One on One Meetings – Team Management’s Best Practice

Irrespective of the number of direct reports a Manager has, One-on-one meetings is THE best practice a (s)he can follow for building a great team. A great team is the one which works towards a common goal and takes pride in team's success. A great team's member sub-consciously (in most situations) rates team's priority over individual when they conflict. (S)he is self-motivated, ensures smooth communication with all the stakeholders, propagates positive energy, confronts problems or issues up-front instead of hiding or procrastinating. Almost sounds like a dream right? But, it is very much possible to get close to having such a team; without it being a mere coincidence where all the 'great team members' are assigned to work in your team. It is possible with one-on-one meetings.

Here are some of the best practices, if followed well, can turn a good team to a great team –

1. As a Manager, schedule a formal, time-boxed one-on-one meeting every week or every alternate week depending on the team size.
   
   1. 15 minutes of time-boxing has worked well for me.
      
   2. If the number of direct reports is more than 15, the meetings can be every alternate week.
      
2. As far as possible, the meeting should be done at the same time and same place every week.
   
3. Ensure to stay away from all the distractions (laptop, phone, friendly visitors, etc.)
   
   1. The undivided attention to the direct report communicates the message that (s)he is important for the manager.
      
4. Unless there is a real good reason (URGENT situation), do not skip the meeting for the week. Try to re-schedule sometime on the same day.
   
5. First 5 minutes of the meeting are for the direct report to talk about his/her updates.
   
   1. They are also welcome (and encouraged) to share any personal milestones or events which can be shared with Manager.
      
      1. This establishes a personal connect and helps to remove the 'Boss-Subordinate' barrier.
         
   2. The team member also talks about the milestones achieved/missed during the week along with the plan for the next week.
      
6. The next 5 minutes are for the Manager to talk about his/her updates.
   
   1. The Manager can share any personal milestones or events which can be shared with the direct report.
      
   2. The Manager then talks about any significant milestones achieved/missed, during the week by himself or the work unit, followed by the plan for next period.
      
7. The last 5 minutes are for a mutual discussion on combined road-map and to discuss any inputs/suggestions/areas of improvements or anything that needs to be changed.
   
8. Manager as well as the direct-report takes notes during the conversation.
   
   1. Recommended way is on a notepad (of course any tool can be used for the purpose as far as it helps in tracking the action items).
      
9. The notes are referenced during the subsequent meetings.
   

Some of the immediate benefits of the one-on-one meetings are –

1. Establish a good working relation between Manager and the direct-report.
   
2. Small problems/issues surface sooner than later and taken care of before they get bigger.
   
3. Team's goals are tracked by Manager as well as the direct report, resulting in better changes in meeting those.
   
4. The communication gaps are filled and trust eventually builds.
   
5. ….