8 Things to Address During a One-on-One Meeting

Mar 27

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What do you talk about in a one on one?

One-on-ones are a designated time during work hours for managers and their reports to check-in with one another in a casual environment in order to:

Develop a relationship
Build trust
Gain understanding
Learn about goals
Provide support
Offer direction

Okay, you get the gist of it. The purpose is easy enough to understand. But, what do you actually discuss? What questions should be asked? This guide will tell you what topics should be covered in your one-on-ones and how to address them. An important tip to remember: ask open-ended questions.

Open-ended questions are questions phrased in a way that require more than a “yes” or “no” answer. The inability to answer simply “yes” or “no” encourages individuals to elaborate more, allowing you to gain insight on their answer. So without further ado here are the eight things to address:

1. How are they doing?

Asking some form of the question, “how are you?”, not only serves as an opening for discussion, but it can help guide how you approach the rest of the meeting. Observe how they answer: pay attention to body language, tone of voice, facial expressions, and the answer itself. Reading into these areas of observation can tell you how the individual is feeling. Are they relaxed? Nervous? Energetic or stressed out? In order to have a productive conversation for the rest of the meeting, adjust your agenda to fit what the individual currently needs based on your initial read into their state. For example, if he/she is nervous, follow up with fun ice-breaker like questions to help clear their mind and relax. This will hopefully allow them to be more open to sharing their thoughts, which is necessary in order to have a productive 1:1. Your empathy skills will come in handy here.

2. Wins, Accomplishments, Successes

Never start a conversation by pointing out a flaw or bringing up negativity, especially in early stages of a relationship. Doing so will cause tension and lower self-esteem, causing him/her to be closed off. Start by highlighting some of their recent accomplishments. Give specific examples to show that you notice. Helping your report build up their self-confidence early on in the discussion allows them to be more open with you and share their thoughts.

3. Areas of Improvement

After you’ve discussed some wins, then you can move towards discussing some areas of improvement. An individual cannot grow if they’re not aware they’re doing something incorrectly, or not as well, in the first place. For each area that needs work, provide examples of what they did and how they could do it better. Discuss what resources there are and what actions they can take to develop these skills.

4. Optimal Work Conditions

You want them to excel in their role. It’s your responsibility to help them do so. Therefore, it’s important to learn how they operate at their best and what controllable, external factors play into that. After discovering these conditions, what can you accommodate? Possible questions to ask are:

What bottlenecks are you currently experiencing?
What helps you optimize your day?
At what times throughout the day do you feel the most productive?

5. Personal Goals and Development

Reports want to know you care about them as individuals. They’re not another pawn in the system. Carving out time to focus on helping him/her achieve his/her personal career goals or interests shows you are invested in them. This one is simple: ask what their goals are, then do what you can to help them achieve those goals. This could mean sharing resources, connecting them with someone in your network who’s a specialist in a field they’re interested in, or giving them assignments that involve practicing a specific skill.

6. Team Dynamics

It’s important to understand the dynamics with the rest of the team. There’s a common saying where “the team is only as strong as the weakest link”. As the leader, understanding how the team operates with each other and knowing where needs improvement helps ensure there is no weak link. Some questions that help you gauge the dynamic between teammates:

Who do you admire the most on the team? Why?
What is one quality you wish you had from each teammate?
What do you think we could do better on, collaboratively as a team?

7. How are YOU doing, as their leader?

What can you do more of, less of, or start doing to help them perform at their best and reach their goals? For example:

Would they like you to check-in more?
Does he/she prefer receiving feedback by talking through them or would they prefer written communication?
Are you providing enough guidance?

Remember, every person is different. How you lead one person may not work for another. Be open to tailoring how you lead each person on your team in order to optimize the success of your team.

8. Plan Moving Forward

After all that talking, come up with a plan. Conclude the meeting by reiterating the important points from your discussion, then work with your report to come up with a few items that he/she will either be mindful of, try out, or work on. You might have some homework yourself. Agree on a plan; check in on progress in the next session. One last note to keep in mind:

One-on-one meetings tend to be about 20-30 minute sessions. On some days, that won’t be enough time to get through all the above topics, and that’s okay. Tailor the discussion accordingly. For instance, you find out your report is having a particularly bad week due to unforeseen family issues. In this case, focus more time on being an active listener and a support system, and less time on unrelated topics such as team dynamics. The most important thing is to have an honest, productive conversation.