How To Engage Employees With One-On-One Meetings
One-on-one meetings (1:1s) are a great tool for team development and supporting your overall people enablement strategy. These sessions allow managers to check in on productivity, morale. If managers learn to conduct them properly, their team members will feel more engaged and valued.
1-on-1 meetings don’t have to be just between managers and employees. Whether it’s a manager, coach, mentor, or one of their peers, it’s important for participants to regularly collaborate and prepare for 1:1s to improve communication and collaboration with the people they work with most.
There are multiple ways how to run one-on-one meetings with people in your teams. Here are few ways to make it more effective and some pitfalls you should avoid.
Make it regular
In order to make the 1:1s effective they need to happen regularly. The best practice to agree on the frequency on the first one-on-one session. Ensure that the recurring meeting is added to the calendars. It’s a great way for managers to communicate that they are invested in the 1:1 relationship and make time for the individual.
Be on time
Being late is disrespectful, it’s needless to say. Constantly prioritizing other things, meetings, emails, calls over the 1:1 sends a message the 1:1 meeting is not as important as the other things. Remember as a manager you are representing the company to the employee. The message that you and the company sending to someone about their time is not important to you, could seriously affect the engagement.
It takes time and effort
Conducting 1:1s with people will take time and effort from you and from your team members. Every meeting needs some preparation from both sides. The meeting itself will take time and of course the follow up actions as well. If you multiply it with the number of people and the frequency, you can quickly calculate how much time it costs for you and your team. Don’t get me wrong, it is a great investment, but it comes with a cost.
Do not cancel
It can happen from various reasons one of the participants cannot make it to the meeting. Urgent issue came up, more important meeting is scheduled over the 1:1, illness, lack of time to prepare, etc. In this case, no matter if you are the manager or the employee, do not cancel the meeting. Ask for a reschedule every time. Canceling the meeting could send a message this meeting isn’t important. When in fact it is a cornerstone of the good working relationship.
Change the setting
It’s a great way to spice up these meetings and to make it less formal. Every now and then propose to change the setting. Go for a walk, get a coffee, have lunch or snack together. The easiest is to book a meeting room, sit in and get the meeting done. By changing the scene gives a chance to interact with each other more as human beings instead of a manager and a subordinate.
Confidentiality
What is said during the 1:1 should stay in between the participants. This should be stated during the first 1:1 session.
Active listening
The manager should focus, listen actively and ask questions. It’s a great opportunity for managers to improve their coaching skills. Listen carefully what is being said and to the feedback received. You’ll learn a lot more by listening than talking. With listening you are showing respect and recognition for other people’s opinion and viewpoint. By this you’ll more likely to build stronger relationship.
Share your experience
Sometimes it is helpful to get personal. It’s easy and natural to provide a solution for a problem stated during the 1:1s. By sharing past experiences of similar situations you provide support and give inspiration for the individual. It also helps to open up, build a rapport and encourage to share problems they are not sure how to solve
Be open
Don’t judge. Everyone has problems. Some problems may seem minor to you but crucial to others. People have different values, personalities and viewpoints. It’s crucial not to bagatelize someone’s issue even it falls into a minor category based on your value system. By being open, people will share their problems more likely, they will give and receive feedback easily, it helps to define a development plan.
The Agenda
There could be some points needs to be covered during 1:1s, but the 1:1 is not a status report! These items could be progress towards the goals (KPI, OKR, career action plan, personal development, etc.), receive feedback and acknowledgements. Give space for the other to bring topics to these meetings. It’s great to have an agenda before the meeting visible to all participants, so the other can show up prepared. The 1:1 is not the place for the manager to give feedback. Feedback should be given immediately, after a specific situation happened. However it is a place for the employee to give feedback to the manager. If you want to strengthen the feedback culture within the organisation, it is a great place to start.
Wrap up
If possible end the 1:1s with a mutually agreed action plan, which could be followed up on the next event.
Possible topics to cover
Performance
- What’s on your mind this week?
- How productive were you this past week?
- What changes could be made so you can optimize your day?
- What are your biggest time wasters right now?
- Are you encountering any roadblocks and if so, what are they?
Collaboration
- How do you see the team’s performance?
- Are there any blocking issues that hinders productivity?
- Do you feel comfortable giving feedback to others?
- Do you have any suggestions for improvement in the way we work together?
Engagement
- How happy were you this past week?
- What do you least prefer doing and why?
- What keeps you engaged and inspired at work?
- Do you have any concerns when it comes to your role or career opportunities?
Goals
- How are you progressing on your goals? Do you need any help?
- Are you facing any bottlenecks? What might help remove them?
- Which part of your job do you feel is the most relevant to your long-term goals?
Professional development
- What are some skills you would like to develop?
- What are some experiences you would like to gain?
- What do you enjoy most and least about your job?
Feedback
- How can I better support you in your job?
- Are our team vision and goals clear to you?
- What feedback do you have for me?
- Do you feel supported in your career development?
One-on-one is a great tool. You can supercharge your 1:1s with employees by making sure you have them, using the time to listen and to learn what is important to them and giving them the ownership of the agenda (with some guidance about the key topics to cover).
