My guide to 1:1s - Part 2

In part 1, I covered the purpose of 1:1 and the foundations of making it successful. Let's dive into the frequency and the preparations of 1:1.

Frequency and length of 1:1

There is no right or wrong. The frequency and length are based on how many direct reports you have. You don’t want too much time between meetings as too many things can happen in between, and you don’t want it to be too short, as it feels like a stand-up meeting rather than a conversation. 

I used to play with the frequency and length for the past 15 years, and I found that a 30-minute meeting works best for me. As for cadence, this is my rhythm:

• With managers and individual contributors, I manage directly and with my direct manager: Weekly
• With team members reporting to my managers: Monthly
• With leaders from other departments: weekly or every other week
• With my manager’s manager: Monthly 

When my organization was large (100+ employees) and built from a hierarchy of managers, I had 1:1 with every individual contributor, not reporting directly to me once a quarter.

Preparing for the 1:1

Though it seems like an additional time investment, taking 20-30 minutes to prepare for your 1:1 always pays off. 

During the week, I write down events and behaviors I want to address with my direct reports. These can be both strengths and growth areas. 

To prepare for the meeting, I review our notes from the previous 1:1 and the ones I took during the week and then decide on 1-2 positive behaviors and 1-2 challenging behaviors I want to discuss to understand better and challenge my team members. 

My team members invest time preparing for the 1:1 as well - I ask them to fill out a form with questions and send it to me 24 hours before the 1:1. That gives them time to reflect and helps me prepare even better. Here, again, I continued to refine my questions throughout the years, and these are the ones that currently work best for me: 

• My goals for this quarter and their status - This allows us to ensure we are synced regarding the goals and can track their progress. Don’t confuse goals with daily or weekly tasks and projects. The goals in my team are usually set up at the beginning of the quarter and have a strategic impact on the business.
• What went well, or was the highlight of this week? This allows team members to reflect.
• Wins my manager thought I had - This helps us start syncing and understand how each of us sees wins.
• What are the most important things I am working on this week? This allows me to see if the employee is taking too much on themselves or if they might focus on less critical areas for their success. I will ask questions to understand the reasons for their focus.
• Roadblocks and concerns - These can be regarding the team, the company, a specific project, or anything else. In our 1:1, I would dive deeper into why they see something as a concern, what they tried to do to resolve it, and ask other guided and open questions to help them suggest how to address it. It also helps me understand if there are topics I need to resolve or escalate as it can risk the organization or the company.
• We, as leaders, can be blindsided by problems because of the distance between us and the field. Our team members often see problems and blockers much faster than we do. Listening to them can help handle things before they severely impact the business. 
• Skill or knowledge I am working on now and how - This is where the employee shares what they want to improve. Many times it will be items related to our previous 1:1.
• Action I took last week to build this skill/knowledge - This puts the accountability on the employee to take action and continue their growth. It also allows them to reflect on what they did, how it helped them, and if they need assistance or guidance from me.
• Wins my manager had - this is where they provide positive behavioral feedback on actions they noticed I did.
• Improvements my manager needs to make - This is the most important question for my development. I can share that at the beginning, every new employee I hire finds it hard to answer as we’re still building trust with each other. Over time, they understand that I want to hear their feedback regardless of how tough or bad it is. I listen without arguing or becoming defensive. After the meeting, I reflect on this input and then build a plan to raise my awareness and improve it. Often, this will be my answer to the question “Skill or knowledge area I am working on now and how” that I will write for my 1:1 with my direct manager.
• Other than the above questions, I also ask my team members to score several parameters from 1-10:

1. How clear are your goals and tasks, and what is being expected from you?

2. How satisfied are you with the guidance/decision-making power you get?

3. How much impact your work makes on the team/company/customers?

4. The feeling that you are making a small step forward each week?

5. Your connection to the team and inclusion in things you want to be included in?

If the score is less than 8, I will ask some questions to understand the reasons

they feel that way, what small steps they think they should take this week to improve it, where I can help, and more.

At the end of the meeting, I will add each score to an excel file to see the trends for each team member over time. If the trend stays low for a long time (~4 weeks), I need to assist better as these parameters directly impact the employee's morale and happiness level. 

It also helps me to see my entire team as a whole about each parameter and allows me to reflect on my own leadership and where I need to focus.

TO BE CONTINUED:

Next week, I will talk about the 1:1 itself, some highlights for a 1:1 with new hires and some recommendations.