Productive one-on-one meetings are essential to the success of your company as a whole. One-on-one meetings improve employee engagement in their roles and the organization as a whole by maintaining open lines of communication between managers and staff.
Holding productive one-on-one meetings is a managerial necessity. There are certain things you should and shouldn’t do during these meetings if you want to guarantee employee progress.
We’ve created a guide that involves a few suggestions to boost the impact of one-on-one meetings.
Tips for Making One-On-One Meetings Productive
Here are the tips:
- Adopt the Appropriate Perspective
Since the meeting is supposed to be a discussion, try not to overthink it. It is your responsibility as a manager to guide and assist while making sure that the conversation stays focused on your staff.
Keeping track of future discussion topics in a shared collaborative space can be helpful. This will make it easier for managers and their direct reports to get ready for a more fruitful discussion.
- Stay Present
Before starting your one-on-one meeting, ask yourself, “Am I fully present?”. If you are multitasking, the other person will notice.
More than our words, our energy has a greater impact on those around us. People are therefore more likely to be present when you give them your whole attention. During one-on-one meetings, actively listening to staff members conveys that you respect their time and appreciate their opinions. The demands of your staff take a backseat when you are constantly checking your email or communicating through instant messaging.
- Get Together More Frequently
Given how busy our calendars are already, it makes sense that urgent tasks that are deemed to be of greater importance frequently take precedence over manager check-ins. That being said, the manager-employee relationship may suffer as a result of this mindset.
Employees who stated they have one-on-one meetings at least once a week reported feeling better about these meetings than employees who have them less frequently, according to a recent Humu survey of 350 managers and individual contributors. When meeting with one’s boss, unpleasant emotions like fear or anxiety are lessened naturally.
- Prepare Discussion Points
Meetings with one person at a time should be productive and reciprocal. Although they give managers a chance to provide feedback to staff members, the true objective is to create an open line of communication so that managers and staff members can find common ground on expectations and goals. As a result, you should ensure that the questions you pose in one-on-one conversations will assist the two of you in reaching that goal.
As a manager, it is your responsibility to steer the discussion and make sure they feel supported. Select open-ended questions that spark discussion over closed-ended ones that have a one-word response.
Some instances of open-ended inquiries are:
- How can I help you?
- Which issues did you resolve this past week?
- Have an Open Mind
In one-on-one meetings, managers should lead by example by demonstrating that they are receptive to constructive criticism of their work and personal growth. After conducting one-on-one meetings for a few months to get team member input, you might think about reviewing.
A formal performance review procedure can then include the responses from a leadership review. Understanding what their team thinks of them and their management style is critical to a manager’s success and the success of the business. You can specify the next steps to continue iterating and refining your process once you and the team have a clear understanding of what is and is not working.
- Offer Assistance
The question “How can I help you” is incredibly underappreciated. You are fostering the growth and development of your staff members when you lend a helping hand or take advantage of the chance to coach. These crucial times of cooperation support the growth of your company. However, assisting can take many different forms. For example, it can involve taking responsibility for any subsequent actions, keeping lines of communication open, and working together to hold each other accountable.
- Give Objectives and Goals
Meeting one-on-one is a great way to talk about goals and objectives, such as team goals, company goals, and personal development goals. You’ll be in a better position to assist your employee in growing and accomplishing their objectives if you understand where they hope to be in six months, a year, or longer.
You can also find out how your direct report views their role in the overall scheme of things by having a conversation with them about how they are contributing to the team and company goals.
- Feedbacks
To close loops, follow up before and after your one-on-one meetings. View the results of one-on-one meetings as a duty; these sessions are essential, but they are only effective when they are conducted on a regular and consistent basis. If you follow through on this promise, you’ll establish a feedback cycle as well as an accountable and trustworthy culture.
Conclusion
Frequent one-on-one meetings are not just a meeting; they are an essential tool for increasing productivity. BOSS utilizes the same strategies to ensure a productive work environment. Its managers help their staff members grow beyond what is required of them at work and support them in navigating the additional stressors that people face in today’s world.