If you serve in a leadership role and would like to have a positive impact on team members and also foster productive working relationships, scheduling regular one-on-one meetings is an often-overlooked best practice that can help!
While many managers say they interact with their direct reports as a natural part of operating their business, experts from numerous sources consistently remind us that day-to-day operational conversations cannot take the place of more structured and scheduled one-on-one meetings.
For example, a recent article published by Baylor University stated, “While managers and their employees regularly meet and discuss work on an as needed basis, one-on-ones are a regular check in that allow stepping back from the immediate demands of daily work. Strong leaders eventually find their own cadence and style for conducting one-on-ones with employees”
The piece goes one to suggest that one-on-ones provide opportunities to “surface issues that might otherwise be missed, promote two-way information flow, serve as an ideal opportunity for feedback, and give employees a chance to raise concerns or ask questions. These regular sessions also help build trust, track goals and have career discussions.”
In addition, research from Gallup found that employees who have regular one-on-one meetings with their manager are almost three times as likely to be engaged as those who don’t.
These meetings are also excellent opportunities to show (through action versus just words) that you care about your team. Gallup has shared that only highly engaged workers agreed strongly with the statement, “My direct supervisor cares about my well-being.”
If you’d like to take a more formalized approach to meeting with your team members in a one-on-one environment, here are some best practices you might consider from Indeed, Gallup, and other sources:
- Set aside regular time. One-on-ones work best when they’re not one-offs. Make time to meet weekly, monthly, quarterly or at other periods that work best for you and your teams.
- Create a template agenda and use it during each meeting. This lets people know what you’re going to discuss ahead of time to reduce anxiety on their part and ensure they come to the meeting prepared. You might also want to ask
them if there’s a specific topic they want to discuss and include it on the agenda. - Start with a general check-in or conversation – possibly something general or personal before diving in. You might simply ask the employee how everything is going. Be careful not to pry beyond boundaries.
- Include a check-in on goals and objectives to confirm progress, achievement levels, and any challenges they’re experiencing. One-on-ones are also an ideal time to discuss career aspirations and share insights on a development plan for each team member.
- Recognize achievements.
- Provide employees time for feedback on how you can best support their work effort.
- Keep it professional but flexible. The agenda should guide the one-on-one so you don’t forget critical elements, but it shouldn’t restrict you and the employee from discussing other things that may also be important.