Best Practices for an Effective One-on-One Meeting
A one-on-one meeting can go downhill very easily. To help prevent this from happening, here is a list of best practices to follow to have a positive one-on-one experience.
- Schedule accordingly: Schedule your one-on-one meeting based on the number of team members, and on the specific needs of each person. Bi-weekly meetings are good if you have over 5 employees as this allows you time for other job duties. Weekly meetings are good if you have a smaller team and more time. Monthly is not frequent enough, and daily is way too often.
- Set a timeframe: Think of how many employees you need to meet with, what each specific need is, and how much time you have in a day to get your work done and hold these meetings. You do not want these meetings to interfere with work itself, but you do want to make sure each employee has time devoted to them. It is good to limit these meetings to 30-60 minutes.
- Leave time in-between: Between every one-on-one scheduled, especially if they are back-to-back, leave 10-15 minutes in-between. This gives you the flexibility to go longer if necessary, but more importantly, gives you time to gather yourself for the next one.
- Respect their privacy: Use your office, cubicle, or a conference room to ensure privacy and avoid interruptions. Also, make sure both parties turn their phones and monitors off to minimize distractions.
- Come prepared: Before each one-on-one discussion, review information about that specific team member. Look over previous meeting notes, refresh on their job duties, and pre-prepare any general feedback you want to give.
- Be accommodating: Sometimes one-on-one meetings can bring unforeseen topics to the table. A team member could be facing a personal crisis and need someone to vent to. Be prepared to set aside your agenda and support them. This will help build bonding and trust.
- Do things old-school: It is better to take hand-written notes as typing may be more distracting. Take notes on key points, keeping them short and concise. Know when (e.g. important decision made) and when not (e.g. during an emotional subject) to take notes.
- Balance responsibility: Sometimes you need to take responsibility and tell/direct team members on how to do a task. Other times, you can coach them on how to do a task and let them take charge, giving them a sense of more responsibility and importance. This can open up new solutions to problems. Feel out the situation and make the appropriate choice accordingly based on previous performance from that employee.
- Be observational: Sometimes team members may work from home. It is important to host one-on-one meetings with them as well. Make sure to observe their body language and facial expressions to have an effective one-on-one conversation.
