Are 1:1s really necessary?
So many managers feel unsure about 1:1s. Perhaps you do too.
With an already packed schedule, you're hesitant to add more meetings to your calendar, and you wonder if 1:1s are truly necessary when you already talk to your employees every day.
I get it. That's exactly how I felt when I first became a manager. The thought of preparing for and leading 1:1s with each of my 20 direct reports overwhelmed me.
But the truth is, my 1:1s quickly became the most important tool in my management toolkit. They were the key to my team's success, and my own success too.
Here's the secret: instead of pouring extra work into 1:1s, make your 1:1s work for you.
I'll teach you how in this video and with my new and improved 1:1 Cheat Sheet, where I share everything I wish I would have known about 1:1s when starting my management journey.
BONUS ALERT: This updated cheat sheet includes a new 1:1 template, making it easier than ever to plan for and facilitate effective 1:1s. The best part? The employee completes the form and runs the meeting, not the manager.
Ready to dive in? Download your copy of my new and improved 1:1 Cheat Sheet now.
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Last week I shared a new and improved one-on-one cheat sheet with my list. If you missed it, if you're not on the list, you can go ahead and click on the link in the comments to get your copy.
One-on-ones. This is the most important management tool a leader can use in my opinion.
And there are two common objections, two common concerns, objections that I hear from managers when it comes to one-on-ones, and so I wanted to address them today.
The first is, "I don't have time, Abbey, to hold one-on-ones with every single one of my employees."
And concern number two, or objection number two, is "It's really not necessary because I am already talking to my employees every day, so I don't really need to schedule this separate, dedicated one-on-one time with them."
And so, I want to address these two objections today.
So the first one, that "you don't have enough time." The truth is well-facilitated, well-planned, well-utilized one-on-ones should actually save you time in the long run.
A couple of things here. First of all, your employee should own their one-on-one, not the manager, okay. So, managers you are not planning for and facilitating these meetings. Your employees are. And the one-on-one cheat sheet will give you a template to give to them that they can utilize. So, take that off your plate. You don't need to plan for them.
Instead, these are meetings where, manager, you show up, you dedicate the time, and the employee comes in with a well-designed agenda ready to tackle all the things that need to be tackled. So rather than them popping in your office every single day or every hour with a new question, a new thing, no, they are working on problem solving on their own in between and then bringing it all to you in one meeting, in your one-on-one. That saves time.
Does this mean they can't bug you in between? Ask questions in between? Absolutely not. We still want to be available. But you do want to nudge them to start to save the bulk of their questions and their updates for you for the one-on-one, okay? So in the end, these one-on-ones actually should save time.
They also allow you to more proactively address challenges, concerns, mitigate risks in advance, which should save time. Okay?!
Objection number two, that "I don't really need to do this "because I already see my employees on an ongoing basis."
Well, here's the deal. This carved out, uninterrupted, dedicated time with our employees in a one-on-one is so much different than the typical kind of quick hellos and conversations throughout the week. This dedicated time creates space for needed conversation that will build trust and communication that needs to take place with your employees.
An example here. A while back I was working with a client who was going through, their organization was going through a number of challenges and changes. Okay, so this can feel unsettling to employees. Well, a very real case study here, there was one leader in the organization who was very dedicated to having regular one-on-ones with their employees. There was another manager who did not. Can you imagine, can you guess how these two different sets of employees responded to and navigated the changes and challenges in the organization?
Well, the employees who were meeting for these regular one-on-ones, they felt so much different through these changes and challenges in the organization. They had this safe space where they were feeling in the loop. They were clear on what's expected of them. They knew what was coming next. They had safe space to ask questions. They felt completely different going through this challenging season with their organization than those who were not having regular one-on-ones with their employees. And in fact, the employees with managers who were not having one-on-ones, they felt pretty unsettled and uneasy through this transition. Some of them were even worried about their jobs when they didn't need to be because they didn't know, and they didn't have that space to connect with their manager.
So, if you are one who says, "I don't have time for one-on-ones," or "They're unnecessary," I am challenging you today to rethink that.
Go download the cheat sheet and see how you can make these one-on-ones easy and effective, how you can make them work for you.