7.5.2.3.2
1:1 Practice
A 1:1 Practice is consistently meeting with individuals on the team with the intention to review performance outcomes, progress, and personal development goals. A 1:1 practice is designed for the employee, not for the supervisor. This is a meeting in which you reserve a specific time, in a predetermined frequency, to meet with each employee individually. A 1:1 meeting has an established agenda and the employee consistently comes prepared with the same things.
These meetings should be conducted in private where the employee and supervisor can be open, honest, and frank if necessary. We want to ensure our employees are able to feel safe and heard. Building rapport is an important part of the 1:1 practice. Consider starting the meeting by creating a space for your employee to feel comfortable, starting the conversation off with topics that you know they are comfortable with.
Next you will want to discuss the core topics of the 1:1. These could include:
- Previous action items
- Performance goals and expectations
- Personal development goals
- Achievements and accomplishments
- Performance misses
- Support needed from supervisor
- Timelines
- Additional Items
Finish each 1:1 by confirming the expectations, goals, and action items that both you and your employee will take before the next meeting. Confirm understanding, document them on the agenda, and then make a copy for you and for the employee. It’s important that clarity of the outcomes to be reviewed for the next meeting is established and confirmed.
It is important to know that having a consistent one-on-one practice mitigates risk. When people aren’t performing, we tend to pay attention to them more and they may start to think that you are picking on them. But when you are meeting consistently with everyone, and there is the same agenda for each meeting, you are not isolating anyone as it relates to performance. You are mitigating risk because you are supervising and coaching everyone on the team consistently, regardless of how well or not well they are performing.
References: