#5 Keep recording your agenda of 1:1 meeting?

In an ideal world, you and your team member would collaborate on an agenda ahead of time, but work day pressure and time constraints often get us a more realistic goal; maybe drop down a list of bullet points that you'd like to discuss. Then, ask your direct report to do the same.?

This will help your employee think about the topics they'd like to discuss, and then you can prepare some questions you'd like to ask. You can do this in a shared Google doc. This way, both of you can see which topics the other person wants to talk about and prepare accordingly.?

Some employees really need this to prepare their thoughts, so they don't feel put on the spot once you're face to face. Do some loose-time boxing to make sure you have time to cover the most critical points. It's now your responsibility to?–

Set expectations around what's most essential, and make sure you stay focused.

If the conversation diverges, you should get it back on track. But you should also stay flexible and sensitive to the issues that your direct report raises.?

If you notice your employees are struggling, you might need to give more time and more attention. Decide together what you'll reasonably accomplish in the time allotted, and decide on items that can be tabled for another time. As you are talking through different topics or projects,?

Make sure to keep a record of what you decide.

Follow-through is the most essential skill that you have as a manager. Keep track of what you agree to, who's accountable for what, and the agreed timeline.?

How do you structure your 1:1?

We've asked different managers about their agendas and record keeping.??

"I don't have like a setlist of principles. I think it's essential to have an agenda just so we have a place where we're capturing things that come up during the week. And it's also a place where we can look back a week later and remember the kind of things that came up in the areas that we wanted to follow up on. "

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"I know in the past I have the situations where I didn't have structure, and then people kind of come in and you're like, Oh, what are you working on? And you don't really have anything, and they don't really have anything. And it's good to have some level of structure to that conversation. "

"Many of my teammates actually have created shared documents where both of us can kind of go in throughout the week and eave agenda items that pop into our mind. I know some of my employees have meetings scheduled on their calendar called Questions for staff. That's before one–on–one so they can actually put their agenda together. And when the employee sits down and thinks about what they want to talk about, a lot of times those conversations can be much more fruitful."

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'I usually carry NOTEBOOK and just kind of take some notes about what we're talking about what we're talking about, and that makes me refer back."?

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"So my plan of attack is I'm addicted to Evernote, so every single one of my reps has a folder and Evernote. I say that because I take copious notes. When I'm talking to my reps, its mostly so I can remember what's going on; it's a lot when you have 10 direct reports. And so I want to make sure I know what we talked about and know what I can follow up on or need to follow up on."

Generally, I used to share the agenda with my employees prior to any meeting, so he or she has time to think and prepare their mind for 1:1 session.