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

• Structuring your 1-to-1

• Some best practices that work for me

• Talk more like TED

• Helping people become smarter through your leadership

• A free template for your 1-to-1s in the resources

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.

HOW do I make them effective:

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 in the premium content 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.

4/ Conversational - make it more conversational, it shouldn’t be an update meeting from them to you. They could send you that over in an email. The 1-to-1 is about having meaningful conversations about their work, growth and ongoing development.

5/ Agenda document - use a template. Share it with your direct report and ask them to bring a completed copy along to every 1-to-1 so you can have a productive and meaningful session. In our premium resources content at the bottom, you can grab an awesome 1 to 1 template. See some screenshots below.

6/ Speak 20% and Listen 80% - it can be easy to do all the talking, however, it’s their 1-to-1 and if you’re spending all the time talking, then you’re not learning anything about your employee. Ask more questions and do more listening. Listening really attentively will help you hear what is being said and also pick up on cues on the things which might not be said.

7/ Purpose - ask them good questions to identify the work that has meaning to them. What work is giving them the most job satisfaction? What is it about this role that helps them get out of bed every day? Explaining how the work they’re doing is impacting their people and the organisation is extremely important.

8/ Feedback - use the 1-to-1 to provide feedback, what have they done an excellent job on this week? What could they have improved on? Regular and consistent feedback helps them to grow consistently and they will be more receptive to it. Waiting for the end-of-quarter review and then hitting them with 10 items is not the way to it.

Pro Tip: Strong leaders do not see Feedback as a 1-way street, ask your direct report a really specific question: “Tell me one thing I could be doing better to support you?“

9/ Absorbing - is your employee absorbing company and department communication? You might have the best communication plan but if no one is reading it then it has no impact. You as a leader have to follow up with your employees in their 1-to-1s to make sure they’re absorbing the communication and understand the “why”. Their sentiment may go downhill quickly if they lose sight of key messaging. You could ask them in a 1-to-1 “What were the key takeaways from the company meeting last week?” or “What did you learn about this initiative?”

Regular 1-to-1s are about building big relationships and helping your individual grow. This has to be your main focus each week. Developing your team consistently will benefit your organisation enormously in the long run.

House of Leadership

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