Eight Tips to Supercharge Your One-on-Ones

1:1 meetings are the easiest way to improve your team's performance.

Done right, one-on-one meetings (1:1s) are the most powerful action a manager can take to increase their impact. It takes a little structure and awareness to turn your 1:1s into the most productive time in your week. By increasing the team’s productivity, you as the manager increase your impact, too.

To be sure, having frequent meetings with just one direct report can feel like a waste of time. Unless you are using 1:1s purposefully to have productive conversations, the conversation can feel forced or just meandering.?

Taking just a few simple steps can supercharge your 1:1s to expand your influence, motivate your direct reports, and achieve alignment so everyone is at peak performance. Let’s start by identifying the three main goals of 1:1s, all of which are essential for high performance.

·??????? First, to ensure that the direct report is working on goals in alignment with team and company objectives. 1:1s are great for clarifying expectations for what a direct report should focus on and prioritize.

·??????? Second, to update and encourage progress on mutually agreed upon goals. By taking time to listen to the direct report’s efforts and thinking, the manager encourages problem solving, collaboration, technical skill building, self-reflection, learning, and delegating.

·??????? Third, to identify obstacles that may threaten success and take action to make success possible. Of course, most direct reports don’t want to admit when they’re stumped or if something (or someone) is in the way. It takes patience and psychological safety to allow this information to surface so that you can take action to prevent performance failures and keep everyone performing their best. ?

One-on-ones won’t magically make everything go exactly the way you want them to. If your direct reports are appropriately challenged, they will still miss the mark occasionally and have to roll over their goals to the next quarter as they develop the skills and techniques necessary to achieve them. Additionally, business conditions can change rapidly, and everyone may have to shift priorities and strategies unexpectedly. Regularly scheduled 1:1s will help you in these situations too.

That said, great 1:1s help build strong relationships, encourage alignment and progress, facilitate training and delegating, reveal a wealth of information, and help you make better decisions.

In short, 1:1 meetings are the most valuable thing you can do for no money to improve your team's performance.

Cadence

Not all 1:1s are alike. They have a cadence. Generally, the first 1:1 of the quarter focuses on establishing quarterly goals. If your company has annual goals, break them down into 90-day objectives and make sure your direct report starts making progress from day one. As the manager, your job is to make sure your direct report is working to achieve goals aligned with company goals, so every team member brings value to the whole. Personal development goals are good to include as well, as are special projects that help them stretch their skills. Ideally, each direct report should have five or six goals they are working to complete this quarter.

Between the beginning and the end of the quarter, the meetings consist of progress updates and center on the question: how are you doing on your goals? At the end of the quarter, dedicate a session to helping the team member reflect on their progress. What did they accomplish? What did they learn? What is left to do next?

Eight Best Practices for 1:1s

Here are a few tips to make the most of your meetings.

1. The meeting should last at least 1 hour every week or every other week, depending on the pace of your business. Anything less and the direct report won't have time to get to the things that are bothering them (see tip #8).
2. Schedule regular 1:1s on both your calendars. To avoid frequent rescheduling, do not schedule 1:1s on Mondays or Fridays.
3. The direct report should create the agenda around their current projects and priorities and lead the meeting. They should come to the meeting with two printed copies of the agenda so you can both take notes and not be distracted by email and other electronic devices.
4. For each task they are working on, ask them to answer the following questions: Progress update: How’s it going? Priorities: This week, what are your options for action and what do you want to focus on? Obstacles: What problems are you encountering, and how might you solve them?
5. Don't solve problems for them. That is micromanaging, which reduces autonomy, decreases learning, and diminishes motivation. Instead, build confidence and skills by listening, empathizing (“yeah, that sucks”), and then using the questions above to coach them through solutions. If they don't come up with an option you think they should, suggest one. You want them to feel heard and to feel that you believe in their ability to solve their own problems. That is empowering.
6. The manager’s main job is to listen, which is the most important sign of respect. The direct report should talk a majority of the time. Many managers use note-taking to stay focused on what the direct report is saying. Much of it is routine, and your job is to stay on the lookout for obstacles or lack of progress that might threaten success, and listen for successes to recognize.
7. Celebrate successes, big and small. Make the direct report feel appreciated, and they will work harder for the next week or two to get your praise again.
8. Once in a while, you will hear about a problem that is too big for them to solve. That is the moment when they need you most, but they will often be reluctant to admit it. Try asking at the end of the meeting, anything else on your mind? It’s your responsibility to draw out this information and know when to step in with a strategic response so their job is manageable, and success is possible.

You will know you have succeeded in your 1:1 meeting when the direct report walks away feeling heard and empowered, thinking, “I have the best boss ever. I’d better work my butt off to keep this great job.”

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