Are you having regular one on one meetings?

Tuesday December 1, 2015

Recently a senior staff made the comment to me that their manager had cancelled their one on one session because "I know where they were at with your deliverable."

It occurred to me that many managers might not fully appreciate the real benefits of having regularly occurring one on one meetings with each of their staff members.

When I coach managers, I recommend having one on one meetings with every person of their staff at least bi-weekly (I push for weekly, but settle for bi-weekly) many hesitate. What I commonly hear is:

But I already have staff meetings and an open door policy.

I couldn't possibly find the time to meet with everyone individually on a regular basis.

In my experience there are quite a few benefits that one on one meetings give that are difficult to achieve in other ways.

Focused Attention The focus in one on one meetings is on the particular part of the business that specific employee is doing. You can personalise the discussion and really focus on what is going on with their work. You just can't do this in group setting.

Removes the Peer Pressure Factor As a leader I have had numerous occasions where staff members fail to share concerns about a decision made in a team meeting. Inevitably, when I asked them why the responses tend to be about going against the grain or that their others will not agree with their concern. Peer pressure inhibits many and having one on one meetings removes that pressure and gives an employee the chance to be honest without worrying how everyone else will perceive it.

Develops the Individual and the Team Having one on one meetings gives you a place to talk about the individual’s development and really work on it and how it fits into the larger plan for the team.

If you don't have much to cover, don't cancel the meeting. Instead, why not take that time to work on development? It makes your life easier and makes them more engaged. Isn't that a big part of being a manager?

Author: Steph Jeuken