Managers: Here’s how to structure your one-on-one meetings
Formats and styles that great managers use for their one-on-ones with employees.
Great managers like you know the importance of meeting with their direct-reports to offer constant guidance and support. The benefits of one-on-one meetings are vast: they empower you to enhance team productivity, foster great work relationships, provide timely feedback and set clear goals.
Whether you’re scheduling them for the first time or trying to improve the ones you already have, our mission at Fellow.app is to help you plan the best one-on-ones.
In our previous post, we talked about the ideal frequency for your one-on-one meetings with employees. Today, we’re discussing different formats and styles that great managers use to build rapport with their teams.
Three effective ways to structure your one-on-ones
1) The 90/10 format
“The key to a good one-on-one meeting is the understanding that it is the employee’s meeting rather than the manager’s meeting.”
These are the words of Ben Horowitz, former CEO of Opsware (acquired by Hewlett-Packard), partner at Andreessen-Horowitz and author of The hard thing about hard things.
According to Horowitz, you can structure your one-on-one by splitting the meeting into two sections: your talking points and your employee’s. However, your direct-reports should always set the meeting tone by addressing their concerns and questions first.
“During the meeting, since it’s the employee’s meeting, the manager should do 10% of the talking and 90% of the listening,” says Horowitz.
If it’s your first time scheduling a one-on-one with a direct report, it’s likely that they won’t come prepared with discussion points (or that they’ll feel a little hesitant to raise their concerns). However, it’s important to let your employees know that their one-on-one time with you is a resource they should use to get guidance and support.
If your direct-report isn’t saying much or just tells you ‘everything is going fine,’ it’s your job as a manager to “facilitate the subordinate’s expression of what’s going on and what’s bothering him,” says Andy Grove in the book High output management.
How can you ensure that employees are speaking 90% of the time during your one-on-ones? Have all your direct-reports come prepared with talking points to discuss.
Setting talking points ahead of time ensures they have had time to reflect on what they need from you as a manager and come up with questions and ideas they’d like to address.
These meetings will be your chance to stay informed on every individual’s progress and concerns — and help them brainstorm on how to eliminate the challenges that are blocking their road to success.
2) The 5 key areas approach
Great managers use one-on-ones to connect with employees personally, learn about team dynamics, and establish priorities. For this reason, you should always start by asking direct-reports about their personal life.
Questions like “how’s your family doing?” or “did you do anything exciting this weekend?” can make a significant impact on your relationship with that person.
Start the conversation by showing that you care personally about them. Then, you can structure your one-on-one keeping these five key areas in mind:
- General engagement
According to Gallup’s State of the global workplace report, the percentage of adults that are “highly involved in and enthusiastic about their work and workplace — is just 15%.”
As a manager, you’re responsible for ensuring that your company’s human talent is developed and optimized. For this reason, you should start your one-on-one by asking employees how they feel about their workload and what projects or ideas they’re excited about.
The next thing you can do is ask employees what you can do to support them in their role:
“When individuals share what’s on their minds, the issues, challenges or problems are not new — they are often some of the same issues, challenges and problems you experienced when you were in their place.”
These are the words of Chris Cebollero, a leadership specialist and author of Ultimate leadership.
“By asking this question, you show your team members that you care about them and that you want to know their thoughts, how you can help them and how you can relate to them.”
- Team dynamics
Ask employees about their relationships with their fellow teammates. How is the team doing? Do they have any suggestions on the way the team works together? Are co-workers exchanging enough feedback, or would they like to hear more constructive feedback from other people on the team? These are some of the questions you can ask your employees.
Even though part of your job as a manager is to uncover issues that might be affecting the team, you should never encourage “backstabbing,” as Kim Scott argues it in the book Radical Candor:
“Never let one person on your team talk to you about another behind their back. It feels like you’re being empathetic to listen, but actually you’re just stirring the political pot. Instead, insist that they talk directly to each other, without you,” says Scott.
- Projects and priorities
Some people argue that status updates shouldn’t be discussed during one-on-ones, as these meetings are meant to be a space where managers and employees discuss special topics that can’t be addressed at a team meeting, over email or via Slack.
The primary goal of one-on-ones is to build personal relations and coach your employees to grow. How do you do this? Not by asking for quick updates, but by helping them prioritize their list of tasks and goals.
“Managers who work effectively to manage priorities to keep workload and demand within reason, and keep lines of communication open, typically get better results from their staff and have happier, healthier, more productive and more engaged employees,” argues Bill Howatt, president of Howatt HR Consulting.
- Career aspirations and goals
The next topic you can address during your one-on-one is your employee’s professional development. According to Kim Scott, great managers ask employees to define their personal values and help them align their dreams with their current work.
“Here’s what to do: make a list of how the person’s role can change to help them learn the skills needed to achieve each dream; whom they can learn from; and classes they could take or books they could read,” says Scott.
Coaching employees on their skills will bring your team many benefits — and will show your fellow teammates that you care personally about them. Try it out! Next time you have a one-on-one, ask your direct-report about their aspirations for the future, and help them plan short, medium and long-term goals to achieve what they want.
- Feedback and requests for change
Creating a culture of ongoing feedback should start with your one-on-ones. Use these meetings to ask your direct-reports how you’re doing as a mentor and what you could be doing to make work better for everyone.
Asking these questions can be hard — and trust me, it will be harder for your employees to answer them, especially the first time. However, as Chris Cebollero argues, asking employees for feedback about your management style means you feel “comfortable with yourself, your confidence and your ability to leave your ego outside.”
“You never know what you may hear in return, and being vulnerable shows your team you are willing to grow for them,” says Cebollero.
3) The chronological one-on-one
Instead of structuring your meeting based on topics, you can plan your one-on-one by focusing on past and present challenges — and future opportunities. Let’s call this the chronological one-on-one format.
Kelly Riggs, a leadership coach and author of the book 1-on-1 Management, argues that you should always start your one-on-one by asking your direct-reports about their most recent challenges.
“My one-on-one meetings for 30 years have started with one very simple phrase: Tell me about last week. I know it sounds ridiculously simplistic on the surface, but trust me, there is a lot behind the curtain,” says Riggs.
By asking your employees about their recent wins and struggles, you build a common knowledge base that’s extremely valuable when managing your team.
Another great way to start the meeting is by asking your direct-report about something they mentioned in your previous one-on-one. For instance, if they said that they were frustrated about something, make sure to bring it up again and ask them if there’s any progress with that. This will show your reports that you take these conversations seriously, and want to help them as much as you can.
💡 Wondering how to keep track of all your one-on-one conversations in one place? Fellow.app can help with that!
After addressing what happened in the previous week, you can move on to the present one. Your agenda can include questions like “what projects and goals are you currently working on?” and “is there anything I can do this week to help you achieve that?”.
Last but not least, talk about the future, the goals and the things that your direct-report might be anxious about (or looking forward to). Ask questions like “what’s in your to-do list this coming week?,” “what areas of development are you planning to work on?” and “what resources can I provide for you between now and the next time we meet?”. End the meeting on a positive note, and don’t forget to thank your employee for trusting you with these important conversations.
Now that you know three meeting formats that have been working for the most successful managers, you can alternate between them, combine your favourite things about each one, or add questions that align with your leadership style.
Whether you decide to use the 90/10 format, divide your one-on-one based on our five suggested topics, or structure the meeting in chronological order, the most important thing is to schedule these meetings on a regular basis and acknowledge the power they give you to build great relationships with your employees.
What’s a meeting format that has been working for you and your direct-reports? Let us and other managers know by leaving a comment on this post!
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