One-On-One Meetings
What You'll Learn
Intro to 1:1 Meetings
Types of 1:1 Meetings
What to Cover in 1:1 Meetings
Challenging 1:1s
Intro to 1:1 Meetings
- Structuring One on Ones to Maximize Your Team's Success
Tomasz explains how adding structure to 1:1 meetings can take them from being mediocre to being great. He covers the framework used by the legendary CEO coach, Bill Campbell: the manager and direct report should each compile a list of their perceived top-5 priorities before the meeting, and review those at the beginning of the meeting. After that, they can cover four standard meeting topics.
Types of 1:1 Meetings
- One-on-ones are my most valuable meetings; here’s how I run them
Front, which as an employee NPS of 97, structures three different types of 1:1s: standard 1:1s every week; higher-level pulse checks every month; and career development 1:1s every six months.
- The 1–1 Zoo
Rushabh provides an overview of different types of 1:1s: the "No Agenda Chill", the "Everything Is On Fire", the "That Team (or Person) is Terrible", the "It’s Urgent", the "Feedback Hour", the "Promote Me", and the "I Quit".
- Questions for Our First 1:1
Lara provides with sections and question for what to cover in your first 1:1 with a new direct report. She covers topics such as Grumpiness, Feedback & Recognition, and Goals and Support.
What to Cover in 1:1 Meetings
- GitLab's Internal Manual for 1:1s
GitLab's internal manual for 1:1s includes a 30 minute training video and covers 12 tips on how to conduct them. This manual also includes a training video on how to do career mapping, and steps on how transition 1:1s between managers.
- My Approach to 1-on-1s
Marco goes through about 20 different prompts across five categories that he uses in 1:1 meetings.
- The Art of the Awkward 1:1
Mark provides advice on how to push through the surface layer of status updates and create a safe space to discuss the awkward stuff that really matters, with examples of awkward content such as "extra honest feedback" and "humble advice seeking".
Challenging 1:1s
- How to manage your report’s unrealistic expectations
Katie describes an experience where the 1:1s with a direct report became toxic over time. She recommends a 4-step solution to prevent this in the future: 1. Set expectations during recruitment 2. Set expectations during onboarding 3. Set boundaries and be firm about acceptable behavior 4. Teach ‘disagree and commit’.