Best Practices for 1-on-1s

Consistent communication through recurring and impactful one-on-one meetings is the secret ingredient to effective leadership and engaged teams. 

Below are three key practices you can use to make the most of your 1-on-1s:

Establish a Regular Cadence. Consistent check-ins are vital because open and regular communication are the building blocks a healthy relationship. Research from Gallup shows that employees are 3 times more likely to be engaged at work if they have managers who hold regular meetings with them. We’ve found that checking in with each team member for at least 30 minutes once a week or every other week works best. Use the 15Five 1-on-1 tool to organize and track 1:1 meetings to ensure consistency.

Collaborate. Effective discussions are two way. There’s no one way street in 15Five. 15Five allows both you and your direct reporters to add items to your one-on-one meeting agenda in real time; notice how some items are added by the reporter, and some are added by the reviewer. We will save your drafts along the way.

Focus On What Matters. The most effective 1:1 conversations go way beyond status updates. 15Five makes it really easy and simple to strategize, focus and prioritize talking points during your 1:1 conversation. Your team member will fill out and submit their 15Five before you meet in person. Once the 15Five is submitted, you and your team member can push the most important topics from the 15Five into the 1:1 agenda so, when you meet for your 1:1, you can focus on what really matters. 

The answers from a 15Five that you add to the 1-on-1 agenda will appear under the 'Talking points' section. For more information on adding items to the 1-on-1 agenda, see this article. 

For information on critical topics to discuss in your first 1-on-1, check out our interview with Kim Cameron, Ph.D., Professor of Management and Organizations.

Seem like a lot of information? Here is The Only 1-on-1 Checklist You'll Ever Need.