Does your open-door policy involve too many last-minute interruptions for urgent problem solving? Are you uncertain about how your team members fill their day? Try one-on-ones.
One-on-one meetings are held between a manager and direct report with the objectives of setting priorities, gaining clarity around progress, and improving performance. The value of the meeting should be, at a minimum, equal to the cost of the time spent in the meeting.
The agenda is standard and simple:
•What happened last week?
•What’s the plan for this week?
•Whatever the direct report would like to discuss.
Through dozens of implementations, we’ve found the ideal meeting length is 45 minutes; 30 minutes for very standard positions.
The meeting is a tool to enhance proactivity. If managers know what is happening, they can use their experience and broader perspective to provide coaching and feedback.
One of our clients, a sales manager, recently told us, “I am a really approachable person and I just figured everyone was already telling me all of their issues. In fact, they were holding back because they didn’t want to bug me or thought I might be too busy.
“Now with the one-on-ones, there is a dedicated time to cover those things off. And you know what? Sometimes it’s not just one person with the issue, it’s two or three – so it could seem like something small, but … it’s actually really significant.”
The alternative to the one-on-one is firefighting – when critical activities go awry and problems must be addressed immediately and with a significantly reduced set of options.
The first two points of the agenda are for the manager’s benefit – to stay up to date on the most important activities in the report’s world.
The final third of the agenda is in the report’s control, to discuss whatever is most critical to bring to the manager’s attention.
However, remember that the agenda is the manager’s, and the first two items should be fully covered before the meeting is handed over to the report.
The manager and report each take their own notes in the meeting. At its conclusion, each party jots down a few comments of what they would like to cover next week so the next meeting can start promptly and remain focused.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind to ensure the process continues to be fruitful for both parties:
Key success factor: start with a few before adding on
Select three key people that report to you. Once you experience the benefit of the one-on-ones, you can add more.
Key success factor: regular scheduling
Pick a regular day and time that you and your report are most likely to be able to maintain. For sales people, Monday mornings and Friday afternoons seem to work best. For senior managers, Tuesday mornings are often available. Vacations happen, and surprise appointments do, too – but treat this meeting schedule as important, and you should be able to hit three of every four meetings that are booked.
The most common objection managers have to one-on-one meetings is the amount of time they will take. It usually sounds something like this: “Seven direct reports at 45 minutes each meeting? A day a week of one-on-ones is not possible. How will I get my work done?”
This reaction demonstrates a good assessment of the costs of one-on-one meetings but misses an important variable: the amount of time spent firefighting when something slides off track.
Key success factor: rarely missing meetings
The full value of one-on-ones can be realized when the meetings happen routinely. To create the new habit, meetings should be held every week. They must be prioritized over other activities to deeply ingrain the habit and give it time to take root. As your skills at managing the meeting develop, the depth of the conversation and value of the interaction will increase.
Key success factor: in person
If you and your direct reports work from the same location, meeting in person is easy. However, people are increasingly working remotely. Add in a commute just to hold a one-on-one and you’ve increased the cost of the time, and the meeting, significantly. Yet, two-thirds of communication is non-verbal, so being able to see each other is important.
There’s no substitute for meeting eyeball to eyeball, but one solution is Skype. When you videoconference, you can assess body language and facial expressions and have a deeper interaction knowing attention is not being split between reviewing emails or reports and listening to the conversation.•
