Improving your 1-to-1 Game

Last week’s issue: Go Directly to the Source

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Today at a Glance:

• Benefits of regular 1-to-1s for organisations

• Structuring your 1-to-1

• Some best practices that work for me

• A free template for your 1-to-1s

• Talk more like TED

• Helping people become smarter through your leadership

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1-to-1s with your direct reports are extremely valuable.

When I moved from one tech company to another I was pleasantly surprised with the expectation that 1-to-1s are weekly and no longer monthly.

This took some adjusting to and at first, I really struggled with the cadence and agenda. What would we talk about every single week? What should I expect from them?

This was a really uncomfortable period.

After working through that discomfort and finding my feet, I began to identify that the regular cadence and an intentional agenda were extremely important.

I have interviewed a lot of people from outside organisations and it continues to amaze me that a lot of organisations have 1-to-1s on a bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly or even not at all.

How do you expect to gain a connection with someone if you’re not meeting 1-to-1 at least once a week?

Why run weekly 1-to-1s in your organisation?

• Helps leaders to build big relationships with their team

• It’s dedicated time to go through agenda items and key priorities

• Reduces barriers to success and helps overcome challenges early

• A platform to give and receive regular feedback

• Alignment on behaviours and the company’s values

• Coaching to improve development and performance

• Conversations about career growth

• Getting a pulse on job satisfaction

• Introspection

If leaders cannot commit time once a week to get in front of each person on their team then they’re not spending enough time on the right areas.

Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

Do this instead:

1/ Weekly - 1-to-1s are about staying connected with each and every person on your team. If you’re not doing that on a regular basis then you’re not building big relationships, holding them accountable and staying close to their sentiment.

2/ Agenda - of course, you should bring feedback and critical conversations, however, this is their 1 to 1. It’s there to help them grow and develop, this is not your agenda. Check out the agenda document below with an awesome template to provide a good structure for your next 1-to-1.

3/ Multitasking - stop it! We’re all guilty of firing off Slacks or reading emails while in a 1-to-1. You’re going to miss stuff and it’s not demonstrating to your employee that you’re fully engaged.