members face and find ways to address them
• Setting an agenda for the meeting makes it easy to cover all the areas you want to discuss?
• Always create space on your meeting agenda for questions and suggestions?

One-on-one meetings are essential for managers and employees because they allow you to have private conversations away from the usual team meeting setting. In a one-on-one, you can focus all of your attention on one employee, listen intently to what they have to say, and receive insights on their work progress, challenges, and suggestions.?

The problem is knowing what to discuss during the meeting, and this is why you really need an agenda. Sure, it might be tempting to just sit down and chat off the cuff, but an agenda can help you keep the conversation focused and make sure you cover everything you want to discuss within the scheduled time. In short, it serves as a guide for the meeting.?

If you’re wondering how to create an effective one-on-one meeting agenda, we’re here to help. Just read on, and you’ll discover how this simple tool can make a big impact on your business.?

Why one-on-one meetings?

Meeting privately with an employee allows you to build a better connection by focusing all of your attention on them without any interruptions. During one-on-one meetings, you’ll be better able to assess the employee’s strengths and weaknesses and provide guidance where necessary. You can discuss their weekly goals, achievements, and challenges. Plus, one-on-one meetings encourage employee engagement, which helps mitigate quiet quitting. When employees know they’re being heard, it helps them feel valued, so they’re less likely to become discouraged.?

Preparing for effective one-on-one meetings

For a one-on-one meeting to be effective, you have to be prepared, which means creating an organized meeting agenda. It’s easier to steer the conversation if you have a roadmap for meeting your objectives. Here are some guidelines to help you create a one-on-one meeting agenda that will give you the results you want:?

1. Personal check-in

There’s always the temptation to jump right into a meeting, but you should try to start with personal check-in questions or icebreakers. These questions can help make the employee comfortable and more responsive. Check-ins allow you to find out how the employee is doing and bond with them on a personal level. Some questions you can ask to break the ice:

• How was your weekend??
• How are you feeling?
• Have you been feeling stressed lately?

Although icebreakers are intended to set the mood for the meeting, they’re also an opportunity to remind the employee that you’re interested in their welfare. Don't create the impression that you’re eager to get to the main objective of the meeting by rushing through the questions. Take your time and listen to what your employee has to say. Making them feel valued is as important as any of your other meeting objectives.

1. Feedback on ongoing projects?

One-on-one meetings allow you to check the progress of ongoing projects and find out if your employee is facing any challenges that you could help with. Some questions to ask:

• Where are we on the project?
• Are you working well with your teammates?
• Are you facing any challenges I can help with?

1. Career development discussions?

Shifting the conversation to career development can help you understand your employee’s personal goals. Whether they’re interested in learning new skills or improving existing ones, this is the time to find out—with the idea of providing them opportunities to move forward in their careers. Let’s look at some questions on career growth:

• What are some skills you’ve learned lately?
• Are there any skills you would like to learn?
• How can I help you achieve your career growth objectives?
• What challenges do you face in achieving your career goals?

1. Achievements?

Highlighting the employee’s achievement is a great way to help them leave the meeting feeling empowered. Including their achievements in the meeting agenda increases their morale and encourages them to do even better.

Acknowledge a few instances where the employee displayed outstanding performance. Show them what they did right and make sure they understand how much you appreciate the good work. If there are things you feel they can improve in achieving their weekly goals, you can also bring them up for discussion.?

1. Miscellaneous?

Before ending the meeting, find out if the employee wants to discuss anything that wasn’t on your agenda. It could be concerns, challenges, questions, or recommendations. Although you called the meeting with specific objectives in mind, you also want to give your employee the opportunity to bring up anything they want to discuss.?

This is the time for the employee to give you their feedback, so do everything you can to make them feel comfortable doing so. If they seem hesitant, try asking a few questions to get the ball rolling, such as:

• Is there anything we didn't discuss that you’d like to bring to my attention?
• Do you have any questions or concerns you’d like to discuss?
• Before we end this meeting, do you have something to say?

And that’s all there is to creating a successful one-on-one meeting agenda. And if you’re looking for even more ideas for improving employee retention, training, and engagement, why not turn to the experts?

MetaGrowth can help?

One-on-one meetings are just the first step toward getting to know more about your employees. But if you’re still struggling to connect with your sales team, MetaGrowth is here to help.?

With over 30,000 years of consulting and coaching, we’ll guide you through the entire process of recruiting and hiring, training and coaching, and ultimately maintaining your sales team. With our proven, solution-based consulting, you can create the sales team you’ve always wanted. Contact us today, and let’s discuss how MetaGrowth can help you.?