Why you should have regular 1-2-1s with your direct reports - Viewpoint - careers advice blog Viewpoint careers advice blog

Why you should have regular 1-2-1’s with your direct reports - Viewpoint - careers advice blog One of the cornerstones of good people management is the ability to communicate effectively and openly with your direct reports. One way you can ensure you do that is to set up regular, structured 1-2-1 meetings with your team members to discuss work issues, progress and development on an individual basis. Why are 1-2-1s important? Quite simply, regular and structured individual meetings with your direct reports will result in a more effective team overall, with greater productivity, cross communication and organisational wellbeing. Employees who have the opportunity to meet with managers will naturally be more engaged and work together effectively through a greater level of understanding. By making a conscious effort to set up regular 1-2-1 meetings will allow you to: Ensure that your own personal goals and objectives are aligned with each team member’s priorities Provide regular, open feedback, both positive and constructive, and identify any minor issues quickly through discussion before they escalate and become substantive problems Facilitate open and honest communication on a regular basis Help your staff to feel motivated, listened to and valued Build your interpersonal team relationships and encourage your direct reports to have trust in you, allowing them to speak freely without any peer pressure from the broader team Demonstrate your own management style as being participative, people-led and designed to value effort and performance management. Show your team members that you respect and value their time 4 ways to ensure the success of your 1-2-1 meetings: 1. Scheduling Firstly, pre-schedule meeting slots with a recurring calendar invite, ensuring that the dates don’t later get cancelled. Make them weekly or fortnightly and book them well in advance, so that there are no last minute scheduling problems. 2. Timing and structure Keep each meeting short and face-to-face, and try to set an agenda beforehand, getting input from your direct report. You can go out of the office and grab a coffee to make the meeting less formal, and make a point of really listening. In fact, it often helps to get off-site and away from day to day pressures, and may lead to some very interesting, valuable and open conversations. Rather than run the meeting too formally, allow the conversation to flow and keep things informal and relaxed to maximise value. Ask your team member too for feedback on how you could help them more as a manager to show that their input is valued, and that you are open to ideas for doing things better and differently. 3. Build rapport Remember to talk as peers and discuss non-work things to build rapport. Be patient and allow your direct report to set the pace. It may take a few meetings for some staff to get into the swing of things, but they will as they get to know you and feel more comfortable. 4. Say thank you Finally, thank them for their time and efforts, recognise success and set some action points to follow up on before the next meeting. Staff often say that their managers forget to thank and recognise their efforts and this simple action alone can greatly build team morale and performance. This approach to regular and structured 1-2-1 meetings will help you to become a better people manager, and get you noticed amongst your superiors as one to watch. Hopefully you found this blog valuable. Here are some other related blogs that you will also enjoy: Why even CEOs need mentors How to handle an employees pay rise request Successful people create their own luck 5 ways to make an instant impact in your new managerial role Know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em How to lead from afar Prioritising personality in your hiring process Share this blog: