WHAT
One on One Conversations are an effective communication method to set up mutual expectation and get updates from your report on a timely manner.
WHO
In this method, we focus on 1:1 conversations with your direct reports. (1:1 conversations with your leader/boss will be discussed in another chapter.)
WHEN
1:1 conversations should happen on a weekly basis with your reports so you can you can understand the update in a timely manner and solve their problems before it gets too complicated.
WHY
1:1 conversations are essential to allow mutual trust building and bonding between the manager and the reports.
HOW
Set up the Meeting
1:1 conversations are normally prescheduled. It can be 30 mins per week. But the length can change due to the content that you want to discuss, or how busy you are.It is better to set up a basic structure for the weekly conversations so your report can understand what topic to discuss and what things that they should have prepared. In my 1:1 template, I would expect my direct reports to come in with the following topics: big or small wins that they have achieved after our last sync, updates on any previous action items, new updates and important things to share, and feedback for myself.
During the Meeting
From my experience, it is better to share your own urgent topics highlight and ask for your reports topic in mind. If they can share their topics ahead of time, that would be even better. You don’t want to casually talking for the first 20 mins only to find out you didn’t have enough time to talk about the most important issues because it only get brought up in the last minute by your report. I will have a section to call out action items for either me or my reports to act on before the next meeting. The goal is to have clarity of the actions and clear ownership and expectation. A clear writing is better than a soft confusing message.
After the Meeting
Since you are on the management seats, one of your jobs is to remove roadblocks for your reports so that they can have an effective working environment. So you should work on any action items owned by you and shared timely updates with your reports. You don’t necessarily need to wait for the next meeting to share the updates. By doing this, you are also setting an example to show people that you care about results and you dive into actions to get them for the team. They will learn this from you and you will have an effective team member in no time.
More tips about running an effective 1:1 conversations
What else should I do in the 1:1 meetings?
Weekly 1:1 can serve many purposes. But it is also a time where a report can bond with their manager to build trust and set up expectations. While you might not have enough time to cover all topics in each 1:1 session, make sure that you will cover different topics within 6 months. These topics are like career planning, career plan progress tracking, performance review, personal interest, etc.
Should I get work updates from my reports in the 1:1 meetings?
If you are having 1:1 with people who you don’t/can’t involved with their daily progress, you might intend to use the 1:1 time to go over project progress, design review, work tracking hygiene, etc. While I also found that useful at times, I would recommend only to do that occasionally. Try find out better ways to sync up on progress through better process of design documentation and progress sharing. Build up mechanism with your reports so that you can self-service the work tracking instead of needing them to always be there to walk you through things.