International Christian school leaders, how do you feel about doing 1:1 meetings?

/ mkessenburg

Photo by Memento Media on Unsplash

“The best leaders recognize that 1:1s are not an add-on to the job; 1:1s ARE the job of a leader” (Glad We Met: The Art and Science of 1:1 Meetings, loc 336).

1:1s? Really? These meetings are actually the job of the leader? Steven Rogelberg, author of Glad We Met, says, “Yes!” He notes that “well-executed 1:1s should wind up saving you time by creating better alignment in your team, higher performing directs, and fewer spontaneous interruptions to your workday as they are saved for the scheduled 1:1″ (loc 339).

Overall for me, Glad We Met is a useful reminder that 1:1s are an effective way to help others flourish personally and professionally. Says Rogelberg, “While 1:1s are meant to address directs’ practical needs, they must also be conducted in a way that meets directs’ personal needs. Doing so ensures that directs feel included, respected, valued, heard, understood, and supported” (loc 1853).

Throughout his book, Rogelberg gives helpful guidance. He consistently addresses questions readers want answers to. Just check out his chapter titles, including: 

  • Do I Really Need to Do 1:1s?
  • Won’t Team Members Be Fearful of 1:1s?
  • Can’t I Just Meet When I Have Something I Need to Say?
  • How Should I Schedule 1:1s—Same Day, Clustered, or Spread Out?
  • Do These Meetings Need an Agenda?
  • Is There a General Model for Conducting 1:1s?
  • How Do I Start and End 1:1s—And the Middle Stuff Too?

He provides helpful tools, for example:

  • Quiz to Determine Your Overall 1:1 Meeting Skills 
  • Preparation Checklist for 1:1 Facilitation
  • Checklist for Effectively Giving Feedback & Establishing Accountability in 1:1s
  • Creating an Organization-Wide System for 1:1s

And he offers helpful insights, including:

  1. “Find the Right Cadence. The most common 1:1 cadences are weekly, biweekly, and monthly. Avoid having an ad hoc (as-needed) approach to the cadence of your 1:1s. Research supports weekly 1:1s as the best option in most cases” (loc 691).
  2. “…the biggest predictor of 1:1 value I have found in my research is the direct report’s active participation, as measured by the amount of time they talk during the meeting, relative to the manager. The ideal balance appears to be the direct speaking anywhere between 50% and 90% of the time” (loc 1567).
  3. “After the meeting ends, it is critical for both you and your directs to follow through on the action items they committed to. Breaking commitments hurts trust, hurts the working relationship, and makes it harder to have effective 1:1s in the future” (loc 2425).

What about you? How do you feel about 1:1 meetings? How could you use 1:1s to help others flourish personally and professionally? How interested might you be in reading Glad We Met: The Art and Science of 1:1 Meetings?

Here are some meeting-related blog posts:

Bottom line: Use 1:1 meetings to help others flourish personally and professionally!

Get flourishing!

Michael