Cadence (1–1s)
For the impatient, glance at the the key takeouts at the bottom. 😉
How often?
In the words of a relative of mine, when talking about his marathon run successes, consistency is the key. “If a certain day I feel overwhelmed with problems and challenges, even when not feeling like running, I put on my running clothes, and go out. I make a deal with myself: Run for a couple of meters at least, and then, if you still dislike it, go home. 9 out of 10 times, I continue my 10K run.”🏃.
During my first engineering management experience, after a while, a lot more work piled up. Pressure mounted. I prioritized and pushed back. At the same time, I was looking for a descope win to handle one or two more priorities. I thought 1–1s are not that impactful 🙄. All is going ok with my reports. A challenge here and there. Surely, I (and the report) can handle it without a meeting or two. I reduced the cadence of the 1–1s. It took some time for problems to start creeping up. It wasn’t evident to me, but as soon as I started getting the consistency back, I felt a positive change in solutions.
For the people just starting their management journey, do them regularly, every week. Once you get in the groove, you can reduce the cadence, but still do them regularly. I like Camille’s more experienced junior manager approach “just don’t eliminate them completely”¹ . It’s a more savvy approach to the “every week without a fail” from Dr. James Stanier³, Marcus Frödin⁴. But even she agrees “you need to do regularly scheduled 1–1s … if you’re not a CTO with years and years of management experience”¹.
When can you reduce the cadence?
I do it, when I feel a junior person responds indifferently in the 1–1s / has a laid back approach to their career growth. Both they and I need to be in the game for them to benefit. Most of the time, they want to grow. They sometimes don’t realize it, though. Part of your job is to try and unlock this by looking for their career (and even private) motivations. Net net, “their meeting, not yours”³.
On the other hand, a senior is a sharp arrow. If they don’t have a bumpy project and they are in the zone, I managed to slightly reduce the cadence without any consequences.
I doubled the time when there was a bad mojo between an employee and me.
But, never, I mean never eliminate them and only cancel them seldom.
Camile, as a more fluid manager, if she “bumps” into the person often and manages to go through some 1–1 topics, she reduces the cadence.¹ How often we “bump” into each other with the new remote or hybrid work style, challenges this. Even though I try to take the opportunity when I meet someone, I am a more structured person, and I appreciate the value brought by the predictability of the 1–1 meeting. At the end of the day, it’s about both of your preferences.
When?
The basic approach is “do it at the same time”. Then you can extend it. I try not to do them Monday, as everyone is getting up to speed and becoming productive, or Friday afternoon, since I am letting others and myself wind down with the rest of the activities. I usually do them before business day ends, as they could focus on the meat of the work during the day. The downside is less focus at the end of the day. For me, it mostly revolves around productivity. Camile¹ does them Tuesday to Thursday to avoid rescheduling because of long weekends, and in the morning before things get busy.
How Long?
At one point, in a previous pacesetter leadership style organization, due to high load, they instructed us to do 5min 1–1s. Although we all took pride in working at a company that proactively read white papers on approaches and tried to integrate them, effectively making us improve on a daily basis, I still laugh at the thought of it. :) What can you possibly do in 5min? Start a conversation? :) Like every failure, it was a good learning experience!
I start off with 1hr contracting (will explain it in another post) in the first 1–1 and then do 45min 1–1 meetings with a 15 min preparation left for the managed. Then I change the length as I see fit for them. I like Marcus’s structure⁴, reserving 30min for critical things and 30min for long term growth, and also considering the amount of time it takes to prepare, the longer the meeting.
3 key takeaways and a surpries
- Be consistent. Do them regularly and at the same time.
- Reduce when junior indifferent, senior in the zone. Double for bad mojo.
- 45min. 1–1s with 15min prep time. Change to fit as you go.
The surprise: Remote work challenging fluid 1–1 wins (watercooler chat).
The linkedin post for an additional audiance.
The summary
How often?
1. Consistency is king.
2. Reguraly, every week.
3. Just don’t eliminate them completely.
4. Reduce it beyond boundary and problems will start creeping up.
When can you reduce the cadence?
5. when junior indifferent (“their meeting, not yours”),
6. senior in the zone.
7. Double down for bad mojo between an employee and yourself.
8. Do it fluid whenever you can (help reduce them). Challenged by remote work style.
When?
9. Do it at the same time
10. before business day ends (pros: can focus on the meat of the work during the day. cons: less focus at day end)
How long?
11. 1hr contracting in the first 1–1
12. 45min 1–1 meetings with a 15 min preparation.
13. Change to fit for them.
14. reserve 30min for critical things and 30min for long term growth
Resources
0. Coaching
General One on ones (for all seniority levels of managers):
1. Cadence (1–1s)
2. Agenda (1–1s)
3. First 1–1s
4. Prior to 1–1s (in the oven ..)
5. During One-on-ones
6. After 1–1s (in the oven ..)
7. Location (1–1s) (in the oven ..)
One-on-Ones for (Engineering) Manager of Managers:
8. Cadence (MoMs’ 1–1s) (in the oven ..)
9. With whom? (MoMs’ 1–1s) (in the oven ..)
10. Agenda (MoMs’ 1–1s) (in the oven ..)
11. During a 1–1 (MoMs’ 1–1s) (in the oven ..)
12. During Interviewing (MoMs’ 1–1s) (in the oven ..)
13. 1–1s with Senior Peers from other functions (MoMs’ 1–1s) (in the oven ..)
…
Reference
[1] Camille Fournier, “The Manager’s path”, 2017, book
[2] Will Larson, “An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management”, 2019, book
[3] Dr. James Stanier, “Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager: How to Be the Leader Your Development Team Needs”, 2020, book
[4] Marcus F., https://lnkd.in/dghjKmQB, youtube videos
[5] Lara Hogan, https://lnkd.in/dnxKqMdh, blog
