One on One Meetings and the Power of Conversation

It is essential component of effective leadership and a key to getting the right results from those that you lead for many people, the current work environment has reduced the amount of time to spend one-on-one with your manager.

A lot of employees are either working remotely full-time they're doing what's called a hybrid type of work schedule where they're in the office a few days a week out of the office, a couple of other dates, days a week, and some employees of course, are working remotely in a different geography. The chance of actually scheduling these, these meetings happening on a regular basis is really diminished.

The good n ews is that these meetings can actually work very well over any type of a video conference tool as they do in person, because I think we've all become very familiar with t he world of video conferencing and things like that. It also i s the best way to establish accountable relationships within between yourself and your employee meetings are the most important levers at the l eader's disposal to influence others.

And those one i n o ne meetings are the most potent and personal method to do that. So that's what we're gonna go ahead and focus us on i s a couple of key components there. Let's be careful and really clear on this first one o n o ne meetings are not performance reviews. These aren't like miniature performance reviews. These aren't quarterly check-ins. These are really focused on not around the latest project in a project update.

This is really very, very intentional time that you're focused on the individual that works for you. This is as much the employee's benefit as it is for yours. It's dedicated time reserved for the employee to get what they need from their manager in order to do their job well. But it's more than that because it's really time to set aside. And it's really focused on finding out more about that individual as a person and also the work they're doing and is the work they're doing.

Do they find that enjoyable? It's really, if you haven't read this book, I would highly recommend it to you. IIn Radical Candor by Kim Scott, the basic premise of that book is really focused on caring for the individual personally, but also challenging them directly. It sounds so simple and so basic, but Kim goes into a great amount of detail as to why this is so important because caring for the person as an individual is key to building trust and respect for that individual.

But it doesn't mean that you're gonna candy coat and not be accountable - exactly the opposite. You can hold a person very accountable while still taking care of them as a person. And the key thing there is if you focus on that individual as a person over time, if they are hesitant with doing that. And they're really not that comfortable with doing that, cuz a lot of people aren't at the workplace.

Then over time, you'll be able to break down those barriers and you'll be able to focus on more sensitive things. And as we all know in the last couple of years, there's been a lot of things going on that have been very for individuals, for families, for family members and other people that are dare to and close to them. So that's one of the key things that , uh , we need to focus on. The other thing is, you know, the , the great resignation that is a real thing that's happening.

And so one of the reasons that is occurring at such a high rate right now, a lot of employees feel very detached because their companies have gone through so much stress. Their leaders have gone through so much stress that their leaders aren't doing the basics around understanding that individual and having a one-on-one discussion with them . That's intentional leaders really focus on building that relationship.

And the ultimate goal of this is really building trust and making that employees feel comfortable. It's not about just blasting out a group email or just a communication. Like we mentioned earlier, that's focused on really what, you know, what is a status update on a project? It's much more than that. One of the key things is a , this is where I wanted to finish off today.

There's a couple of key things here that every manager or leader should do when they're asking, when you're having that one on one with that individual, a couple of powerful questions is, are simply how can I help you? And what do you need for me to be successful? So again, number one is how can I help you? And what do you need for me to be successful? And if you ask those things again, that's focused on the individual. That's not focused on you.

And the whole purpose of one-on-one meetings is you're focusing on the employee. This is not about you, it's about them. And that also breaks down that barrier with them, that they may, you find that you're so busy that they don't feel comfortable approaching you. And I'll guarantee if you start doing this on a regular basis of having scheduled one-on-one meetings, your employees will start breaking down those barriers with you. And that's one of the key things to do there.

Uh , it also establishes accountability.

And the other big thing is it establishes the, the trust relationship because if that person is not being challenged or if they feel like they're stuck in their role or they're stuck in their job, that's one of the greatest reasons that people who are high performers and your top talent, that's one of the biggest reasons they leave a company, they are bored and they feel like they're stuck in a dead end role and they see no promotional opportunities or no chances to take on new jobs and new

tasks. And so that's one of the key reasons people leave an organization. The other one is have that lack of trust or respect. So that is why if you do nothing else, take one action outta this podcast. If you do lead people, start focusing on scheduling those one-on-ones, don't wait till next week or next month, get them scheduled today or tomorrow and schedule those be very intentional of a out those.

And I'll guarantee you that we'll have a really long impact , uh , a really long lasting and impactful relationship, and that will increase the level of trust and respect your employees have for you. So that's what I wanted to go ahead and cover for today. Thanks for listening for more things on all things pertaining to HR, visit us at www.hrcatalystconsulting .com . And don't forget to like us subscribe t o podcast until next time. This i s Mark Mitford. T hanks. for listening.