They are a regularly scheduled meeting for managers to spend a dedicated amount of time with their team members. The meetings help foster good communication and relationships, it is also an opportunity to provide support to your team and make sure you are being proactive in understanding any issues. Remember that one-to-one meetings are for your team not you, it is their time to talk to you about any issues, concerns, goals and development they have or want.
Why are one-to-one’s important?
Well as mentioned above it is dedicated time for you to spend talking to your team members, giving them the time to discuss things which are important to them. They may have concerns about workload, meeting deadlines, skills gaps or personal issues which they are worried are impacting them at work. If you are a small business owner, understanding these issues will ensure that you are ahead of any problems and will foster a culture of guidance and support.
These meetings should;
✅Encourage open communication and feedback
✅Identify any problems before they escalate
✅Provide support and guidance
So how often should you hold one-to-one meetings?
This depends, for a new recruit you may hold weekly meetings until they settle in. Similarly if there are performance issues, weekly may be appropriate to support your team member. However, it is likely that at the very least they will be monthly meetings and it is important that these meetings are scheduled in the diary and are not moved. It can be tempting when things are busy to cancel one-to-one meetings, it is at these times they are even more important. In addition whilst you may not have anything to talk about your employee might, don’t think you are giving them time back by cancelling the meeting. Schedule an hour and if it only takes 10 minutes, great everyone gets the time back, your employee though will still appreciate that they had your time.
So, what should you cover in a one-to-one?
This will vary and you should ask your employee to send you an agenda with items they want to discuss.
In general you will cover;
Workload and an update on current tasks
✅Check in, how are they coping with their current workload?
✅Do they have any concerns about any projects or deadlines?
✅Is there anything you are aware of which you need to share, as it will impact their workload?
Performance and feedback
✅Is there anything that they are worried about or any tasks they don’t understand?
✅How are they progressing in their role?
✅What are their current priorities?
Challenges
✅What challenges are they currently facing? What have they done to address them and do they need any support?
✅Are there issues? What is holding up progress and how can these be overcome?
✅Is there any practical or hands on support you can offer to solve any problems?
Feedback
✅What feedback can you share? This may be constructive ways to improve as well as positive
✅What suggestions can you make to encourage improvements?
✅Is there any training or additional support (coaching, mentoring) which will help them?
Lastly, ask them how they are. If they have shared any personal problems, how are they getting on? Give them space to talk to you about any team issues or questions about development, salary etc.
Some questions you might use:
✅What support do you need from me?
✅What is your workload like?
✅What challenges have you faced recently and are they resolved?
✅What issues would you like to discuss?
✅How is this project going?
✅Last meeting you mentioned x how is that situation now?
✅Is there anything else you would like to talk about?
Follow up.
Share any notes particularly actions from the meeting, these serve as a reminder and also for follow up next time you meet.
If you have actions make sure you complete them and get back to your employee with the result.
Plan ahead for meetings so that things don’t get missed and there is a structure.
If any concerns are raised, act on them before they have a chance to become more serious and result in a grievance, performance management or capability / disciplinary. One-to-one meetings ensure you know what is going on with your employees, team, relationships, workload and communication.
Need help with team issues or structuring one-to-ones contact me at bev@bdhr.co.uk
