1:1 Meetings that drive accountability and action
1:1 Meetings that drive accountability and action
Be a coachlike leader with effective 1:1 meetings
effective 1:1s develop your team members so that they maintain ownership and learn to make good decisions
a selection of time tested questions by category make it easy for managers to practice coaching in 1:1s
There is hardly anyone who contests the value if not necessity of regular 1:1s. There are different approaches on what the main goals of 1:1s are that lead to different agendas (please see links to resources at the end of the article). One school is more centred on the overall wellbeing of the team member. The other emphasises reviewing plan attainment and deliverables. I am suggesting a third way that applies basic coaching principles.
Research by Google about attributes of successful managers found that the number 1 quality of great managers is “Being good coaches”. But what does that mean specifically? The 1:1 is the occasion to apply the coaching mindset to your team management:
Principles
Accountability: ensure your team member keeps full ownership of her responsibilities and deliverables. This usually includes a review of deliverables and actions.
Refrain from taking over problem solving and making decisions for the employee. Resist the urge to give advice right away and stay curious longer. Ask one more question, before you share what you think.
Capability development: support reflection and learning. Help your team member see other perspectives. This includes giving and asking for feedback.
Most 1:1s include topics related to 1. accountability, 2. problem solving and 3. development/feedback. There weight can vary based on the current situation, but also what other interactions and meetings you run in the company. Let’s look at them in detail:
1. Accountability
In my experience, many 1:1s take up a large part sharing updates on performance against OKRs (objectives and key results) and KPIs (key performance indicators). Other updates review the progress of agreed actions. As this might feel necessary to keep the other person accountable and discuss gaps, going through data and action lists line by line is rarely a good use of time.
It is more efficient to share this information beforehand in writing, or in a group meeting, as there are others who should know it. Team member and manager should agree beforehand on which topics to go deeper. For the selected projects look for insight and actions by asking questions:
When discussing missed goals, what are the root causes of the gap?
What are you going to do differently?
How will you prevent missing a committed goal or action going forward?
Which goals or forecasts require updating? (e.g. quarterly attainment forecast for growth and revenue, pipelines, roadmap, status updates)
Sometimes, it can be useful not only to understand the roots causes of gaps, but also analyse what works. Many startups understand better what doesn’t work, than what does.
What can you learn from the areas that track well?
What underlying assumptions was the plan based on?
Do you have enough data to prove the assumptions were right? How confident are you?
How can we scale this?
2. Problem solving and decision making
Your team member might ask you for a decision or help with solving a problem she is struggling with. Or maybe just some guidance and your thoughts on possible solutions. One thing to consider first is, who should be the decision maker for the problem and if there are other people that need to be involved in developing a solution. Determine, if the 1:1 is the right meeting and team, or if others should get involved?
Assume it is the right type of question for a 1:1, ask team members to come prepared with a clear definition of problem and a specific goal. Rather than jumping in with your advice, help the team member to find the best solution.
If the problem or goal are not absolutely clear, ask to make it more specific and simplified.
What will be attributes of a successful solution?
What decision criteria, in order of importance, should be applied to chose between competing options?
You want to ensure your team member retains the ownership for the solution and the issue itself. Giving your advice, even if its really good, risks undermining accountability. It becomes your solution. Do help with providing relevant context, setting expectations, and guiding priorities as necessary.
3. Development / Feedback
The more time you can spend in this section, the better. You might not always get to this point in regular 1:1s. In this case, consider scheduling separate 1:1s occasionally only to cover personal growth and development or extend a small number of meetings to 1.5 - 2 hours. Unless it is a performance appraisal, improvement discussion or another form of special intervention the employee defines the agenda. The manager can guide with coaching questions:
Help clarifying goals and priorities
What is most important and why?
What do you want?
What is the higher level goal behind your goal?
What does not need to be a priority?
Facilitate deeper learning
What is the real challenge?
What is your own contribution to the problem?
How does the situation looks from somebody else’s perspective?
What is the pattern that you notice, and what creates it?
Forward taking action
What will you do and when will you do it?
What are you committing to do?
How excited are you about this?
What could come into your way? (anticipate obstacles)
What resources or support do you need to make it happen?
Feedback and reflection
What was the most useful for you?
What do you wish I do?
This approach turns regular 1:1s into coaching sessions. Don’t do it all at once. Pick a small number of questions that you like and start using them. See how it goes. Then expand. Ask your team members for feedback, and what they want to get out of the 1:1s. If you feel the 1:1s are boring and not very valuable, try something new.
Here are some additional resources:
9 One-on-one meeting templates by Shannon Maloney of Hypercontext, another HR software
How to help managers have more impactful 1-on-1 sessions by Sophia Lee, a writer at HR software Culture Amp
Effective One-on-Ones: A Guide for Managers and Reports by Dave Bailey, executive coach for startup CEOs