45: Invest in Meaningful One-on-Ones

Your team members are your greatest resource. When they succeed, you succeed. Taking time to focus on each of them rather than the work can have exponential impact on employee engagement, quality of work, productivity, trust, and more. That is the power of One-on-Ones.   Get the free mini-guide with the One-on-One agenda template I use.   When you join the Modern Manager community, get the full guide with suggestions for how to introduce One-on-Ones to your team, plus a Manager’s Guide and Team Member’s Guide to preparing for productive One-on-Ones. In addition, get access to prior episode guides, guest bonuses and 30% off personality based coaching to help you better understand your preferences and learn new strategies to help you be a rockstar manager.   When you join before midnight Eastern April 23, 2019, you are eligible to win a free coaching session with Amy Born, guest from episode 44: Manager as Coach.   Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and mini-guides delivered to your inbox.   Read the related blog article: Turbocharge Your Team Members with Meaningful One-on-Ones.   Key Takeaways: One-on-Ones are a specific type of meeting that focuses on the employee rather than the work. The manager’s role is to ask questions and support the team member to reflect honestly on their performance and areas of growth. Spend time building your rapport at the start of the meeting. End the meeting with a recap of any decisions and next steps. Capture them in writing for future reference. Focus on celebrating successes and offering praise, sharing critical feedback and planning for growth, and removing roadblocks or frustrations that are inhibiting the individual from doing their best work. The manager reinforces and enhances the individual’s reflections by agreeing and adding additional thoughts. Together you brainstorm and identify specific steps the individual will take to move forward on growth areas. Always ask, “what might I do differently as your manger to better support you?” There is no right frequency or length to these meetings. Most managers start with an hour per month per employee and adjust from there.   Additional Resources: