Power of 1:1 meetings
17th June 2024
मन्त्रिभिस्त्वं यथोद्दिष्टैश्चतुर्भिस्त्रिभिरेव वा। कच्चित्समस्तैर्व्यस्तैश्च मन्त्रं मन्त्रयसे मिथः।। Valmiki Ramayan 2.100.71।।
Key words in the above sloka- समस्तै: together, व्यस्तैश्च separately with each one मन्त्रम् counsel,
Translation - I trust you deliberate in secrecy on your counsel with three or four counsellors, together and separately with each one, as laid down in sacred texts - Lord Ram’s advice to Barath on Leadership.
Lord Ram suggests the ideal size of core group of counsellors to be 3 or at the most 4. Strangely, he advises Barath through this sloka to deliberate strategic matters with the same core group jointly as well as individually, one-on-one. Importance of one-on-one meetings emphasized in threthayuga.
Is there any purpose served in having one-on-one meetinsg when a joint meeting is already held with the group? Why is Lord Ram insisting on one-on-one meetings?
#ImportanceOf1:1Meetings
1:1 meetings are a valuable opportunity for regular and meaningful exchanges between two individuals, usually a manager and his / her direct report. They provide a space for both the participants to share feedback, discuss performance, identify potential issues, and proactively address challenges. 1:1 meeting is an effective mechanism for performance appraisal discussion but not limited to performance appraisal only. 1:1 meetings are very effective for leaders to get useful feedback and kindles creative ideas.
Having regular 1:1 meetings can boost engagement and strengthen work relationships. In a 1:1 conversation, individual team members can get the feedback and guidance they’re looking for and feel confident they’re valued by the company.
Here are the key benefits of regular 1:1 discussions:
Quick and simple check-ins — It’s challenging to get updates during group meetings when there are many people involved; some speak more than others, and individual updates can lead to tangents. 1:1s make the check-in process fast and focused.
Chance for private discussions — Meeting 1:1 gives reports the chance to share their opinions without fear and discuss sensitive topics. Many a times, 1:1 meetings give opportunities to identify hidden talent, potential issues not known to the leader, opens up new ideas.
Build empathetic work relationships — Giving people your full attention shows your investment in them and helps you build trust. When 1:1 meetings are peppered with compassion for the individual, they yield great results. I used to practice the habit of periodic #CoffeewWithCare’ 1:1 meetings in my company #FutureCallsTechnology and they are always awesome.
Foster a problem-solving mindset — When managers encourage their reports to bring up and discuss challenges, it helps uncover the root cause of issues and solve them faster, developing transparency and honesty within the teams.
What is the recommended frequency for 1:1?
Research and experience has shown that employee engagement (and by extension, performance) is highest when employees have weekly check-ins with their manager. If a manager has more direct reports than they can meet with for 30 minutes each week, they should reorganize their reporting structure. Both manager and employee engagement declines with teams of over 10 people.
#GladWeMet
In his bestselling book ‘Glad We Met’, Steven Rogelberg covers the ‘art and science of 1:1 meetings’. “Conducting 1:1s successfully are foundational to being a manager. At the same time, these meetings are the core of a direct report's experience and development at work, including how well they engage and attach to their role, perceive the effectiveness of their manager, and envision their future at the organization” says Steven Rogelberg in his book.
Here are some astonishing stats
· Employees of managers who don't have 1:1 meetings are 4 times as likely to be disengaged. Those who get twice the number of one-on-ones with their manager relative to their peers are 67% less likely to be disengaged."
· Adobe & GE switched to having their managers do frequent 1 on 1 meetings (typically meeting every 2 weeks). Adobe, "saw a 30% reduction in voluntary turnover." And GE was able to drive fivefold increase in productivity.
“Perhaps the CEO’s most important operational responsibility is designing and implementing the communication architecture for her company. The architecture might include the organizational design, meetings, processes, email, yammer and even one-on-one meetings with managers and employees. Absent a well-designed communication architecture, information and ideas will stagnate and your company will degenerate into a bad place to work. While it is quite possible to design a great communication architecture without one-on-one meetings, in most cases one-on-ones provide an excellent mechanism for information and ideas to flow up the organization and should be part of your design”. - Ben Horowitz, Author of ‘The hard thing about hard things’.
Serial entrepreneur, SaaStr founder, and investor Jason Lemkin calls weekly 1 on 1 meetings the #1ManagementHack.
What are you waiting for? Adopt the culture of 1:1 meetings across your teams.
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#PositiveNewsPage
This week's positive news is on a unique startup endeavour which resonates with the principle of #MondayMusings. I came to know of Ceekr courtesy my 1:1 with ceekr's CoFounder, Ankur Jain. What is Ceekr?
What differentiates leaders from followers? Or creators, from consumers?
Why do some people overcome challenges, while others remain stuck?
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Conceived, compiled and posted as a weekly newsletter of positive information every Monday in #LinkedIn by #AuthorJaganathan (www.authorjaganathan.com). Subscribe, Read, Enjoy, Learn, Grow, Share your happiness, Like, Comment and #SpreadPositivity.