One-on-one meetings are a great way to connect personally with your team or your employees. When you incorporate regular one on one meetings with your employees at work, that leads to a positive environment at work. When done right and regularly, these meetings benefit your employees with open communication about how they feel and eventually increase their productivity and give them a positive work environment.
But why are one-on-one meetings so important in today’s work culture? What difference do they make? A post-pandemic survey revealed a whopping 500% increase in productivity when many organizations introduced the concept of one-one meetings. After the pandemic, there has been a rise in remote and hybrid-based jobs, which encouraged job growth among millennials by 85%.
There are certain agendas that can be added to these meetings. Employers could discuss personal goals with their employees, provide guidance, and address any additional concerns they might have. The main focus of these meetings should be an individual approach to help understand the needs and issues of an employee, and bosses can accordingly place a plan in action.
Discussing the personal progress reports and giving valuable feedback to your employee in a closed environment helps you motivate your employee to work better, as they can express their concerns freely without being judged by their peers.
Don’t Allow Cancellations—Propose Another Time
Being busy with the workload is nothing new for leaders, they often find themselves stuck with various things at one time, which leads to them canceling or delaying the one-to-one talks with their teams. However, planning your schedule and making time for these meetings is very important. Canceling or delaying can cause a drop in your employees’ motivation and work spirit.
Always plan ahead for your employee’s regular performance reviews or weekly progress report feedback. You could set up a program in which they can reach you privately with their concerns, this will ensure you don’t miss out on helping them in their areas of improvement.
Skip Status Reports
During your one-on-one meetings, it’s not the right time to discuss the updates on projects. Keep these topics reserved for your team meetings or emails. This is the time for you to connect on a personal level with your team members or clients and talk about open conversations and feedback. If you want to get the most out of these meetings, make sure you’re ready with your plans and ensure to discuss at least three topics.
Discuss Your Career Plans
One-on-one meetings are a good time to question your employee about their career goals or plans. As a manager, it’s important to support your employee in planning their future, whether within your organization or elsewhere. It gives you a chance to know more about your employees. As their leader, it’s your duty to guide their career growth through professional development and give them an opportunity to ask you questions and seek advice.
Show Your Support
During the one-on-one meetings, it should be comfortable for the managers as well as the employees to discuss issues and concerns openly. As the manager, you need to convey that you’re available for them, and they can approach you with anything. Your employees should feel confident that they can discuss any problem with you; even when they are frustrated, they should be worried about facing negative consequences. Help them in understanding that you will be there to address any issues they may encounter, whether it is work-related or their equations with other team members.
Have Your Topics Ready
Before starting a one-on-one meeting, list things you would like to discuss in the meeting. Having a clear schedule for the meeting will help you ensure that it is a productive session. It will also give your employees a chance to bring up any concerns they might have or want to be put forth without any hesitation. The one-on-one meeting is a time for managers and employees to communicate with open-ended questions and exchange feedback.
Reflect and Improve
One-to-one meetings are always good for thinking about your progress and how you can grow further in your job. When you work in a busy environment, it can be hard to find time for self-reflection. However, one-on-one meetings offer a chance to pause and consider what went well and what could have been done better in the past week or month. You can also use this time to talk about ways to get better at your job or learn new things.