Are You Maximizing Your 1:1 Meeting with Your Manager to Boost Your Performance?

Do you prepare for 1:1 meetings with your manager? If you do, you likely find it valuable, as I do.

Are you feeling stagnant or unappreciated in your work? If yes, consider this 1 on 1 meeting preparation approach to boost your performance. I decided to write on this topic because a friend asked what I was doing a few Sunday evenings ago. I told her I was preparing for my upcoming 1:1 meeting. She was curious and asked more about it.

For a long time now, I spend the same or a little more than the actual meeting time itself to prepare. If the meeting with my manager is scheduled for 1 hour, I would prepare for 1 hour or more. Preparing includes building out an agenda with rough notes for each agenda item.

Out of the twenty years, I've been working, I have prepared for every 1 on 1 meeting with my manager for at least nineteen years. I would even credit this practice for my rapid career progressions.

Planning ahead lets me show accomplishments, confirm priorities, and influence decisions.

Several years ago, I was leaving work late one evening and saw my manager at her desk. I was curious and asked what was taking up her extra time. She said it was to prepare for our 1:1 meeting the next day. I nodded as if I understood, said 'good evening,' and left the office.

Walking out, I thought about how I had stayed late to get through my own workload. That workload did not include preparing for my 1:1 with her the next day. I admit I thought very little about it. Up to that point, I felt those meetings were a way for my manager to check on what I was working on. I felt that I worked hard and knew my stuff so would be ready for any questions she had.

There was a feeling that nagged at me that evening after learning my manager was preparing for our 1:1. I thought about it throughout the evening. I wondered what she was going to talk with me about. My anxieties pushed me to get to the office early the next morning and prepare some notes of my own for our meeting.

What I discuss in a 1 on 1 meeting

Here's the general formula I have adapted through the years:

How I'm feeling. I often share a brief view into my current state of mind so that I'm giving a view into recent topics on my mind. For example, I may share that I feel encouraged by a recent project development. Or that this week's volume has worried me that I might miss something important. It's brief and professional.

Recent achievements. I show my work. It includes what I'm proud of and what I know to be important to my manager. I stubbornly argued (for a long time) that I work hard and others would/should just know. I look at it this way now. I'm responsible for my work and I see my work every day. My manager owns an entire team's work deliverables and sees me, once a week? Twice a month? The choice is mine, I can hope they know that I'm beating my goals. Or I can let them know. The secret here is to share the things that matter which means we have to know what our manager cares about. I keep notes of all previous meetings and draw from them to list my accomplishments.

Upcoming priorities. I share my upcoming focus areas. I have found this to be a big time saver. It validates that I'm still working on the things that are business priorities. This makes sharing my achievements in the next 1:1 easy too. Also, what's the point of pouring my energy into something that isn't valuable today. The way we work and what we work on change more rapidly now. I'd rather learn early that a priority has changed than to work for weeks and months without re-visiting it.

Recommend actions or decisions. I spend the most time preparing for this part of my 1:1 compared to the above three points. I bring forward my suggestion for actions, decisions, or how I see we need to proceed. It was about how to reduce a growing issues queue early in my career. It was about ways to plan for a successful product launch mid-career. Now, it's about actions toward a strategic priority.

It's a myth that your manager alone is accountable for driving 1:1s. When we take control of the 1:1 time, we can bring positive visibility and impact to our workplace.

I'd love to learn about your tactics that boosted performance and expedited decision-making. Do you have a different formula for 1:1 meetings that's worked for you?