2022-06-18 Effective One-on-One Meetings

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!links:: Management, Meetings

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Reference

Effective One-on-One Meetings

Notes

Identify who to have 1:1 meeting's with and at what frequency

Classifications (Can vary based on the time of year, phase of projects, etc.)
- Mission Critical - For colleagues that are tightly aligned with you
  - Every week, at least 30min recommended
- Important - For people who can significantly change the outcome of your initiative
  - Every 2 weeks, about 30min recommended
- Nice-to-Have
  - Every 1-2 months, 15-30 minutes recommended

Enable rescheduling controls for the other person
If there are no actions items to discuss, consider converting the meeting to asynchronous communications (e.g. a Slack conversation)

Don't repurpose 1:1 meetings inappropriately

Deal with urgent issues another time
- "you don't want to have people associate meeting with you one-on-one with dealing with unpleasant bugs. Rather, you want these one-on-one meetings to be shared spaces where you help one another grow."
1:1 meetings are not meant to be status updates - Status updates are better off communicated via asynchronous communications (e.g. emails, Slack, documents, etc.)

Focus on the other person during 1:1 meetings

Meant to develop your professional and personal relationship with that person
Seek to identify preferences, working styles, etc.

When possible take a walk together

Even if you're both remote, take a "virtual" walk together rather than staring at the screen.

Plan for what to do if the conversation ends early

BOTH parties should agree to wrap up the meeting early
If you're pressed for time, it's better to reschedule the meeting than rush through it.

Regularly review the frequency of your 1:1s

Sometimes, meetings should be scheduled more or less frequently depending on changing priorities, initiatives, etc.

One document per person, one section per meeting
Keep it professional, no personal notes