From Fastcompany · · 1m 50s
Fix your broken one-on-ones with your team
Leaders sabotage their most important meetings by skipping planning, allowing distractions, and failing to follow up on commitments.
In brief
Leaders sabotage their most important meetings by skipping planning, allowing distractions, and failing to follow up on commitments. One-on-one meetings between managers and staff are critical but often broken. Leaders can fix them by planning carefully, staying fully engaged, and following through on action items…
One-on-ones are broken
Many leaders and staff question the point of regular one-on-one meetings. They feel repetitive and like a chore, so people skip them or meet only quarterly.
Why they matter anyway
Effective one-on-ones are critical to organizational health and the leader-team member relationship. Skipping them or spreading them out is not the answer.
Mistake one: poor planning
Leaders fail to prioritize one-on-ones by never scheduling them or regularly canceling them. This signals that meeting with staff is not important.
Skip the agenda at your peril
Leaders often skip preparing agendas because it feels like extra work. But meetings are most effective when both people have thought through what needs discussing.
Mistake two: distraction kills connection
Reading email or multitasking during one-on-ones signals your staff are not your priority. Turning off notifications for thirty minutes creates full engagement.
Address the real issues
Leaders often avoid discussing real challenges because routine has made clear this is not the place. Break the cycle by asking questions and listening first.
“Allow the other person to speak first and put their thoughts on the table.”
Mistake three: no follow-through
Leaders neglect the reinforcement stage where change happens. Action items get forgotten or pushed off without follow-up, making one-on-ones just talk.
“Without follow-up, one-on-ones are just talk.”
Support your team between meetings
Leaders must be consistent with words and actions outside meetings too. Recognize good performance privately and publicly so staff know you are on their side.
Start fresh with your team
Get regular one-on-ones on the calendar and tell staff you are refocusing efforts to make them work. Most will give it a chance if you deliver.
The bottom line
One-on-one meetings between managers and staff are critical but often broken. Leaders can fix them by planning carefully, staying fully engaged, and following through on action items.
