How to Improve your 1:1 Meetings: A 5 Steps Process | Part 2

In this video, we're gonna talk about five actions
you can take to get the most out of your one-on-one meetings
with your direct reports.
So when you think about the meetings you have
with your direct reports, do you feel like you're getting
the most out of them? Are you really seeing the return
on the investment of your time?
If you're like most of the leaders that I work with
the answer to that is no.
Oftentimes, they tell me that their one-on-one meetings
sort of follow one of two patterns.
One, they're either the first meeting that gets canceled,
or one of the first meetings on their calendar
that gets canceled when anything else comes up.
Or secondly, I tend to hear that their meetings
are really just sort of a big project management checklist,
where people are just going through telling them
what they have going on, they're adding commentary
or feedback and that's it.
Now, is that really the best use of a leader's time?
I would argue, no.
And in fact, I have a real core belief
that the one-on-one time you invest
with your direct reports, that's probably some
of the most valuable time you have.
And the reason I say that is,
you think about your role as a leader,
really everything you're able to accomplish,
or at least most of the things you're able to accomplish
as a leader, you accomplish through other people
and with other people.
And your direct reports should be
the most valuable relationships you have.
So your ability to support and enable and grow them
to have a greater impact is, I would say,
one of the most important parts of your role.
Now, let's talk about those five actions you can take
to get the most out of your one-on-one relationship.
Now, the first thing is use a common template
for your one-on-one relationships.
And most of you are already probably thinking, well,
that would never work in my organization.
And I've been doing this probably five to seven years now,
since I first started recommending
that the leaders I work with put a template in place
for their one-on-one meetings.
And I always hear our organization is way too different.
I get it, it's a good idea Darin,
but it'll never work here.
When I can convince people to put it in place, and also,
just not only do I hear that resistance from the leaders,
but I also hear from the people,
the one-on-one direct reports, I hear from them,
oh, that'll never work for me,
that's gonna totally make my meeting less effective,
I'm not gonna be able to get the key points
that I need in their address, etc.
Okay, fast forward three to six months.
So far, what I've heard universally in terms of the results
is people always say, I never would have believed it,
but that is probably one of the most valuable things
we've done on our executive team.
Or whatever level the team is.
And the reason is, it provides focus, right,
it provides structure and focus,
people can always modify and adapt from that focus.
But I love the old saying that nothing provides flexibility
like structure, right?
Nothing provides flexibility like structure.
So let's think about that.
Let's say the first thing is you implement a standard
template and tool that's gonna work for your organization.
And by the way, you can download a version
that we recommend, just as sort of a baseline version
to prompt your thinking.
So that's the first thing, put a tool in place.
The second thing that you have to do
is you have to provide focus for the people
that you're supporting, because I don't care how competent
or what a high performer they are,
when we're all down in the trenches, right?
It's hard for us to have perspective,
we've got our proverbial blinders on.
What you have to do as a leader
is in those one-on-one meetings,
sort of help them pull up above it all, right?
Pull above the fray,
where they can get that broader perspective.
One of the things I like to ask people to do
is use Dr. Stephen Covey's matrix
on urgent versus important, right?
Because it's a really simple matrix to think about
what your responsibilities are.
Are they urgent, are they important, are they both?
And it gives you a way to classify things
and think about where your priorities are.
So it's a second thing is to help people focus, right?
So the third thing is, we all need resources
to accomplish our goals.
And, and I also know that, I can hear some of you
even thinking, yeah, people always want more resources,
but we can't do that.
Okay, but keep in mind, a big part of your role as a leader
is making sure your direct reports
have the resources they need to accomplish their goals,
maybe not all the resources they want,
but certainly the resources they need.
So whether that's in a conventional manner
or an unconventional manner,
you need to be working with your people to really help them
think about what are the resource needs
and whether conventionally or unconventionally,
how you're able to help them access those.
Okay, so that's the third thing.
The fourth thing is there's always gonna be roadblocks
that come up.
Your job as a leader is to help your people
remove those roadblocks that they're not able to remove
on their own.
So as you you think about I'm helping them focus, right?
I'm helping provide resources,
I'm helping them to remove those roadblocks.
Help them focus on their own development.
It's your role as a coach, and a coach is usually about
being able to ask questions,
help the other person bring things in a way
where they see new opportunities,
help them identify those growth edges for themselves.
And then how do they put a plan in place.
If you can do these five things right,
the first one is use a common template.
The second one is provide the focus that we all need, right?
The ability to get above the fray.
The third is provide the necessary resources.
The fourth is to help remove the roadblocks
and then the fifth and final one is provide the coaching
that they need to help accelerate
their own continued performance and their development.
If you can do those five things,
I guarantee you from my experience,
you will see an immediate increase in impact
and the results of your one-on-one.
I hope you found this useful,
and I look forward to seeing you soon, take care.

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