Management: One to-one meetings

Management: One-On-One Meetings

One-to-one meetings play a vital role in how a manager communicates with and manages employees effectively.

Whether you are evaluating performance or setting targets, how you manage one-to-one meetings can have a big impact on your team’s projects and goals.

Here are some key points to consider ahead of a one-to-one meeting:

Have an Agenda

Make sure that you know exactly what points you want to cover in your meeting.

Make sure that you know exactly what points you want to cover in your meeting.

It is a good idea to give your employee plenty of notice ahead of the meeting, to ensure that they have an idea of the points you want to cover.

Make sure that you know exactly what points you want to cover in your meeting.

It is a good idea to give your employee plenty of notice ahead of the meeting, to ensure that they have an idea of the points you want to cover.

This will also give them an opportunity to let you know what they want to discuss in the meeting.

After this, you will be able to put together an agreed agenda for the meeting.

Though some points will require more attention than others, you should give each point on the agreed list the appropriate amount of attention.

For this reason you should allocate plenty of time for your meeting.

Prepare

Once you have an agreed agenda, you should ensure that you consult it again prior to the meeting.

Do your research on your employees’ performance and achievements to date, and try to familiarise yourself with the work that they have been doing, looking out for any challenges they may be facing.

You may wish to consult notes from a previous meeting or review with this employee. This will help you in talking around the points on your meeting’s agenda.

Give Your Full Attention

If you have scheduled a one-to-one meeting with an employee, make sure that your meeting runs on time and that you give undivided attention – switching your phone off and arriving on time are basics, but they can be easily overlooked by a manager.

It is important to treat a one-to-one meeting with an employee with the same respect you would any other meeting.

Get To The Point

If there is a point that needs discussing it is important that you do so directly. If you think your employee might be having an issue or facing a challenge that they have not mentioned, then you should be prepared to ask them about this.

In a one-to-one meeting you should try to talk openly and directly, putting your employee at ease and letting them know that they can speak freely in this environment.

Look For Positives

If your meeting is focusing on something negative, such as a failed objective, or a particularly challenging project – try to keep your employee focussed on the positives.

These might be found by addressing the conversation with questions like “What have you learned from this?”, or “How can we use this going forward?”.

A one-to-one meeting should seek positive outcomes, and aim to create a positive plan for the next steps. A one-to-one meeting should seek positive outcomes, and aim to create a positive plan for the next steps.

Maintain A Dialogue

A one-to-one meeting should be a two-way conversation, but it is inevitable that the manager will run the meeting to an extent, leading from one point to the next.

After each area for the meeting is discussed, and throughout the meeting, you should ensure that your employee has plenty of opportunity to ask questions and to offer opinions.

Ask them if they have any questions on a subject, or if everything discussed is completely clear throughout the meeting.

Follow Up In Writing

Whether the purpose of your meeting is to evaluate performance or to establish goals, it is a good idea to ensure that any outcomes are agreed upon in writing.

This can be done with a follow up email to confirm all the points that your meeting covered.

This way you can ensure that none of the points covered will slip through the cracks after the meeting has ended.

Connect

For more tips on professional development and to see all of our latest opportunities, connect with the InterQuest Group

InterQuest Group plc is an award-winning, specialist recruitment organisation providing contract and permanent services within niche disciplines globally.

The Group is divided into specialist businesses, with each one aligned to one of the following market sectors, Finance, Retail, Public Sector, Not for Profit or in an area of technology such as testing, analytics, ERP or digital. These are augmented by other businesses specialising in services which span the various vertical niches - such as recruitment outsourcing or executive search and selection.

As specialists in contract, permanent IT and analytics recruitment, the InterQuest Group trades as distinctly branded, individual, specialist recruitment businesses.