6 Important Tips for Effective 1-on-1 Meetings
When I ask my clients about 1-on-1 meetings, I get a range of responses. Most often, they want to get a brief update, find out if their employee needs help, and get through the meeting as quickly as possible.
Believe it or not, the 1-on-1 meeting is one of the most important and influential ways you can lead your people.
Your 1-on-1 meetings provide a great opportunity to reinforce and build culture, and spending individual time with your people can go a long way in helping them to feel valued.
Here are some tips on how to conduct your 1-on-1s in a meaningful and effective way.
1. Align your 1-on-1 meeting agenda with your culture.
What kind of culture are you trying to build in your tech organization, department or team? To answer that question, think of this. If someone were to ask every individual on your team to describe their work environment, the narrative would reflect the culture. Is it collaborative, strong in communication, growth-oriented, cutting-edge, data driven, friendly and relaxed, innovative, etc.?
Whether you have an established culture or are building it, reflecting it in the 1-on-1 meetings is crucial. One way to do this is prompting the right questions and discussions. If its collaboration you seek to build, ask how they have been collaborating recently. If it’s innovation, discuss how you can support a new technology they want to investigate.
2. Always take time for personal connection.
This one is important and is often overlooked (or feels forced) because in technology, we tend to focus on problem solving and results. However, most employees want to know their manager cares enough to learn something about their interests outside of work.
If small talk isn’t your thing, have a regular question that prompts your employees to open up about things outside of work. One example is, “tell me about a win you’ve had in your personal life since we last met.” Those wins could be big or small, but often open up doors to personal connections. Another example is showing interest in their hobbies, learning about their family or just a simple, “What do you have planned for the weekend,” conversation.
3. Schedule and keep 1-on-1 meetings.
Scheduling and keeping regular 1-on-1 meetings is a must and regular rhythms certainly help. Cancelling 1-on-1s can give employees the impression they are not important, while sticking to a regular schedule shows an employee you care. I made the mistake of cancelling several 1-on-1s during a really busy season and it came back to bite me when my employee mustered the courage to tell me he didn’t feel valued because of it. Ouch!
4. Make room for employees to talk.
The topics in 1-on-1 meetings are important. If you only spend time talking about your agenda, you’ve missed an opportunity. Be sure to allow time for your employee to talk about what is on their mind and ask them what roadblocks or barriers they are facing so you can help remove them.
5. Don’t solve the employee’s problems for them.
One of the biggest turning points for a leader is when they realize it is better for everyone if they are not the chief problem solver for every issue. Empowering your people to find ways to solve challenging problems is essential to growth and the mark of a great leader.
If your employee seems stuck, ask open ended and thought-provoking questions. Examples are, “Tell me what you have tried?” or, “If you had the opportunity to make anything happen with endless resources, what would you do first to solve the problem?” The goal of the open-ended questions is to get them thinking differently and creatively about the problem.
6. Take time to understand what motivates them.
What do your employees love to do at work? What do they want to do more of? And what is their long-term career vision? Knowing these things helps you to leverage their strengths, give them engaging stretch-assignments and develop them beyond their current role.
Next time you find yourself rushing through a 1-on-1 meeting or thinking it is less important than your other responsibilities, it’s time to change your mindset. A well done 1-on-1 just might be your most important meeting of the day since it helps build culture, personal connect, and growth. Ultimately, that leads to better employee engagement, retention, and results.