We have previously published guides on one on one meeting questions, your first one on one, and even the perfect meeting request email. Let’s talk about a simple to use one on one meeting format that you can use.
#1 - Catching up (5 mins)
Did you have any pending action items from the last meeting? Discuss them here and close the loop! This is a good time to catch up on any personal things.
Bonus - use our Icebreaker questions to put everyone at ease.
#2 - Career direction & issues (10 mins)
This is your time to shine as a coach. Ask insightful questions to help your direct reports introspect. Learn from the past and strategise their future. Some helpful topics to talk about are:
- Learning & growth - New skills, new projects and career aspirations
- Health & morale - Their mental & physical health. Are they too stretched? Are they happy with their progress?
- Team culture - How are they fitting into the team? What resources do they need?
Some questions to help you get good engagement:
- Do you feel like your ideas are being considered?
- How are your energy levels these days?
- Do we have any bad habits as a team we should work harder to break?
- What can we do to improve our planning & goal setting exercises?
- How are we doing as a team on diversity, equality & inclusion (gender, age etc)
- What is #1 specific area of your job that you find most difficult? Where can I help more?
- Are we doing enough as a team to encourage transparent communication?
- What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
- What is #1 key priority goal / project you are stuck on? What help do you need to make progress?
- Are you facing any challenges that I can help?
- What is the most exciting thing about work for you these days?
- Did anyone in our team do something special above and beyond their duty? Who?
- What could we have done better as a team last month?
Remember - This is not about status updates or performance evaluations.
#3 - Realigning & feedback on each other (5 mins)
Are you happy with their performance? What do they think of you as a leader? This is the time to realign on “what success looks like”. This is also the time to praise them for any recent achievements!
#5 - Action items (5 mins)
Use this time to summarise today’s meeting! Note down important action items on you and the team member. This is important to make sure that you don’t forget the next time.
If you found this useful, you will also enjoy our other one on one meeting guides:
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