Check In … Not Up

Early April is an ideal time to run quarterly 1-on-1s with your staff.

Over the years, I’ve found it’s these meetings that are the most valuable of all in your role as manager or leader. They should take top priority in your calendar.

Why? Because people – in this case, your staff – love to see that you are genuinely interested in them, their progress, and their careers. Of course, that assumes you ARE interested – if not, these meetings are pointless and you’ll be quickly found out.

Quarterly is a good start. I used to run mine monthly back in my full-time manager days. Looking back (with the benefit of our dear friend Harry Hindsight) if I had my time over again I’d probably run them once every two or three months. Some management literature recommends weekly. That’s overkill in my book; it wouldn’t work for me. But hey, we’re all different. Experiment and find what works best for you and your team.

Whatever your chosen cadence, don’t fall into the classic trap that one CEO I knew (yes, CEO – top of the food chain) fell into. In the 1-on-1s she ran with her direct reports – each of whom was a senior manager in their own right – she made them update her on the progress of all their current work projects. Effectively an update on their task lists. Oh dear. Unsurprisingly, none of her staff were particularly enthused about their upcoming 1-on-1s. A huge opportunity wasted. And a classic beginner manager’s mistake.

Checking UP – on tasks, projects, WIP – isn’t the aim here. These are special meetings; time to check IN with your staff. A bigger picture helicopter view around, “How are you?” An opportunity to really discover how that particular staff member is going. Particularly at work, of course, but there will be spillage over into their everyday lives. Are they motivated? Do they feel challenged (work-wise)? What excites them? Are you playing to their strengths? What obstacles are in their way? And so on; I have a bundle of questions you can ask them, if you need the inspiration.

The time for checking up – on the things mentioned above i.e. the “standard work stuff” – should happen during the course of every normal working day and week. The way you do it matters (please don’t be a micro-manager = one of the worst) but it’s basic stuff. If you’ve got it right, your staff will automatically be doing that with you every few days. Including this stuff as part of your 1-on-1s is a rookie mistake. Don’t fall for it. Instead, make these meetings first rate. Make them useful. Make them interesting. Nail them and your staff will turn up with a smile, keen to chat, keen to share.

Check IN not UP … you’ll both reap the rewards.